Cnoc Ruighean na Sgainn - tourist route

Date: 25 July 2016

Hills: Cnoc Ruighean na Sgainn

OK, so this title is supposed to be a joke. I mean… and be honest now… have you ever even heard of this hill, let alone a tourist route up it? I certainly can't say I had heard of Cnoc Ruighean na Sgainn before this summer. I'll assume you haven't either, so it may help if I say it lies between Balnacoil and Cnoc na h-Innse Mire. Not helpful? Fair enough - try the top of OS square NC8013.

Right, I'll stop being obtuse. This summer C and I were on holiday in Brora, on the edge of Mambaland up in the far north-east. I can't really explain why I love the area so much. I could say it's the sense of space and spareness that I find such a draw, but that makes me sound like some kind of astral hermit, which to the best of my knowledge I'm not. Far from it. I like a sense of purpose. A project. A something. So, in an area full of Nothing, the Something I came up with acquiring was the occasional Geograph - an unphotographed square on the OS 1:50 000 maps of the UK (as represented on geograph.com). Not surprisingly, the remaining Geographs in the UK are away from civilization, which means they are thickest on the ground in the remoter corners of northern Mambaland. So I planned walks which aimed not for shapely summits, but for bagging empty squares on a map! If you think this is a ridiculous, artificial way to plan an outing, you're dead right. But not so fast! Is it any more artificial than setting out to reach a point which - first assuming a sea 'level' which doesn't actually exist - rises above that 'level' by an arbitrary number of units, as measured in an antiquated system of measurement? No, bagging in any form is gloriously silly. And, of course, I say this as a silly bagger myself.

Enough blether. Off we go! From Balnacoil (just beyond the top of beautiful Loch Brora) we headed out on the estate track along the eastern side of Blackwater. After a mile or so, approaching a small copse of trees, a four-wheel track leads off uphill.

So this is the 'tourist route'? Well yes, that was supposed to be a joke too, but hang on, isn't the 'tourist route' on Sgurr nan Gillean an even bigger joke? I saw two more tourists (three if I include Sadie our dog) on the SW flank of this hill than I ever have on the SE ridge of Gillean. Comparisons between Cnoc Ruighean na Sgainn and Sgurr nan Gillean end here. There is no Pinnacle Ridge or (missing) Gendarme to be seen from the top of this one…

…only fresh air, flat high land, and the distant view of the hills in the Ben Armine Forest.

So, with our Fine Peak achieved, where next? Ah yes, another nameless (alright, it's known to its friends as NC8114) Geograph. From which…

…the shapely outline of Carrol Rock stood up above Loch Brora.

Now, I'll be honest. There was a measure of mutiny in the ranks around here. Cpt. Caroline, along with her yappy Sgt. Sadie, was quite happy to walk between two arbitrary points, but she drew the line at wandering off half a mile just to bag another bit of nothingingness. Fair enough. So whilst I went off to sample the noumenal space of NC8114, two-thirds of the party headed direct to the altogether more phenomenal _ _ _ _ _ _. Well it was phenomenal on the ground, in that it had a cairn, and even a bit of a slope, but on the map it was even more noumenal than Cnoc Ruighean na Sgainn. No name. Not even a spot height. I could identify it by calling it NC 8051 1524, but that demeans it: space defines its essential character much better. Anyway, here's the rest of the expedition waiting at _ _ _ _ _ _ for me…

The cairn at _ _ _ _ _ _ told me that this wasn't a first ascent. The nature of the cairn, though, suggested that this might just have been a first post-Neolithic ascent…

I'd love to know the history of a cairn like this. How? Why? Any chieftains underfoot?

From _ _ _ _ _ _ we trooped off northwards across one of the platest flateaus I've ever seen. And there, right in the middle of it, was an outlandish sight. A silent stream was gliding purposively westwards.

No matter how long we looked at it, and from what angle, it was impossible to discern whatever gradient the water had clearly found. Until we almost stepped into it, we had no clue of its existence. And here, I suppose, is the real reason I love this area: the sense of discovery. I'm not kidding myself that it is actual discovery. No, the cairn we'd just passed told its own story of previous visits. Just imagine… perhaps a barque carrying the dead chieftain had made its way up this very watercourse.

And it wasn't just the humans who found this stream to be the highlight of the trip…

It was all downhill from there. Across to…

…the Achaness Burn (with, I admit, a sneaky solo diversion by me to photograph NC7916) and back down to the lovely Blackwater.

The last of the shuntin' footin' hishin' brigade was making its way back down the glen. Cheery waves. We may have different specific aims, but I suspect our general goal is similar.

Breaking News! Shiller caught in fraudulent Geograph submission scandal!

We did quite a few of these walks during our week in Mambaland. It was just a bit of harmless entertainment for me, so I didn't bother verifying every position with my Garmin - I just had a quick check with the map - snap! - and on we went. Anyway, once we got home I submitted about twenty pickies to Geograph. In doing this I realised that one of these images, when I looked at it, was actually taken just outside the square I thought I had captured. Oops! Ah well, near enough I thought. My wad of images was gladly accepted by the moderator. In fact, about a week later my contributuon was recognized by making one of my pickies the Photograph for Today. And yes, you guessed it, they chose the one image I knew to be, ahem, marginal. Cue the fires of hell being rained down upon me! Within about half an hour I'd had fifteen emails from various real geographers (not to be confused with mere Geographers like me) who - can you believe this - were accusing me of shoddy incompetence, if not actual fraud! Moi! They were, of course, absolutely right.

The moral of this story is that scientists should be very wary when they open up their projects to shamateurs like me. Oh, and if anyone wants it, square NC7816 is now back up for grabs.