Sgurr nan Clach Geala Wild Walks

.

These are the ruins of the old lodge by Loch a'Bhraoin

at the western end of the Fannichs in Wester Ross.

The loch itself, a number of years ago,

was the subject of a proposed hydro-electric scheme.

Thankfully, it was never given planning permission.

I say thankfully because I think it's a fantastic spot,

a very atmospheric spot.

It was interesting

when the developers wrote their environmental report,

they said that Loch a'Bhraoin was like many other parts

of the Highlands and is of no special landscape value.

That really made my blood boil because the writer had obviously

never crept down here from the high tops

late in the afternoon in the winter when you're reassured by the sight

of the loch below you that you're safe again.

He'd obviously never been here in midsummer

when the great western sunsets cause the waters of the loch

to turn from blue to gold to orange.

It's a fantastic spot and it's the starting point for our walk today.

We are going to go and climb what I think is the finest

of all the Fannichs, a mountain by the name of Sgurr nan Clach Geala,

"the peak of the white stones."

The name of this loch means "loch of the showers".

Quite appropriate for today, I think.

There has been a lot of rain here in the past 48 hours

and you can see the river.

I've got to cross this further up and as far as I can remember,

there's no bridge.

I'm just a wee bit worried about it.

There's a rather grisly legend about some cattle raiders from Lochaber

who came up here a couple of hundred years ago

and stole some cattle from Strathmore.

A man from Ullapool saw them.

He disguised himself as a beggar and followed them

until they camped for the night.

When the cattle raiders were sleeping,

this beggar man stole into the camp

and murdered them all, allowing only one man to go and tell the tale.

This is where we have to cross.

You can see the marker cairn on the other shore.

Normally, you can walk across here without getting your feet wet

but not today. Normally, when the water's not too deep,

I'll just take off my boots, take off my socks, put them in my pocket,

put my boots back on and wade across.

Then at least I've got some warm socks to put on at the other side.

Brr!

That washes the feet a bit.

I've still got the dry socks.

It's a bit of a slog! At least we're making height.

There are nine Munros in the Fannichs and the main thrust of them

lies from Loch Fannich in the south.

I have to say it's not the most exciting ridge walk in Scotland.

Things do improve the further west you come

and they kind of climax in Sgurr nan Clach Geala, the hill behind me,

the hill that we are climbing today.

What makes a great hill?

Is it the fact that the hill is really beautiful in itself

or is it the fact you get tremendous views of other hills from it?

I think probably the latter is the case because

if you're actually on a mountain, you don't actually see its beauty.

You often have to see the beauty of a mountain from a distance,

from another mountain.

The wonderful thing about the Fannichs is, you get up here high

and you stay high for quite a long time

and so get these marvellous, marvellous views.

If you backpack at all,

there's nothing finer than camping high up here.

A number of years ago, I camped on this very bealach

and when I arrived, it was a bit like today.

There was a lot of mist around when I put my tent up

and I was just cooking my supper when suddenly the mist just began to rise.

It was as though somebody was just sort of teasing

the strands of vapour away from the land

and right across the big gulf in front of me, I could see

An Teallach just suddenly beginning to appear a little bit at a time.

The sun was obviously going down behind it, so these strands of mist

were pink and orange and yellow and it was absolutely beautiful.

It took about two hours for all these wisps of cloud

just to be pulled away and expose the grandeur of An Teallach

and it was like watching television.

In fact, it was even better, it was marvellous.

A way down below me, you can probably see the line of the Destitution Road

running out towards Dundonnell.

That was built in 1851 during the height of the potato blight.

It was built by Mackenzie of Gairloch,

really as a kind of work project for the people roundabout

to give them some kind of work.

I suppose you could call it a sort of early day job creation scheme.

Here we are, the summit of Sgurr nan Clach Geala

or "the peak of the white stones".

We're at 1,093 metres above sea level here, and that's 3,586 feet.

I'll tell you, it feels like it. It's absolutely freezing.

Bitterly cold wind and it's very, very wet.

I'm not going to hang about here too long.

As you sit back in the comfort of your home,

spare us a thought as we go into the teeth of the gale

back down the hillside, thinking about that river crossing

we've still got to do again. See you next time.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd