A Walk with Views

With a dawn like this and the promise from the best of the internet forecasts - the Norwegian yr.no - for a sunny day, we set out for the point where the track to the Achosnich School House leaves the B8007, just beyond the Sonachan Hotel.

The route we followed took just over three hours.  We started by following the track to the Old School House, now a holiday home, and then turned onto the path that leads to Sanna, one which, in the old days, used to be followed each day by the Sanna school children.  This path is a little rough but is due to be upgraded.

This path offered us the first of the many fine views, across the valley of the Sruthan Bhraigh nan Allt to Portuairk.  By this time a steady southeaster was blowing but, out of it, the sun was gloriously warm.

At the point where this path meets the Sanna-Portuairk track, the first views of Sanna Bay opened up, the beaches white in the sunshine.  At midday, we could see only three cars in the car park and, the whole time the beaches were in view, less than a handful of people enjoyed them.  In this picture, Eigg is to the right, Muck to the left, and Rum lost under a cloud-cap.

We then turned east and began what turned out to be a fairly taxing climb, up a rocky hill which is marked on the OS map as 185m high, with a cairn at its summit.  The hill is as high as neighbouring Meall Sanna yet it isn't dignified with a name.  It must have one but, unless it is recorded, this is another local feature whose name will be lost.

From its summit we looked east across into the bowl formed by the great Ardnamurchan Ring Dykes, at the centre of which lies the village of Achnaha, basking in the sun.  We stopped and ate lunch with this view spread out before us.

We then dropped down the southern flank of the hill into the valley appropriately called Bealach Rudh, the red pass, through which runs the path to Achanaha which that village's children once used to walk to and from school.  Some of this area was burnt in the fire earlier this year, yet the vegetation has recovered remarkably quickly.

As we arrived home we spotted a butterfly on our Escallonia, a late Peacock in beautiful condition, like us enjoying a day of late autumn sunshine.