I had long wanted to walk Ben Loyal (An Caisteal) in the far north of Scotland. It is a very fine-looking mountain and it is my final Corbett in the far north. It is also a Corbett – one of the very few! – that Hubby G was keen to walk, too. Sadly, the weather didn’t prove to be the best when I finally reached the summit between Christmas and New Year, but it was still an enjoyable outing.
I was also delighted to be able to refer to the new and updated guide book from the Scottish Mountaineering Club, The Corbetts by Rab Anderson, when planning the walk.
I aimed to follow the book’s suggested route from the north at Ribigill. The new guidebook is the third in the SMC’s series, starting with The Munros and including The Grahams & the Donalds. I enjoyed reading the informative description of the route to the summit of Ben Loyal and also a few other smaller summits to reach for great viewpoints. The guide includes a simple map and an estimated distance, height gain and time suggestion for the full return route.
A walk of Ben Loyal from Ribigill
Ben Loyal is a magnificent looking mountain, located between the Munro Ben Hope to the west and Loch Loyal to the east. It is most often accessed south on a minor road from the settlement of Tongue. While the highest point on the ridge, An Caisteal, at 764m is only just sufficient to qualify as a Corbett, its stunning isolation amid a wild landscape more than makes up for its relatively low stature.
Read about the Corbetts and other hill lists in Scotland.
I set out withHubby G and G’s old friend Gordon for the walk. The weather forecast had been a little more promising than we experienced but we were fortunate to be able to enjoy a grand view of the great craggy bulk of the Corbett ridge ahead of us as left a small parking area at grid ref: NC584547 walking south on a track.
We passed a field of attractive black Highland cows – snapping photos with the outline of Ben Loyal in the backdrop – and then took a turn to the left after passing some farm buildings.
The clouds came and went and the rain threatened but we were all in a cheerful mood and enjoyed the opportunity to catch up on years of chat. We had not seen Gordon for some time and we recalled the last Munros we had all walked together.
The track and then the path towards the base of Ben Loyal is quite flat but it is also very boggy. We had been hoping that the ground would be hard with ice, which would have shielded us from the worst of the mud, but we had no such luck. At one point I sunk to my shin in mud and G quickly realised his boots badly leaked.
We needed to make a few burn crossings, too, and that involved a leap into bog of unknown depth.
This all sounds rather grim but actually I don’t mind a squelchy walk if I am wearing the right kit. I had on my Salewa hiking boots and Dexshell waterproof socks as well as waterproof trousers over Flanci fleece-lined tights, which meant I stayed warm and dry.
It was some 4km into the walk before we started to climb more seriously. From here, there were some stiff steep sections, especially between 350m elevation and around 550m.
Looking at our route, you will see we traversed further south on the way to the top and then chose a more northerly route on the return. Our ascent was a little less steep then the descent but either routes work well because in both places there is a path/trod that is fairly easy to spot.
We followed a path-trod at the start of the ascent and then on reaching a series of lochs at around 550m, we checked our direction and set a bearing to reach the ridge to the north of An Caisteal. We needed to follow a bearing because we found ourselves in thick cloud and rain.
At the top there is a short scramble to reach the trig on the summit. It’s nothing daunting but we walked around for a bit before we spotted a way to gain the summit between the rocks. In clear conditions, you would more easily see the route between the rocks.
It was icy in places and the rocks were wet and slippery so after a quick photo at the chilly top, we made a careful descent. Sadly, we could not see anything through the thick mist at the top and we decided not to bother with an extra suggested walk to a southern point at Beinn Bheag.
Return route: Ben Loyal
Brilliantly, just below the summit, the clouds began to drift away and we were treated to a superb vista taking in lochs, the sea and the neighbouring mountain of Ben Hope. It was still damp and the rain came and went, but we stopped to take in the views.
I wish the weather had been better but it’s not always possible to predict. Fortunately, as we descended we were afforded ever better views as the sky cleared.
We also came across some of the wreckage of a plane, RAF Hampden, that crashed on the mountain in 1943.
The going was steep and slippery and as we walked we fell into silence while trying to concentrate on staying upright.
Eventually, we reached the flatter ground and walked back the way we had arrived. It was just as wet and boggy!
Turning back occasionally, we looked up at the mountain and, once again, admired its spectacular stature.
The total distance was just shy of 15km with some 830m total ascent.
Corbetts bagged: 174