Hills: Dun Caan
Date: Saturday 2nd June 2018
Company: Myself and Becky
Distance: 22.5km, Ascent: 860m
Time walking: 6Hrs 15Mins
After work on Friday, we made our way
across to Applecross without really having any kind of hill plan in mind. On
arrival in Applecross we visited the Applecross Inn, which is always a must,
and began considering our hill options for the following day. On spotting
Dun Caan, across the Inner Sound, I recalled ascending this fantastic,
prominent hill on a day of zero visibility. I knew I had to put that right
with a re-visit to Raasay and re-ascent of Dun Caan. We therefore abandoned
Applecross that same evening and made our way round the coast as far as Loch
Carron before parking up for the night.
On awakening the following
morning and looking out the van window, I was treated to a wonderful sight.
I popped out of the van to take some photos of Loch Carron which looked
almost surreal with mist, inversion and reflections. I posted the following
pic on Twitter and was amazed that within a day of posting it had reached
1000 likes and had gained me over 100 new followers.
Overnight parking spot at Loch Carron:
From Loch
Carron, I drove to Sconser on the Isle of Skye where on arrival we had
around twenty minutes to get ourselves suited and booted, make some
sandwiches and get ready to catch the first ferry of the day across to
Raasay. I decided it was not worth taking the van across and that we would
ascend Dun Caan from the ferry. Going across as foot passengers cost less
than £6 return for the two of us. A real bargain!
On arrival on Raasay, we initially made our way towards Inverarish where
we noticed a shop that we would potentially visit on the way back. We then
made our way towards Glen Lodge with a view to starting our ascent from the
disused mine. The track was very much overgrown and disappeared into the
trees so I was not keen to progress this way. Instead, we therefore retraced
our steps to take the North (Pole) road and then the good quality standard
route up Dun Caan.
Heading
towards the North Pole:
By the
time we reached the sign marking the start of the hill track, we were
already feeling the heat and began rationing our water.
Start of
hill track leading towards Dun Caan:
Thanks to
the good track, it didn't take long to reach the small lochan and Loch na
Meilich.
Ascending
the Dun Caan hill track:
On arrival
at the small lochan we stopped for a break to admire literally dozens of
Azure Damselflies which were darting about above the surface of the loch.
Dun Caan from small lochan:
Dun Caan:
We then
made our way down to Loch na Meilich before commencing the final ascent of
Dun Caan.
At Loch na
Meilich:
Looking
back towards small lochan:
The final
ascent is quite steep but straight-forward thanks to a zig-zagging track.
Final
ascent of Dun Caan:
It was
great to reach the summit of Dun Caan and get some views.
View from
the summit of Dun Caan:
Becky at
Dun Caan's trig point:
We spent
around ten to fifteen minutes at the summit before commencing our descent
and return to the ferry via the same route.
View from
the summit of Dun Caan:
Becky just
below the summit of Dun Caan:
Cumulonimbus forming towards the mainland:
During the
walk out, we spent a good twenty minutes again at the small lochan admiring
the views and the damsels.
Looking
back to Dun Caan from small lochan:
On reaching Inverarish, we visited the shop to buy a large bottle of juice
and some ice lollies before walking the final mile or so back to the ferry.
Dun Caan is definitely one of my favourite small hills.