Hill Walking
Ian R Mitchell writes.
For the hill walker of all grades Tomdoun Hotel has an unsurpassed situation in the Western Highlands. Whether you are seeking to ascend the Munros (mountains over 3,000 ft) which surround the hotel, or whether you are looking for less challenging, but rewarding, low level walking there is an unrivalled choice on your very doorstep at Tomdoun. Ten or fifteen minutes by car west of the hotel, fringing Loch Quoich, lie four splendid Munros accessible from the public road. These quartet of hills are unique in probably having the best path systems on any mountains in Scotland, making for safe and easy access. The paths were built 100 years ago for a shooting visit of Edward VII to the Glengarry estate.Gairich ( meaning “roaring” from the noise of the stags in the rutting season) rises boldly south west of the dam on Loch Quoich, and it takes about three hours to reach the summit from the dam. At the western end of Loch Quoich lies Sgurr a Mhaoraich (peak of the shellfish - from the habit of birds dropping shellfish on its rocks to break) The stalkers’ path eases you to the summit in a similar three hours. Gleouraich (again, possibly roaring or uproar) and Spidean Mialach (peak of the animals) are a fine pair of hills whose approach lies between that to the others discussed, and the path up Gleouraich is probably the finest in Scotland, well made and easily graded. Many walkers get to the cairn at the top without needing a break for breath! Just below the summit lies the ruins of a bothy built by the Ordnance Survey men who mapped these hills 150 years ago. A high ridge takes you on to Spidean Mialach, and below in the corrie another stalkers’ path leads back to the roadside.There are many other Munros, lying about half an hour’s drive from the hotel, but the area around Tomdoun also boasts a couple of fine Corbetts (hills between 2500 and 3000 ft) to detain you. Just east of Kinloch Hourn, at the ruins of the old house of Coireshubh starts another great stalkers’ path which leads you to the summit ridge of Sgurr nan Eugallt (peak of the precipices) on the edge of the Rough Bounds of Knoydart, in a little over a couple of hours. From the summit the whole Knoydart panorama is visible before you. When descending you are following in the footsteps of Bonnie Prince Charlie who fled this way after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. To the east of the hotel, approached by the forestry track to Greenfield, lies the route to the curiously-named, fine conical peak of Ben Tee. But don’t expect a café after your 3-4 hour walk to its summit; the name is a corruption of the Gaelic for fairies. All these Munros and Corbetts are in deer forest and you will almost certainly encounter red deer, Britain’s largest mammal, at any season. At lower levels buzzards are quite common, and on the summits you may catch a glimpse of golden eagles.