Highlands Hiking – Beinn Eighe

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Scottish Highlands Hiking – Beinn Eighe

July 3

After a hearty Scottish breakfast at The Torridon Hotel, and a quick shuttle, we headed into the rugged countryside just north of Torridon. The whole Backroads group started out together, but halfway through Em and I, along with our friend John and his son Charlie (plus a guide) were the only ones to opt for continuing on for the longest hike of the day.  This was to Beinn Eighe, with a hidden lake, at about 11 miles. Our trail took us up between Liathach and the famous Beinn Eighe, a massive beinn (mountain), where we discovered a dramatic landscape of soaring pinnacles, cliffs and valleys formed by glacial erosion.

Unfortunately, our discovery was significantly blunted by lots of thick fog and rain. This was fairly typical of our hikes in the Highlands where we saw amazing landscape but we should have seen a lot more. Such is the risk of hiking in Scotland. It by no means dampened the spirit of the adventure or the appreciation of the beauty we did see. At the turnaround point was a craggy waterfall that appeared for just a few minutes before being consumed by the fog again. The timing was perfect for us to be able to see it, get some nice pics, and have lunch atop the beinn at the lake which fed the waterfall. This hike was fantastic, challenging, and very rewarding. Our guide was happy we chose to go on for the 11 miles because he wanted to do it too.

Upon returning we each enjoyed a bath and dinner at the wonderful Torridon Hotel.

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