Munros, Scotland

As I headed towards the village of Garve, I nearly missed the waterfall tucked between trees on the side of the road. Curious about where it was coming from a five minute walk further took me to a faint rocky path that led up towards the river and onto a series of falls known as Ardessie Falls. From up here I enjoyed gorgeous views across Little Loch Broom and An Teallach, a mountain to the east of the falls.

  (Photo by Anna Savelea on Unsplash)

An Teallach is a complex mountain with ten peaks over 3,000ft (914m). Whilst they could all be classified as Munros only the highest peak, Bidean a' Ghlas Thuill at 3,484ft (1,062m) carried that honour until 1981 when it's nearby Sgùrr Fiona summit was added to the list. 

Reaching Garve, I took a hike up to the Sgùrr Fiona and experienced the most splendid panorama of mountainous landscape with Loch na Sealga below and the winding course of two rivers joining together that poured into the lake.

My next stop was the Corrieshalloch National Nature Reserve to visit the Falls of Measach, a 157ft (45m) tall waterfall that crashed into the Droma River below and coursed its way through a narrow gorge all the way into Loch Broom. Following a woodland trail, I arrived at a suspension bridge where the waterfall tumbled over several layers before plunging into the river. Crossing the bridge, I walked a little further up to another platform where I could enjoy the tree-lined gorge, the waterfall in the distance and the suspension bridge above it. Travelling north-westerly again, I reached Loch Broom the sister lake to Little Loch Broom. The two lochs are parallel to each other and divided by a peninsula which contains the mountains of Beinn Ghobhlach and Beinn nam Ban. To the east of Loch Broom is the village of Ullapool.

With a population of 1,500 residents, Ullapool is the largest settlement in the region and serves as an important port for fishing, yachting and ferry transport. The village was founded in 1788 and designed by Thomas Telford expanding the then existing hamlet of 20 households. The village is surrounded by mountains and Ullapool River runs through it.

Off the shore of Loch Broom near the port, I found an inn where I took an outside seat to enjoy the lake and surrounding mountains whilst I had dinner. From the menu I chose a cider battered haddock with skin-on fries, peas and homemade tartare sauce and finished off with a steamed pudding with vanilla ice cream. I cleaned my palate with a crisp glass of viognier and finished the evening with a hot cuppa of Scottish Blend tea.