Sail Mhor from Ardessie

Ardessie start

Around 12km south of Ullapool, the A832 branches off the main A835 at Braemore junction. This road climbs over moorland and drops to Dundonnell at the southern tip of Little Loch Broom.

Around 4km further on, are a few houses that make up Camusnagaul and Ardessie, where there are also some waterworks. Below the waterwork's buildings is a layby with space for around 5 or 6 vehicles.

Path heading up from Ardessie

A path begins by the layby, aside which is a sign declaring 'No access to local tourist attraction' ! This is to discourage people wandering up here with the goal of viewing the waterfalls on the Allt Airdeasaidh - the path for the waterfalls begins on the eastern side of the burn.

So begin hiking up the path. The path is well-constructed, climbs fairly steeply and ends abruptly by some drains and ironwork at around the 100m contour.

Above the path, aim south-west and climb up a gentle slope through grass and heather while crossing occasional bog and soggy ground. Ascent steepens for a short section, above which a line of old fence-posts is crossed. Ahead a wide grassy ledge can be seen climbing above heather pitted with rocks and below some crags - aim for this.

The grassy ledge, reaches an elevation of around 550m , above which the steep slope begins to ease - at this point turn northwards and climb directly up the fall-line of Sail Mhor's south-eastern shoulder.

The route passes under some sandstone tors, and continues on towards a minor rocky summit , where dominating the view ahead is the grass-covered summit plateau of Sail Mhor.

Looking to Beinn Ghobhlach from Sail Mhor

Looking to Beinn Ghobhlach from Sail Mhor

Wall leading to Ruigh Mheallain

Beyond the drains at 100m, the route so far has seen no footpaths, but that's about to change !

From the small southwesterly cairn on Sail Mhor's summit, turn south-west and follow the line of the crest downhill. An obvious path forms picking a line through rocks as it descends. The path drops to a wide grass-covered bealach between Sail Mhor and Ruigh Mheallain where the remains of an old wall are met.

From the bealach, follow the wall southwards and uphill to the summit of Ruigh Mheallain - a superb place to view the massif of An Teallach ahead and where some weird erratic boulders rest.

Leaving Ruigh Mheallain, continue southwards for 100m or so, then turn east and drop down thick grass to more level ground below. Aiming for the fence-line met earlier, head north-east, tracing occasional deer-trods through grass.

Beyond the fence-line, retrace your steps back to the roadside, perhaps detouring on the way to the Allt Airdeasaidh to get a sight of the waterfalls.