On Saturday we went a group of friends for an excellent walk in the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve. From Croick you go to Dingwall to Garve and then on to the Ullapool road. After a lovely drive, passing the osprey nest in a pylon and lots of hills just begging to be climbed, you swoop down into Kinlochewe at the head of Loch Maree and shortly afterwards come to a parking area for the reserve.

We went on a circular walk from sea level at Loch Maree up to 550 metres and then back again. It was quite steep and took four hours, but was well worth it. There is a native caladonian forest which you climb through on the lower ground before emerging into open ground where you excellent views north over Loch Maree (see picture above). I’m told that Loch Maree is the largest freshwater loch north of Inverness.

When you get to the highest point on the walk, you can go on to climb both Corbetts and Munros if that takes your fancy. They look like challenging walks and we were certainly not equipped to walk in the frozen snow on the high tops. But we were able to take some pictures, see below, which give you a good impression of what would lie ahead. Another time perhaps, in the summer.

Looking back across Loch Maree

The highest point on the walk

To the south (one of two)

To the south (two of two)

On the way down