I met a hill walking friend at Spean Bridge then drove east along the A86 to immediately east of the Glenspean Lodge where a minor road to the north led to Cille Choirill Church. A short distance up this road I parked on a tarred area beside a couple of cairns.
We returned to and crossed the A86 then walked down a vehicle track, passed a couple of houses, to reach the bridge over the West Highland Railway Line.
The track then continued west along the side of the railway coming to an end at a suspension bridge. This footbridge spanned the Monessie Gorge and didn’t look very safe, in fact a sign indicated that only two persons should cross at any one time. On using the bridge there were views of the River Spean rushing through the gorge. A section of a wooden plank was missing, not something you want to encounter midway across a shaking bridge.
After negotiating the bridge we followed vehicle tracks through fields of sheep to Monessie Farm. Although we spotted the farmer the house appeared uninhabitable. Once through a couple of gates we were onto the open hillside where more sheep roamed.
It was then a gradual climb crossing the line of a dismantled railway aiming for Beinn Chlianaig. Although pathless the underfoot conditions were reasonable and we were sheltered from a strong wind until higher up.
The highest point of this Graham Top appeared to be to the south-east of the cairn.
In the windy conditions we climbed Beinn Chlianaig’s East Top before on my own walked out to Cnap Cruinn’s South Top while my walking companion headed directly for the Graham, Cnap Cruinn.
I then made the short walk to the Graham but the views were a bit restricted due to some low cloud floating around the higher tops.
We avoided a re-ascent of Beinn Chlianaig by taking a more direct line to Monessie Farm although the vegetation was rougher and included some tussocky ground.
On reaching the farm we followed the tracks and bridges used earlier in the day back to the start.
- Time taken – 4.25 hours.
- Distance – 10.5 kilometres.
- Height climbed – 745 metres.