Beinn na h-Imeilte - Again

We've lost count of how many times we've climbed Beinn na h'Imeilte.  It doesn't matter, we never tire of it, because each time is different. When we last climbed it, we walked into the teeth of a strong north-northwesterly with the forecast for heavy showers.  The result was a never-ending succession of light and shadow across the landscape, which made for interesting photography.

From the Sanna road, the approach along the southwest face of the ridge is across open, grassy, rolling hills with scattered outcrops of gabbroic rocks, but....

....if one pokes one's nose over the dark, northeastern face it's very different, with an increasingly steep drop to the low land around Achnaha.  The line of hill sin the distance are those at the back of Sanna, with Meall Sanna the highest peak at the right.

This view looks south, with Lochan na Crannaig and Beinn na Seilg.  The Portuairk and lighthouse road runs just the other side of the lochan, along the edge of the woodland, and we could just see the cars crawling along it, stopping occasionally to let the traffic pass in the opposite direction.

Looking over our left shoulder into the sun, the landscape took on a silvery sheen.  The picture can't do justice to such a panorama, which runs from Glebe Hill at the left to Beinn Tallaidh in the right distance, and includes the often-forgotten Lochan nan Ealachan and the Sound of Mull beyond it.

In the opposite direction, Achnaha is an oasis of green in the centre of the great bowl of land formed by the Ardnamurchan ring dykes.

On most of the local hills, the last section is steep enough to give one a final sense of achievement on reaching the summit, but on Beinn na h-Imeilte one comes across its small cairn rather unexpectedly. It looks like a recently-built cairn, in contrast to the one we passed much nearer the Sanna road which is covered in ancient-looking lichens.