Scoraig peninsula - Beinn Ghobhlach and Cnoc a’ Bhad-raillach

Sunday morning saw a party consisting of three old timers - Arthur, Michael and Yours Truly - joined by prospective member Donna convening at the end of the public road at Badrallach on the Scoraig peninsula at the foot of the Graham Beinn Ghobhlach (pronounced “Golach”) - the “forked mountain” on account of its distinctive twin peaked profile. Michael elected to confine himself to a stroll along the shore path to Scoraig, hoping to find a few photo opportunities along the way, while the two grizzled Old Men of the Mountains headed off up the hill accompanied by Donna.

Now at a modest 635M Ghobhlach may not be the mightiest of mountains, but as with so many West coast eminences it swoops up straight from the sea, so pretty much most of these metres must be … well … mounted in their entirety. As per usual, Arthur - aka the Duracell Bunny - set an energetic pace, and the first goal of the day, the subsidiary 544M Marilyn top of Cnoc a’ Bhad-raillach, was soon attained. At this point the effects of the keen nor’ easterly wind began to make itself felt, and extra layers were donned before progressing to the 635M main summit, thankfully crowned with a circular stone shelter which afforded welcome respite from the chilly squalls.

Thanks to its isolated peninsular position sandwiched between two sea lochs, Ghoblach stands as a striking viewpoint, particularly for An Teallach to the South, the Coigach peninsula to the North, and to seaward the scattering of skerries and islands collectively comprising the Summer isles archipelago. From the unnamed 576M top on the opposite side of Coire Dearg the party enjoyed an eagle’s eye view of the remarkably translucent waters of Annat Bay, where a sizeable fish farm support vessel (as we assumed it to be) lay languidly at anchor, looking very much “a painted ship upon a painted ocean” to borrow a phrase from Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

From there it was a simple matter of an initially steepish descent into the corrie and a level stroll across a shelf of moorland followed by a further descent to the Scoraig shore path. There we encounter a pair of fatigued cyclists who were learning the hard way that what looks like an easily cyclable path on the map may not be necessarily so in reality, and were being forcibly reminded why bicycles are still sometimes referred to as “push bikes.”

Michael was already waiting at the road end, having had an enjoyable coastal amble. He also had encountered the struggling cyclists earlier in the day, and proffered the opinion that not even he would have attempted to pedal the path all the way there and back, which, coming from electric mountain biking’s answer to Evel Kneivel, is saying something indeed!

Unbeknown to us at the time, a few days previously a the body of a young humpback whale had been washed ashore at Annat Bay. Volunteers from the Ullapool marine animal rescue group who attended the scene determined that the deceased cetacean died as a consequence of injuries sustained from being entangled in fishing gear, a sad reminder of the negative impact human activities can have on the marine environment.

Taking part: Michael, Robin, Arthur and prospective member Donna

Words: Robin   Photos: Robin, Michael and Arthur