Rainbow over Loch Dubh

Our next door neighbour Anne came round for coffee yesterday afternoon and amidst our other chat we were quizzing her on local walks. She recommended the “Dams Walk” which I had vaguely heard of, but had no idea of how to access it. Anne described how to get there; it’s between Ardmair and Strathcanaird. So this morning we set off to find it, taking with us a flask of tea. 

It was a fine morning, dry and quite sunny, which was great because when we arrived at the lower dam, we had great views over towards Cul Beag and Stac Pollaidh. We hadn’t been able to find a suitable parking space at the bottom of the hill or on the way up, so to my delight we drove almost all the way to the top before finding an area wide enough to park. James was visibly disappointed because there is nothing he likes better than slogging up a hill. However he soon cheered up when he saw the paths leading up to and around the dams, one of which is called Loch Dubh. We had a lovely walk and found a nice spot for our cup of tea. The clouds started to roll in and we were treated to another rainbow, of which we have seen several this week. 

We had wondered whether there would be a way to walk over towards Loch Achall and Ullapool Hill; the map shows that the path ends at the upper dam and doesn’t resume until near the recycling centre, so we didn’t know what the terrain in between would be like. We could see once we got there that it looked fairly walkable, so James extended his walk all the way to Ullapool Hill and then home, which pleased him mightily, while I headed back to the car and drove home. 

It’s another good place to take our visitors walking and picnicking next summer.