Hill: Todun
Date: Saturday 3rd May 2014
Company: Just myself
Distance: 4.6km, Ascent: 370m
Time: 1Hr 55Mins
I set out this morning from my base at Kershader to ascend Todun in North Harris.
En-route to Todun, and on the way back from Todun, I visited Aird a'Mhulaidh on the off-chance someone with a boat would take me across to Eilean Shiophort (and back). No such luck. Starting to think I may need to swim or kayak across to this one on a future trip!
I parked circa 50m uphill from the car park marked on the map.
Click here to see a map of the route undertaken
From the car, I made my way up hill onto the NNW ridge of Todun. I ascended via a mix of grass and gneiss rock.
Looking towards Todun from start of walk:
Looking back to car:
Loch Seaforth:
Once onto the ridge, I made my way up trackless terrain to the summit.
Todun:
During the ascent, I stopped beside a small cairn to take some photos.
An Clisham and Loch Seaforth:
Loch Mharaig and Loch Seaforth:
Ascending Todun:
I passed two boulders that were obviously at one time a single boulder having been split at sometime in the past by ice.
Ascending Todun:
It was nice to again see the Shiants, having got good views of them on Beinn Bhreac the day previous.
The Shiants (zoom):
Today was my least favourite type of weather for photography, drizzle! After every photo I had to dry the lens. The forecast on Thursday evening advised of a near perfect blue sky day for today. The forecast was obviously kack!
Where is the sunshine?:
Looking along the coast and towards the Shiants:
It didn't take long to reach the summit of Todun. During the ascent, Ted was very much in my thoughts especially on looking across to Sgaoth Aird. Ted died on this neighbouring hill earlier this year.
Approaching the summit of Todun:
The summit of Caiteseal was only about 4km away as the crow flies. Caiteseal has the claim to fame of being the remotest Marilyn in Britain. It is a helluva walk to get there but really short and simple if you have access to a boat.
Looking across Loch Seaforth to Caiteseal:
Summit of Todun:
After taking a few photos at the summit, I returned to the start via the same route.
Loch Seaforth during descent:
I then drove to Baile Ailein for an ascent of Roineabhal.
Hill: Roineabhal
Date: Saturday 3rd May 2014
Company: Just myself
Distance: 8.8km, Ascent: 350m
Time: 2Hrs 30Mins
I could not find any reports on the internet for Roineabhal, so it was a case of make up a route and hope for the best. I opted to make use of the circa 1km long track from Baile Ailein to get me closer to the hill before venturing onto trackless terrain.
Click here to see a map of the route undertaken
Track from Baile Ailein towards Roineabhal:
The ground beyond the end of the track was better than expected consisting mostly of grass and short heather. It was wet in places but not too bad.
Roineabhal from beyond end of track:
Looking back towards Baile Ailein:
With a bad back today, I was a bit worried about fences. Thankfully, I only had to climb over once low fence and pass through three unlocked gates.
Loch Stranndabhat:
There were a few ups and downs whilst making my way across to the base of the NNW ridge of Roineabhal. However, I tried to skirt as much as I could to avoid gain/loss of height.
Roineabhal:
Roineabhal:
Onto the ridge of Roineabhal:
North Harris hills:
Roineabhal is quite a nice hill, much nicer than its neighbour, Sleteachal Mhor.
Panorama from Roineabhal:
A short distance below the summit there is a short crag to ascend. I found an easy way up through the crag.
Route up through crag:
I was surprised to see the trig point toppled over on this hill.
Approaching the summit shelter of Roineabhal:
Summit shelter and collapsed trig point on Roineabhal:
The summit is a really good viewpoint. There are lochs everywhere hence the name of the area, "Lochs". The landscape reminded me of fantastic North Uist.
Loch Roineabhal from summit of Roineabhal:
Loch Trealabhal from Roineabhal:
Loch Eireasort from Roineabhal:
After taking several photos at the summit, I returned via roughly the same route back to the start.