Meann Chnoc and Druim nan Damh – I parked on the road giving access to Glen Glass within the village of Evanton in Easter Ross and walked north along a tarred road passing a few houses. The road came to an end to be replaced by a path which was icy in places. Various paths and forest tracks were then utilised to reach a junction of tracks west of Meann Chnoc. A muddy and fairly steep path led to the Little Fyrish Monument on the summit of Meann Chnoc. The highest point of this Tump appeared to be ground just west of the monument.
After a coffee break at the monument, unfortunately there were no views due to the height of the trees, I returned west to the junction of tracks then walked south-west and west to another junction east of Druim nan Damh. Here I located a lesser used forest track that took me to just below this hill. I then briefly followed an old vehicle track and a mountain bike trail through the firs to the summit area which had been cleared of trees. There were a couple of paths here which I used to reach two different areas which were possibly the highest point of this Tump.
Thereafter I returned to the junction of tracks east of Druim nan Damh then descended south-east and east to rejoin the upward route near the pylons then it was back to my car in Evanton.
Callochy Hill – I somehow managed to miss this Tump when climbing the hills south-west of Cromarty on the Black Isle back in 2018, so after climbing a couple of Tumps above Evanton I drove towards Rosemarkie then along the minor coastal route for Cromarty.
I left my car at the start of the forest track to the north-east of Callochy Hill and walked the few metres west along this track before turning left and heading south-west on another track with very little height gain. Once east of the summit of Callochy Hill I came across an old track which led to a transmitter mast now removed. The highpoint of this Tump was amongst the well spaced trees to the west but where exactly I couldn’t tell.
The return was by the approach route.
- Total time taken – 4 hours.
- Total distance – 13 kilometres.
- Total height climbed – 450 metres.