MUNROS from CANNICH / GREAT GLEN

Munros from Cannich: an extremely cold summer visit to Cannich - rain, hail, sleet, icy-wind and snow - to access the nearby remote Munro-filled glens. For walkers who continue the West Highland Way by subsequently picking up the Great Glen Way, Cannich lies just a few miles inland off the GGW and is an ideal 'basecamp' for some remote hillwalking including the two highest peaks north of the Great Glen, one of which is featured in this video sequence.

The 118km Great Glen Way used to be a considerable challenge as barbed wire and deer fencing previously blocked part of the route. I've fond memories of walking it well before it was ever waymarked and when the converted icecutter the Scott II was the oasis berthed at Laggan Locks. Things change and the 'Eagle' (drink, food and accommodation) has now landed. The dramatic Thomas Telford Bridge over the River Moriston awaits the walker at Invermoriston while further along Loch Ness lies Urquhart Castle.
"Beautiful Loch Ness,
The truth to express,
Your landscapes are lovely and gay,
Along each side of your waters,
to Fort Augustus all the way".

Arriving at Inverness its a stroll to the Flora McDonald sculpture outside Inverness Castle: -
"Her name was Flora McDonald -
This fine lass from history -
Ferried Bonnie Prince Charlie -
cross a ragin sea" -
"Upon reaching their destination -
And takin' many a chance -
Flora would return back home -
The Prince would go on to France" -
"She paid the price for courage -
To the Tower she would go -
Yet her name went down in history -
For everyone to know".

The Great Glen Way was officially opened on the 30th of April 2002 - but the greater hillwalking challenges certainly lie just nearby - inland from Cannich. The original version of this video was totally disabled - so this is Iain McNabb with his epic 'Child inside a father' from 'Head like a Rock'.

The village of Cannich at the head of two long and exceptionally remote glens, lies on the A831 between Beauly and Drumnadrochit. From the crossroads in the centre of the village a road leads south west for ten miles into the wild Glen Affric: from where walkers can continue on rough ground for many more miles (or head uphill to the summits), ending not far short of the west coast at Shiel Bridge. From Cannich crossroads, a road also heads nine miles west along Glen Cannich to the dam at the head of Loch Mullardoch, from where the loch extends ten miles west, deep into very remote and mountainous Munro -filled country.

Between the 1830s and 1950s much of this landscape would have been very empty, largely given over to hunting and fishing estates. This all changed with the coming of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board to these glens. In 1952 the Mullardoch dam was completed. This generates electricity as its water descends through a tunnel to Loch Beinn a' Mheadhain in Glen Affric. From there it passes through one of the largest hydro power stations in Scotland at Fasnakyle, south of Cannich where the Young Pretender hid in the nearby woods for 3-days.

With opening views of the 610m Graham Beinn a'Mheadhoin ('Middle Hill') that stands at the entrance to Glen Affric and north of the aforementioned Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin, the path passes this mountain (that only requires 1200ft of ascent) en route to the Munros Toll Creagach and Tom a'Choinich that we had originally intended doing on our first trip therein. However, atrocious weather conditions on the day and underfoot, enforced a safe as possible retreat off the 1111m summit of Tom a'Choinich ('Hill of the Moss') back to the path, passing beneath Toll Creagath again on the return.

From the outset, the idea of using the independent hostel at Cannich seemed a great idea - but with the owner unwilling to even put the heating on in the drying room, there was absolutely no chance of getting your boots and kit dried inside the place. A disastrous week continued with with soggy boots and damp gear with an attempt at the Glen Cannich Munros, which we also abandoned from the Munro summit, this time of the 992m Carn nan Gobhar (Hill of the Goats').

Fortunately, the pub let us dry our boots and some kit (cheers folks) , so we returned for an easier day on the 1054m Toll Creagach ('Rocky Hollow').

Our bad-weather week continued with an abandoned attempt at the Strathfarrar Munros (via the ridiculous Gestapo-like run operation to get through the multi-padlocked gate on the private road), this time from the 993m summit of Sgurr na Ruaidhe ('Peak of the Redness' - aye right - how about Peak of the freezing cold and mist!) - one of four mountains (others being the 992m Carn nan Gobhar, 1083m Sgurr a' Choire Ghlais and 1049m Sgurr Fuar-thuill) which form a well-defined ridge on the north side of Glen Strathfarrar. Well, hope this sort of explains the video sequence. And if you think hillwalking in Scotland during the month of June is fun - then have another look at this video!

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Travel & Events

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• roddymck
• Scotland
• Cannich
• Munros
• hillwalking
• Mullardoch
• Ian
• McNabb
• Toll
• Creagach
• Tom
• a'Choinich
• Great
• Glen