Meall nam Fasgan - 2

With the weather deteriorating, we chose not to continue to the summit of Cathair Mhic Dhiarmaid but turned westwards to begin our descent into the Allt Fascadale, which drains the area between Cathair Mhic Dhiarmaid and Meall nan Con, the summit of which can be seen in this picture.

The valley of Allt Fascadale is unusually straight because it follows a fault line which runs out to sea through Fascadale Bay, so the burn has cut deeply into the underlying shattered rocks.

The area we walked is all part of Ardnamurchan Estate.  A number of high deer fences have to be negotiated.  Although none are very new - they predate the current Explorer 1:25,000 OS map - they aren't marked on it, but there are convenient gates, one of which is visible in the bottom of the picture.

On our way down the valley we came upon this stone.  It's highly unlikely that its position is natural, so someone upended it.  It sits of a low mound and, with a magnificent view across to Rum, Muck, Eigg, Canna and, along the horizon, the mountain tops of the Outer Hebrides, it's exactly the sort of place someone might have chosen to be buried.

We disturbed this red deer hind grazing on the other side of the valley.  She watched us watch her for a few moments before deciding that she might be better retreating across the open moorland above the trees.

On a hillock above Fascadale we found these three stones.  They cannot have fallen from a slope; they might, coincidentally, have been arranged there by a melting glacier; but it seems far more likely that they were placed by humans in some sort of cist-like burial chamber - or, possibly, they formed an ancient communal barbeque, for this spot again has wonderful views north across the Minches.

We then dropped back down into Fascadale, with its three letting houses.  After the decline of the village, this became a major west coast salmon fishing station, landing hundreds of salmon a week.  Some of the old fields to the right were dug to form shallow ponds which, in those days, froze over during the winter, providing ice for the ice-house which still stands just beyond the middle house.

An interactive map is here.

Details of the Ardnamurchan Estate cottages are here.