Meall nan Con - 1

 Meall nan Con, the  hill of the dogs, at 437m, is the second highest mountain on western Ardnamurchan yet, having lived here for sixteen years, we had never climbed it.  That omission was put to rights last Friday when, in fine weather with a cooling breeze, ideal walking conditions, we set out to explore it.

There are two obvious approaches to the mountain.  The first is to start from Fascadale on the north coast and follow the ridge which rises steadily to the summit.  The second is, in a way, to cheat, by starting from the south, setting off from the B8007, where it passes the Ardnamurchan Estate forestry, and following the valley of the Allt Rath a Bheulain.  Since the starting point of the latter route is at 150m, it makes for a much easier climb, as the picture shows, so it's the route we chose.

It's only in the last stages, as the ridged summit is approached, that the slope becomes steep.  That said, the approach is still a walk - there's no need for any serious rock climbing.  But, the higher we got, the more spectacular the views became.  This picture looks across the parallel ridge of Cathair Mhic Dhiarmaid - MacDiarmid's seat - towards Ockle, the Singing Sands, and the mountains of Moidart.

At the summit there is a triangulation point, now disused, and nature is kind enough to provide a small pool of clear water.  We've noticed that pools like this are not uncommon near the summits of Ardnamurchan's hills.

It was a pleasure to spend time at the top looking around at the Ardnamurchan landscape laid out below us.  To the north, we looked straight down the ridge to Fascadale, with two of Ardnamurchan Estate's letting houses clearly visible beside the bay.

Away to the west we looked towards Sanna Bay and the line of mountains of which Meall Sanna is the highest.  To the right are the startlingly white sands of the beach we call the shelly beach, where we find the delicate local cowrie shells, to the left is the small township of Achnaha, and in the right foreground is Glendrian.

Glendrian, an abandoned village, is tucked in below the ridge.  The bright greens of the fields that surround the roofless houses are a sure sign of the land's fertility - bracken has invaded them, and that greedy plant prefers to grow on the best soils.

We had plenty of time so, instead of retracing our steps, we made our way down the steep drop to the west, towards a valley of lochans and two more summits.

A map of the area is here.