Along the Divide

Welcome to our regular feature showcasing the talents of the nation’s best writers.

Rannoch Moor seems an anomaly. What is such a huge flat area doing in the midst of the mountains? In fact, the centre of the last great ice sheet to cover the Highlands was here, with the ice at its thickest. From Rannoch Moor the ice radiated in all directions, its courses now marked by streams and rivers. Once the moor was wooded, as evidenced by the many decaying tree stumps. Now it’s a classic blanket peat bog.

Free of the horrible new road, I followed a very old overgrown track to Stob nan Losgann and then Stob na Cruaiche, the highest summit on this long line of undulating hills, whose name means, appropriately, “Peak of the Peat Stack.” From the summit the ring of mountains around Rannoch Moor make up the horizon. Beyond the summit, the watershed starts a long descent over lower tops towards the east end of Loch Laidon. In places I found double lines of fences laid horizontally where the track crossed boggy areas, giving a corduroy effect as they ran across the hillside. I’d never seen this before. I walked into the evening as the light changed and the sky was a mass of wonderful shades of blues, pinks and whites with the mountains golden in the sun or black under the clouds. Far to the south-east the cone of Schiehallion stood out.

Once I was down in the forest above Loch Laidon and out of the wind, the midges appeared. Setting up camp would be horrific with so many swarming round my head. I pushed on. Buildings appeared, Rannoch Station and also the Moor of Rannoch Hotel. I celebrated a long enjoyable day with a bottle of excellent beer – Harviestoun’s Schiehallion, of course.

About the author

Chris Townsend is a renowned longdistance walker who also writes. His last book, Out There, won the OWPG Outdoor Book of the Year 2016. Along the Divide, his account of walking Scotland’s watershed, is published by Sandstone, price £9.99