Hills: Sabhal Beag and Meall Horn
Date: Friday 3rd October 2008
Company: Myself and Beinn
Time: 5 Hrs 55 Mins (At Warp speed thanks to Beinn)
Dog friendly: Yes

Parked just off the road at the recommended starting point for Arkle, Foinaven and Meall Horn. We followed the tarmac road and then the land rover track that skirts behind Loch Stack. Terrific views of two fine mountains (Arkle and Ben Stack) during this walk-in.

Arkle from track behind Loch Stack:


Looking across Loch Stack to Ben Stack:


After circa 3km we reached the bothy at Lone and a new wooden building that is currently under construction.

Arkle:


Lone bothy:


On reaching Lone, I decided to head for Sabhal Beag first. We headed East along a land rover track through the Strath Luib na Seillich and following the Abhainn an Loin.

Ben Stack from Strath Luib na Seillich:


The bealach we were heading for looked quite some distance away.

Looking towards distant bealach between Sabhal Beag and Meall Garbh:


Walking alongside the Abhainn an Loin:


During the 7km walk from Lone to the bealach we passed a couple of impressive dry-stane bridges.

One of two dry-stane bridges:


On reaching the high-point of the path we headed North up grassy slopes towards the summit of Sabhal Beag.

Looking across to Meall Garbh of Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhughaill from slopes of Sabhal Beag:


A hundred metres or so before reaching the summit, I stopped to take several photographs of surrounding hills.

Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhughaill from Sabhal Beag:

Ben Stack from Sabhal Beag:


Arkle from Sabhal Beag:


On reaching the summit, I could see bad weather approaching in our direction.

Beinn bagging the summit cairn of Sabhal Beag (Ben Hope behind):


After descending Sabhal Beag to the bealach onto Sabhal Mor the hailstones started. The showers of hail were on and off for the next hour or so.

Looking back to Sabhal Beag from bealach between Sabhal Mor and Sabhal Beag:


The ascent of Sabhal Mor was easier than it looked from a distance.

Arkle and Meall Horn from Sabhal Mor:


The going from Sabhal Mor to Meall Horn was mainly over quartzite stones and boulders. Didn’t take long to reach the large summit cairn of Meall Horn. Was disappointing that I got no views across to Arkle and Foinaven from the summit.

Hailstones at summit of Meall Horn:


On descending Meall Horn towards the Allt Horn path, I got my first views of Foinaven. Foinaven looks an incredibly long walk!

A distant Foinaven from slopes of Meall Horn:


We followed the Allt Horn track for circa 4km back towards Lone. Again Ben Stack was looking impressive.

Ben Stack across Loch Stack:


Stopped for a quick photo of the large boulders at the edge of the forest near Lone.

Beinn and the two large boulders:


Then walked from Lone back out to the starting point. Really happy that the weather was considerably better than forecast.