Section two

   Achnashellach to Oykel Bridge

Distance: 3/4 days; 49mls/81km: Achnashellach to Kinlochewe: 10mls/17km; Kinlochewe to Corrie Hallie: 14mls/23km; Corrie Hallie to Oykel Bridge: 25 miles/42km

Map: OS Sheets 25, 19, 20

Start: Achnashellach Railway Station

Finish: Oykel Bridge

Transport for start and finish: Achnashellach is on the Inverness to Kyle of Lochash line, 0845 748 4950 wwwscotrail.co.uk. There are bus and postbus services from Bonar Bridge to Ledmore and Lochinver, passing Oykel Bridge

Traveline: 0870 6082608

Suggested Accommodation: Gerry’s Hostel, Achnashellach (01520 766232), Cromasaig Guest House, Kinlochewe (01445 760234), Oykel Bridge Hotel, Rosehall ( 01549 441218)

Tourist Information: Ullapool TIC, 01854 612135

Re-Supply: Kinlochewe, MORU Outdoor

Route Summary: From Achnashellach railway station cross the rail line (take great care),l go through a gate and follow the forest track to the top of a small rise. At the top of the rise turn left and follow another track to a fence and signpost for Coire Lair. Go through the gate in the fence and follow the path to Coire Lair. Just beyond the lip of the corrie turn right and follow the path that skirts the lower slopes of Beinn Liath Mhor and eventually drops down to Coulin. Turn right here, pass Torran-cuillin and follow the east edge of the forest plantation to the top of the forest. Continue following the forest edge west until you come across a cairned path running north from the forest (there is a footpath through this forest marked on the OS map but I’ve never found it.) The path crosses open country for about a mile before entering another forest plantation. My advice would be to skirt round the edges of the forest as the path through it is very sketchy and there is much fallen timber to clamber over – not much fun. Beyond the forest follow the river into Kinlochewe.

From Kinlochewe follow the A832 east for a short distance and take the turn-off to Incheril. Continue through the parking place onto the estate track, turn right and follow the track to a bifurcation at the heights of Kinlochewe. Go left here, into Gleann Muice. Cross the river by a footbridge and about half way up the glen take another rough path to the right to climb up and over Meallan Odhar. The path only continues for another mile or so before disappearing but continue in a NNE direction, over the river and up through the narrow defile of Bealach Gorm. Descend on the north side to a footpath that runs to Loch an Nid. Follow this path N for about 3 miles to a bulldozed estate track which then runs north all the way to Corrie Hallie and the A832. Head north along the road and turn right at the first junction. Cross the bridge over the Dundonnell River then pass through a gate on your right. Leave the path here and climb the hillside on your left until you come across a rough path.  Follow this path through the trees, go through two gates and cross a stream at the top of a waterfall. From here the path is sketchy but is marked for much of its length by cairns over moorland and past Loch an Tiompain before descending to the houses at Croftown. A road crosses the River broom from here to the A835, Garve to Ullapool road. Head north on the road for about half a mile before turning right at Inverlael. Follow the forest track to Glensquaib. From here another forestry track climbs north to the forest edge and beyond to a junction of streams at GR218873. Beyond here there is no path so make your way in an ENE direction to parallel the Allt na Lairige before descending to the River Douchary. Pick up another footpath at GR246903 and follow it past Loch an Daihm to Duag Bridge at the foot of Strath Mulzie. An estate track now runs east to Amat and Oykel Bridge.

Achnashellach to Oykel Bridge

Presiding over the Achnashellach Forest like some prehistoric watchtower, the 2976ft Fuar Tholl, or cold hole, is one of the most impressive hills in the land. Its three tops are guarded by steep cliffs of Torridonian sandstone, soaring skyward from the lower pine-clad levels of Coire Lair.

The track that climbs out of Achnashellach and into Coire Lair is a delight. You can cross the railway, with care, and you’ll be pleased to know that Network Rail hasn’t seen fit to ban pedestrians from crossing the railway line here as they’ve tried to do in dozens of other crossings throughout the nation. The forestry track then climbs through the woods before dropping down to the old stalkers’ path that follows the deep gorge of the River Lair. What a fabulous start to a walk, with pine trees sheltering the path that climbs over sandstone slabs, crinkled and creaked with streaks of quartzite that glint and sparkle in the sun.

As you surmount the lip of Coire Lair it’s worth pausing just to take in the scale of things. Two Munros are the normal attention-grabbers here – Sgorr Ruadh and the long, curving ridge of Beinn Liath Mhor. The classic Coire Lair Horseshoe walk gathers both of them in, the two Munros linked by a high pass, and stronger walkers often add the Corbett of Fuar Tholl, almost as an afterthought although it’s the finest mountain of the three.

In essence you are now in Torridon and the ancient geology of the region will dominate the scenery for the next couple of days. Consider it as you gaze on Beinn Eighe, near Kinlochewe. This isn’t so much a single mountain as a mini-chain of them, a complex range whose terraced cliffs are cut at frequent intervals by long, vertical gullies that drop down into great fan-shaped stone chutes. And if the visual impact of this hill doesn't take your breath away, its enduring quality certainly will. Beinn Eighe has been a National Nature Reserve for just over fifty years, a mere flicker of time in the life of a mountain, but at least it offers us a tangible time span to grapple with. It’s rather more difficult to wrestle with the comparatively abstract notion that the sandstone of our Torridon mountains was originally laid down about a thousand million years ago on a platform of Lewisian gneiss that could well be two and a half thousand million years old!

Beyond Kinlochewe, the only re-supply point on this section of the route, we enter a region known as the Letterewe Wilderness, between Loch Maree and Little Loch Broom. It was the poet Milton who once referred to “wilderness” as a place of abundance. American writer Gary Snyder, the poet laureate of the American ecology movement, agrees, but with the corollary that wilderness has also “implied chaos, eros, the unknown, realms of taboo, the habitat of both the ecstatic and the demonic. In both senses it’s a place of archtypal power, teaching and challenge.”

The north shores of Loch Maree are rich in oak wood and associated undergrowth and the glens are full of wild flowers - orchids, bog asphodel, lousewort and milkwort. Higher up the quartzite and Torridonian sandstone ridges, crags and tops offer all the challenge Snyder could ask for and I have little doubt you will experience some of that archetypal power beyond the Heights of Kinlochewe as you tred, possibly wearily, over the Bealach Gorm and down to Loch an Nid, a lonely stretch of water in a deep cleft between Creag Rainich and the great corrie bitten wall between Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair and Beinn a’ Chlaidheimh.

A high level path, cairned for much of its way, runs between Corrie Hallie below An Teallach, one of the most popular mountains in Scotland, and the A835 Ullapool road. On the north side of the road a private forestry track runs up through the Lael Forest into the lower part of Gleann na Squaib, a pleasant place with some spectacular waterfalls and good pools for bathing when the weather is warm enough. Higher up the glen, the stalkers’ path zig-zags up the steeper inclines towards the Munros of Meall nan Ceapraichean, Beinn Dearg and Cona’Mheall but our route to Cape Wrath takes a more northerly direction, up and over the wilds of Glen Douchary, along the shores of Loch an Daimh to Duag Bridge at the foot of lonely Strath Mulzie, and along the River Einig to Amat and Oykel Bridge.

Oykel Bridge lies on the River Oykel, 12 miles/19 km west of Lairg. An inn was built here in 1831 to serve travellers on the road to Assynt. The Oykel Bridge Hotel is a traditional angling establishment and is a bit huntin’fishin’shooting’ but hey, long distance backpackers can’t afford to be choosy!