Walk 13 Report and Photograph

The Jungles of Ballochbuie

The Prince’s Stone

The dreich conditions cut the numbers for this walk to a hardy few;

Michel, Magali, Duncan and myself.. ach well, I guess it was just a bad weekend.



We set off from the Keiloch Car Park on time. The main path was reasonable and easy going up to the turn onto the track which takes you up through the forest alongside the Ballochbuie Burn. The track was aptly described as being similar to the jungles of Borneo without the temperature. Due to the constant rain we’ve experienced over the last few days, the path was like a burn itself.

I had forgotten how old some of the pine trees in this part of the forest must have been…truly remarkable the way the predominant north westerly winds had sculpted twists in the bark of the trees as they had grown.

We moved out of the tree line and into the shadow of Carn Fiaclach and Cnapan Nathraichean towering over the west of the Glen... impressive with the low clouds drifting over the tree lined gorge created by Sleat Gorm.



The shadow of Carn Fiaclach and Cnapan Nathraichean with low clouds
drifting over the tree lined gorge created by Sleat Gorm.

After a half kilometre we crossed Feith an Laoigh and followed the source up over patches of undisturbed snow to the Princes Stone.

The Stone commemorates the fact the on the night of the 5th October 1857 the Prince Consort slept on this spot in a wooden hut!

The cloud and light flurries of snow had developed a feeling of permanence so we decided to make the return journey following the same path saving more adventurous routes for the summer when we would have more time, better weather and more importantly daylight.

We arrived back at the Car Park at approximately 14:40 with no more than soggy boots. I will definitely return to visit Stob Liath & Craig Liath when the conditions are more benign…

 A good day.

Track to the Stone

 

At the stone another pose





At the Stone