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WALK TWO

Ben Klibreck

Start/Finish	Layby opposite the Crask Inn (NC 523 247)
Distance	26km (16 miles)
Ascent	1200m
Time	9½hrs
Terrain	A lengthy approach on a clear track, then a steep pathless ascent. Open grassy ground lacking the boulders and heather so common elsewhere on Scottish hills. Attentive navigation is needed in poor visibility.
Maps	OS Landranger (1:50,000) 16; OS Explorer (1:25,000) 443
Transport	Daily post bus from Lairg to Altnaharra on A836 – you won’t miss your stop, there’s literally nothing to confuse it with
Accommodation	The Crask Inn (01549 411241)
Summits	Ben Klibreck (possibly ‘hill of the speckled cliff’, Gaelic; or possibly ‘cliff slope’, Norse); Meall nan Con 961m (‘hill of the dogs’)
Sleeping Out	The shores of Loch a’ Bhealaich and Loch Choire are ideal for wild camping
Seasonal Notes	There are no particular difficulties in winter, although it might be sensible to reverse the direction of the walk so that the hill stage is done in daylight. The distance could be reduced significantly, too, by incorporating Meall an Eòin into the round instead of the more distant Meall Ailein. Bear in mind that the steep grassy slopes of Meall nan Con present a potential avalanche hazard.
Short Cuts	Climb Meall nan Con from the Bealach Easach, then return over Cnoc Sgriodain as described

Caithness and Sutherland share a waterlogged nothingness unmatched in scale, yet the apparent desolation belies a rich habitat of international botanical and ornithological significance. This is Europe’s largest blanket bog, the least mucked-up ecosystem of significant size remaining in the British Isles. Commercial forestry wreaked great damage here as a 1980s tax break, but the Flow Country’s unique value is now recognised – not least as a natural carbon sink. The lone massif of Ben Klibreck rises as a rounded wave on the western side of this great moorland sea.

From the A836 at its foot this gentle hump promises little, its sole attraction seemingly the ease of ascent for Munro baggers; but a linear dash from the road does neither the hill nor the hillwalker justice. This full circuit of Ben Klibreck has a sense of scale and isolation more worthy of the surroundings. Little-frequented Bealach Easach leads to the obscure lochs stretched below the mountain’s hidden eastern flank, a post-glacial landscape of unexpected grandeur.

Ben Klibreck from Ben Hope

Approach 11km

This drawn-out approach permits a return along the full stretch of Klibreck’s high, grassy spine. The A836 is fairly close but this does little to dent the sense of remoteness; after all, it’s a single-track A-road on which a dozen cars per hour would count as significant traffic. Even the walk’s starting point has a back-of-beyond feel, the Crask Inn being almost the only habitation for miles (and a good place for seeing a spectacular night sky without braving the elements).

Loch Choire from Meall Ailein

Park opposite the Crask Inn, then walk a short way S along the road until level with a cottage. Go left through a little gate and follow a track roughly E alongside the River Tirry, which runs almost dead straight past two big pine plantations. Once level with the second plantation the path climbs the left flank of a vague corrie to reach the remote Bealach Easach, a historic cross-country through-route.

Hitherto gentle and rolling, the terrain to the east now becomes more rugged. Ahead stretches a broad crag-rimmed trough cradling two connected lochs. The fine old track descends gently into the glen, following the north bank of Loch a’ Bhealaich to reach the shore of the larger Loch Choire. With sandy beaches, crags and scatterings of native woodland, this is an attractive spot. Beyond a patch of tall pines by the shore and an adjacent forestry enclosure is a wooden bridge over a gorse-flanked river.

On the hill 13km

Looking east into the Flow Country from Meall Ailein

Beyond the bridge split left from the track, climbing N up a seemingly never-ending grassy slope. There is no path, but since the hillside is also free of the usual Scottish duo of tussocks and heather the going is fairly easy. Pass a small cairn to reach a broad rocky ridge, and a while later a stone memorial to the victims of an air crash. This long ascent eventually gains the little rugged peak of Meall Ailein, a grand viewpoint from which to survey the enormous emptiness that stretches to every horizon. To the north is Loch Naver; to the west the distant peaks of the Atlantic seaboard; to the east nothing much at all.

Follow the ridge W. At first the going is gentle, then a rougher climb through peat hags leads over Meall Meadhonach. From here it’s grassy again, the well-defined crest of the main peak’s northeast ridge rising airily to Meall nan Con, Klibreck’s sole Munro summit. Descent requires care in the mist; drop steeply almost due W to the crest of A’ Chioch, which then swings southward to a broad col (spot height 688m).

Continue S on the gradual ridge climb to Creag an Lochain. From here briefly head S before bearing SW and then, lower down, W, descending a steady slope cut with peat hags to reach a low col – there is a path, although it’s easily misplaced. A last climb now gains the minor summit of Cnoc Sgriodain. Descend the vague south spur, bearing rightwards across the tussocky lower slopes to pick up a wide 4WD track.

Return 2km

The track blazes through the peat, leading (muddily in parts) back to the A836 just north of the Crask Inn – a welcome sight.

Meall nan Con from Strath Vagastie