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Whittle Wanderer|
Am Faur Loch, Baosbheinn,
Flowerdale, Poca bothy Wester Ross, Scotland. |
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OS
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NG 85644 72079 Lat/Long: 57.687310, -05.597723 I woke to thick mist all around. Today's walk is long so I was on my way by 6am. The walk started by Loch Bad an Sgalag and up a very rough track covered in loose gravel. The mist continued and I there was little I could see. |
 The Grouse Stone |
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At the ‘grouse stone’ I stopped to take a picture of the
location where the grouse shot by the hunting parties were left for
collection by a ghillie from Gairloch. An information board adjacent
twice referred to the Eagles, Harriers and Peregrins that would hunt
the grouse as vermin. But not the two legged people who pay big money to
kill the grouse. I continued along the track for several miles to a ford
where the guide notes said wading may be needed. There were enough
stepping stones for me to get across OK. I continued in the mist to where
I was supposed to leave the track. The notes said to follow a faint quad bike track but I had to use the gps route info as the fain track didn’t go anywhere. I reached the river outlet of the Loch Oidche. There was the remains of an old wooden bridge but it was too far gone to be any use. There were enough large boulders in the river for me to get across with boots still on. I continued up across rough ground in the mist. I was heading for the summits of Baosbheinn and a ridge walk of three summits. I reached the first at 877m across a grassy plateau and had a partial view. |
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 View from the summit |
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| It was a steep descent to the saddle then up again to the next summit, though this wasn't as high. I had brief glimpses of surrounding areas as I progressed over the third and lowest summit. I started the descent to the south end of the Loch to an area of yellow sandy beaches. |
 Poca Bothy |
| The water was surprisingly clear. I crossed to the other side and the Poca Bothy which is locked and closed to visitors. A sign on the door says “Gairloch and Conon Estates Private Bothy. Stalking and Fishing Parties only.” |
 The Bothy is locked |
| Another sign says “The Bothy code was not being followed” This sounds like any excuse not to share it with anyone, even those in danger in bad weather. There was a rough access track which was very rough to follow and not easy going at all. I had several miles of it to re-join my access route which I followed back to my car. |
 The summits are now in the cloud |
 Looking back across the loch |
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