This was the first walk we did in Wester Ross, back in 1997. It was dreich but a real tonic anyway. Then we were staying in a chalet in Kinlochewe, so it was a short walk to the start of the trail. This time we had a 7-mile cycle ride each way from Talladale, and again it was our first walk of the holiday.

Today started with a boat trip on Loch Maree. Nick Hardy-Thompson, our host at the chalet of the Loch Maree Hotel, was taking a gentleman across the Loch from Talladale to the opposite side of the Loch, so he could climb Beinn Lair. We had wondered about climbing it, but thought the gentleman's schedule might not give us enough time (he, although considerably older than us, was clearly a lot quicker on the hills!). Nick suggested we come anyway, so we did, and he kindly showed us round Isle Maree on the way back. Amazing. We're hoping to write this up soon.

Once back ashore, we got the bikes and headed along the loch to the Glas Leitir reserve. Our idea was to see how the weather was: if it cleared and we felt up to it, we'd leave the trail at the top and go on up Meall a'Ghiuthais. The mist and rain lowered so we just enjoyed the surroundings and didn't overstretch ourselves on the first day. We were very grateful for that the next day, a 14-hour stroll to Talladale Falls and over the shoulder of Beinn A'Cheircaill to Glen Grudie: a great walk with fantastic light.

The Mountain Trail evokes slightly mixed feeling with some: it's the centrepiece of Britain's first National Nature Reserve, in the sense of demonstrating the reserve's conservation work and something of its forest and mountain environments. It's a top notch area in terms of habitats, of course. Some people aren't too keen on the path or the large cairn at the top, feeling it to be too "civilised".

On the other hand, others feel that it's a bit misleading, being called a "trail", and being coupled with the low-level forest trail: it is in fact a fairly substantial hill walk, with some steep and rocky sections, and nearly 2,000 foot of ascent; the plateau is wild and exposed. However, this seemed to be made quite clear in the stuff we read. As far as the path is concerned: yes, you can see it going across the plateau, but it's not really more obtrusive than some paths around, we thought. The same can perhaps be said of the cairn: this easily fades into the environment of wave upon wave of rough cliffs and shattered rock.

We did the trail clockwise. Both ends of the trail are through substantial sections of the primeval boreal pine forest which covers these slopes, and for which this area is celebrated. You don't have to climb high though, before you start to see further out. Slioch, Glen Bianasdail and Beinn A'Mhunidh visible across the head of Loch Maree. The southern branch of the trail is also a good viewpoint for the Kinlochewe delta. As the forest thins, the path heads more determinedly uphill. You cross the Alltan Mhic Eogeinn and follow it up for a while - a lovely burn.

The path gets steeper and rockier until you reach a large wavy plateau: it really is wavy - a very complex topography. And it's wild, quite suddenly so. The path is always pretty clear: even in misty conditions it wouldn't be hard to follow. But the section across the plateau is quite extensive: looking ahead from the cairn, it could look forbidding if you're not used to that kind of comparatively harsh and lonely environment, and it could feel like it's a long way in height and time from the sylvan safety of the roadside.

This plateau is fascinating - with cliffs, spectacular rock, lochans, and of course a variety of plantlife. Eventually the path heads back to Loch Maree, and starts to descend quite steeply. Indeed, as you come down along the gorge of Allt na h-Airighe, it starts to look like the path is leading you over a precipice, but it's well designed and leads you safely through what is very steep terrain without difficulty. But as it flattens out, still a good way above the main forest, it's worth looking back: it looks pretty steep in reverse, too!

Here's a snapshot of some general views around the trail:

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Slioch, from the upper Glas Leteir forest	Beinn A'Mhunidh	Small waterfall in the open part of the forest, a little way up the hill	The path along the plateau below Meall A'Ghiuthais - the high part of the walk	On the plateau: wavy topography in exposed rock
.. and shattered exposures	View down the Allt na h-Airighe gulley on the descent	View across the gulley to the Kinlochewe delta (head of Loch Maree)	Looking back up the gulley

The rocks are always fascinating here: a great weather-independent attraction! In many areas round here, the quartzite has patches of colour visible on the surface. Here the colours were quite varied and mixed - subtler for example than the quartzite colours on top of Beinn Liath Mhor, and with a very polished looking surface in places. (We walked up Beinn Liath Mhor a few days later, and hope to write it up soon).

There's also what the Reserve describe as trumpet rock - and the holes in the rock are remarkably round - considerably bigger and different from the usual pipe rock, which was also visible in places on the plateau.

The smooth, pastel-coloured rock

Pipe rock

Small-scale chaotic shatterings in the plateau rocks

Trumpet rock

Lichens are abundant here. Mosses are too, with sphagnum adding varied colour and brightness to the scene:

Mosaic of colours in moss: each strand having its own shade, perhaps related to how much moisture it was taking up, or how faded it was?

Lichens

Small patches of colour show where mosses are visible

This last photo is one of the group of plateau lochans collectively called Loch Allt an Daraich: the bright green, light grey, and dark red bits in the moorland here are also mosses and lichens. There are other lochans here, atmospheric in mist. The "lunar" loch was named to commemorate the lunar landing in 1968, but in fact there is something quite moon-like about the character of its surroundings:

The "lunar" loch

Loch Allt an Daraich

..and its northeast shore

Up here, the land above disappeared into the cloud, and the land below was invisible from the plateau: the hills on the other side of Loch Maree were also obscured by mist. We felt very alone, yet the topography shelters you in a way, and it felt peaceful.

On a walk like this, there's always so much to see: the forest is wonderful, water and rock and hill shapes (near, and if you're lucky, far), are always your companions. Water, or snow and ice of course...

So eventually we were back at the bikes. A quick look over the loch, and then we were on the road back to the chalet. Not long after leaving the carpark, a pine marten crossed in front of us! It stopped and looked at us for a short while, then obviously didn't like what it saw and went back the way it came! We could only see a silhouette, but it definitely wasn't a stoat/weasel, or an otter.

On this visit, the light in the forest wasn't very good for photography, so we've concentrated on the open environment. Colours in particular: muted but beautiful to our eyes at least: We hope you enjoy this webpage!

Gaining a foothold	Shoreline in detail	Patches of lichen	A stream pool and its surroundings, on the moorland plateau
A stream pool in the forest	The coloured quartzite	Looking across the gulley to areas of sphagnum	The way home

(Text and photos by Daniel and Clare Gordon. January 2011).

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