Hill: Conostom
Date: Sunday 4th May 2014
Company: Just myself
Distance: 8km, Ascent: 275m
Time: 3Hrs
The weather today was poor. The cloud was down to almost road level and there was constant drizzle and rain showers throughout the day. I was a bit apprehensive about ascending great wee hills in near zero visibility. I therefore reluctantly set out to ascend Conostom and Coltraiseal Mor.
I parked in a small car park on the B8011 below Conostom.
Right from the outset the terrain was fairly wet. This theme would continue throughout the day.
Looking back to car park for Conostom:
During the ascent and descent of Conostom I passed numerous shielings only some of which were marked on the map.
A shieling:
I decided to ascend via the ridge leading to Griosamol. The ascent to the summit of Griosamol was straight-forward in the mist.
On the ridge to Griosamol:
During the ascent I stopped to take a photo of a red grouse.
A red grouse:
Another shieling:
Walking in the mist towards Griosamol:
I reached the summit of Griosamol fifty minutes after setting off from the car.
Approaching the summit of Griosamol:
To descend from Griosamol I had to double-back a short distance to avoid descending via rocks.
Looking back to Griosamol:
I then made my way across towards Conostom. On reaching the small lochan, I crossed the middle of the loch via a small strip of land.
Lochan between Griosamol and Conostom:
I then reached the twin tops of Teathabhal the first of which I skirted round and the second I went over.
Crossing gneiss en-route to Conostom:
As I approached the final section to the summit of Conostom, I was confronted by crags. It was difficult to get a good look in the mist but it looked climbing territory. I therefore skirted my way round the crags until finding a grassy line leading up towards the summit followed by a short section of grass interspersed with rocks.
Approaching the Conostom summit crag:
Skirting round the summit crags:
I visited the trig point and then the summit rock 18m South of the trig point.
Trig point near the summit of Conostom:
Looking back to the trig point from the summit of Conostom:
Conostom is a much rockier hill than the 1:50000 Landranger map lets on. There are a number of crags not marked on the map.
Instead of returning the same way, I opted to descend a nice grassy line down towards Loch Tungabhat.
Looking towards Loch Tungabhat in descent:
Looking towards Loch Athaltair and Loch Rog islands:
Looking back towards the summit of Conostom:
A shieling above Loch Tungabhat:
I was suprised to find such a mess along the shore of Loch Tungabhat. The large grey boxes would appear to be full of polystyrene balls. I assume these acted as floats for the metal structure like some kind of pontoon bridge.
A bit of a mess at the edge of Loch Tungabhat:
It didn't take long before abandoning the walk alongside the loch to head back instead towards my inbound track.
Looking back to Loch Tungabhat:
During the walk out I passed two shielings which were not marked on the map.
Another shieling:
And another shieling:
I think Conostom would be an excellent viewpoint on a fine day. It was disappointing to have walked it in clag.
On returning to the car, I drove circa three miles further along the B8011 to reach the starting point for Coltraiseal Mor.
Hill: Coltraiseal Mor
Date: Sunday 4th May 2014
Company: Just myself
Distance: 8km, Ascent: 300m
Time: 2Hrs 25Mins
At the start of the walk I took a photo of a very young H'lan calf.
A H'lan calf:
I then walked along the private road leading to Morsgail Lodge.
Start of track towards Morsgail Lodge:
The road leading to Morsgail Lodge is really nice. It follows a lovely burn with lots of gorse which was in bloom and smelling strongly of coconut. I saw numerous birds during the walk in including a Dipper. Unfortunately, lots of Rhodedendron has seeded alongside the burn. The estate would appear to be trying and failing to control this alien species.
Following the road alongside the burn:
Coltraiseal Mor:
On reaching Loch Morsgail, I crossed the burn via a bridge and then followed a vehicle track leading towards Coltraiseal Mor.
Bridge at the outflow of Loch Morsgail:
Loch Morsgail and Morsgail Lodge:
The vehicle track was extremely wet underfoot. Some sections of the track consisted of black grass floating on top of bog.
Following the vehicle track towards Coltraiseal Mor:
A bridge over the burn:
I followed the vehicle track until reaching a height of 100m before abandoning the track to ascend directly to the summit.
Following the vehicle track towards Coltraiseal Mor:
Looking down to Loch Coire Geurad and Loch Langabhat:
On reaching the flat summit area, I visited both cairns.
Looking towards the summit of Coltraiseal Mor:
Neighbouring Coltraiseal Beag is allegedly only 2m lower than Coltraiseal Mor. Hopefully the height measurements are correct and I ascended the Marilyn.
Looking across to Coltraiseal Beag from the summit of Coltraiseal Mor:
Loch Coire Geurad, Loch a'Sguair and Loch Langabhat:
I returned to the car via approximately the same route.
Despite the lack height gain today, it was a fairly tiring day owing to fairly awful terrain.