thelonious

20/05/2019 – Finally made it here. Our visit to this cairn had been a long time coming. First noticed it on the map well over a year ago. It ticked a lot of boxes for me. A cairn, high up on a hill, in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t really matter if it turned out a bit rubbish, the adventure to get there looked worth the trip alone.

After spending the last year boring Mrs T about how we really should make the journey up to see it, we decided to go for it. Our whole trip up north was based round this cairn marked on the map. I didn’t really know anything about it and avoided looking for photos on the web. I wanted a surprise.

Staying in Durness I didn’t really relish the idea of a walk there and back so after a bit of digging we found out Durness run a Dial-a-bus. It’s not everyday and mostly in the morning I think. Phoned up the evening before and the woman said no problem, pick you up in Durness at 10.00am tomorrow to take you to Laid, on the other side of the hills east of Durness. 8-9 miles or so, less than £2 each!!! Brilliant service.

We got dropped off at the start of a track heading up hill (NC 4160 5958). Just north of the phone box (marked on map) on the A838. We used the track to gain a bit of height and then followed the Allt an Lagain uphill. Don’t start heading off early towards the cairn. Best to hit the ridge as it’s stone and makes walking a lot easier. Very interesting area for walking. The stones/rocks are great round here. Weather today was very rubbish. Our heads were down and our hoods were up. The rain was heavy at times and the hillside misty. It didn’t matter though. In fact it added to the atmosphere. After a time a shape appeared in the distance, I thought surely that’s not it. It looked brilliant. As we got closer the rain lessened and the mist cleared. There it was – a wonderful D-shaped Neolithic chambered cairn. Wow!

I was really taken with this one. It’s still in great nick and these folk really knew how to pick a location. Everything combined to make a wonderful visit. The mist on the hill, the quiet, the cairn and the great views down to Loch Eriboll and beyond.

Nice front to the cairn and you can make out where the passage would be. After walking round it a few times we just stood to catch our breaths and take it all in. Finally we had made it here and it felt good.

Worth mentioning are a small lines of cairns heading north from here. Some even have small standing stones by them. I don’t know if they are from the same time as the big cairn but there is something going on here. People have been visiting this special place for years I think.

With the rain still falling we reluctantly left the cairn behind and started north to our next destination – the aisled roundhouse below Meall Meadhonach. From there it was back over the hills to Durness. A long day and hard on the legs but just great, really great. The cairn was worth the wait.

17/05/2019 – Did my knee in a bit a few weeks back and it’s still sore. Our trip to this patch was mainly for walking, a few ups and a few downs. Thinking I didn’t want to chance my knee with hills every day, I turned to trusty Canmore for a bit of inspiration. Looking at the map I noticed two chambered cairns marked at Cromalt I’d never seen before. I thought that will do nicely for a day trip out. They are a little bit in the middle of nowhere nowadays. After a bit of umming about the best route to them we decided to start at Knockan. There is good parking in the layby on the A895 (NC 2119 1058). There’s a decent track, marked on the OS map, heading SE that took us about half the way. After that it was a bit of bashing over rough ground, trying to head in a straight-ish line to the first cairn at NC2393208131. After a good look at the cairn (very good with nice stones of the chamber still in place) we headed east to this cairn at NC2500907977.

No access problems but I think I’ll mention the going underfoot. There hadn’t been much rain round here for ages so the ground was very dry and that made the walk easy going really. If it had been raining for a week before we came I think it would be a completely different kettle of fish. Very soggy and tough going would be my guess. Also a few streams to cross.

The cairn itself is very nice. Not in that bad a condition and a few big stones showing. Location is a little different to a lot of the chambered cairns round here. Very open area. It did remind me a little of Loch Ailsh chambered cairn. Same kind of ditch round this one which may be natural due to the rate of peat build up surrounding the cairn compared to the stony cairn itself.

Very enjoyable day out. Two nice cairns and a bonus one near the start at NC21721041.

17/05/2019 – Tricky to pick my favourite between the two chambered cairns at Cromalt. The one to the east still has plenty of stones left and the cairn shape is better. I did like this one though to the west. Just the stones of the chamber showing on top of the grassy remains of the cairn. If you’ve made it this far you might as well visit both.

17/05/2019 – On the way to Cromalt chambered cairns we noticed this one. Just off the track heading SE from the houses at Knockan. I didn’t know of a cairn here but thought it looked like a could be through the binoculars. We decided to have a closer look on the way back. Turned out it was a chambered cairn on a nice little rise. Top surprise at the end of the walk. It’s not in great condition but there are plenty of stones left and one big orthostat still in place. I liked this one with its fine location overlooking the river below. Worth a look.

16/05/2019 – First day of our trip up north. The sun was shinning and it even felt a bit warm! We arrived at the good sized car park off the A837 feeling a little bit excited as we had been wanting to visit these caves for a while. There is a good path to the caves, about a mile up the lovely Allt nan Uamh. On a sunny day this really is a nice walk. The climb to the caves isn’t hard. Lots of orchids about today lining the path up. There are 4 main caves to look in. They don’t go back too far before getting narrow but are a good size at the entrance. Easy to imagine people living here. The view is wonderful too. The caves are probably best known for the many animal bones found here like Brown bear and even Polar bear! Human bones have also been found and dated to the Neolithic period. Suggestions have been made that it could have been a place of burial.

If you are ever in the area this place is well worth a visit. The hill (Beinn an Fhuarain) behind is worth a bob up too if you have the time, for some wonderful views.

05/05/2019 – Big car park to the west (NO14462366). This area looks popular for locals. Lots of signposted walks. We took the track east to near the hillfort then just a little climb to the top. The walk’s nice enough, lots of lovely trees to look at and a nice time of year to visit. Everything is starting to look very green. The hillfort covers a fair sized area but there isn’t much to see. One really just for the hillfort addicts. Views are good though from it.

The walk from the same car park to Kinnoull Hill to the west is better and worth doing as well if you happen to visit. Also to the south east the gothic looking Binnhill Tower is good on Bin Hill.