Beinn Bhan

APPLECROSS, SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

GO VISIT THE SUMMIT OF BEINN BHAN, THEN SEARCH OUT THE VIEWPOINT AND HAVE YOUR LIFE CHANGED...

WALK IT

I went to Applecross with then-Trail writer, Sarah Ryan, a few years back, and spent many a happy hour photographing and wandering the miles of wilderness that this area seems to revel in. We climbed Beinn Bhan, the highest point at 896m. That all went very well and was remarkably easy, due to a high starting point on the road over Bealach na Ba to the village of Applecross.

On nearing the top of Beinn Bhan, I wandered out to the top of a ridge (NG808446) leading to A’ Chioch. Then my life changed. Never, NEVER, had I seen a spectacle like this. I didn’t even know there were such treasures in this country and I’d been wandering it for long enough. The light was right, and great cloud shadows swept over Scotland. The view to the Coire below was utterly sheer. The lochans were of a startling shade of emerald. They were even tear-shaped, as if I wasn’t weeping enough in the face of such beauty. Being where we were, it seemed like a ‘too good to be true’ location for a few pictures – backdrops don’t get much better. We were right at the top of the ridge leading out to A’ Chioch, at the Beinn Bhan end. The scrambling was easy, but looked amazing.

Horizontal banding in these mountains gives them the look of their close Torridonian neighbours. A drop of around 300m separates you from those emerald lovelies below. Just don’t be in a rush to meet them. This ridge looks very walkable, one for the future maybe? Ben Alligin, one of the Torridonian classics, looms in the distance. Liathach is under cloud to Ben Alligin’s right. Cloud shadows add drama to huge vistas. This pic was taken in the afternoon, the light being in the right direction (ie over the shoulder) for a detail-rich picture. Sarah Ryan on the easy, but exposed scramble for the most incredible photoopportunity (accessed from the top).

Tom Bailey, Trail photographer