Mellon Udrigle to Glas Leitre parking area in Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve

We loved the campsite where we stopped last night and both said we could easily have stayed a few days there, unfortunately we do have to get home on Friday  so it wasn’t to be. If you do have plenty of time the price at the campsite reduces for additional nights to £7. We even had a visit from two inquisitive seals this morning while walking Finn on the beach.

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After leaving the campsite our first stop was Gairloch. We parked in the beach car park next to the golf club and did a lovely little circular walk along the beach, crossing the headland to the harbour, a quick refreshment stop at The Old Inn before returning through The Flowerhouse Arboretum. We met a lovely local couple with a Labrador that kept Finn entertained for the walk. They moved to the area 20 years ago and have said they have noticed a vast increase in campers and motorbikes touring in the last couple of years.
As the weather was dry with good visibility we decided we should try and go for a longer mountain walk. We really wanted to climb Ben Wyvis but the forecast is so variable for later in the week we decided to grab our chance while the weather was on our side. We parked in the Glas Leitre car park a couple of miles before Kinlochewe in the the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve. Beinn Eighe was Britains first Nature Reserve and the Information point in the car park has booklets on a couple of walks. We chose the mountain trail which is 6.5km long described in the booklet as a walk that will challenge you but not overstretch you and should take three to four hours. We did it in just over three hours walking a steady pace with lots of picture stops and a bit of stone skimming and dog paddling in the lochs at the top. For those who are vertically challenged the middle uphill section was the hardest as I was having to use my hands to scrabble a bit as my legs were not long enough to take the steps in one go. That said the path is well marked and maintained so I would definitely recommend it. The views are well worth all the effort.

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As it was getting on for six when we returned to the car park we decided to stop the night there, especially as we had a lovely view of Loch Maree out of our rear window. We were joined by a couple of Italian motorhomes so we were not all alone.

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Our overnight spot with Loch Maree in the background

We did see an interesting way of taking your dog on holiday with you today. A couple of motorbikes pulled in and one of them had a pet carrier instead of a back box and out popped a little staffy who seemed quite happy with her mode of transport, although I am not convinced.

Miles driven – 34
Miles walked – 7.4
Weather – dry with sunny spells and good visibility

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