Hill of Nigg

25 June 2013 (afternoon)

Participants - Just me
Where - Hill of Nigg, 205m/669', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 21, NH 828713

Cnoc Corr Guinie had only taken just over two hours so I drove round to Nigg to climb Hill of Nigg, one of the lowest of the Marilyns. It was made even easier by the side road to Castlecraig that reached 140m on the south side of the hill. It was a very quiet road so I parked in a lay-by. I was looking directly down on the Nigg energy yard and as I had seen from Cnoc Corr Guinie, there were some oil rigs in the Firth as well.....

The route went through fields. Unfortunately, I could see that there were cattle in the upper field and I guessed that there would probably be calves so best avoided. The field next door was just grass so I went up it keeping out of sight of the cattle, contoured part way round the summit area and sneaked up to the highest point from the other side. Although they had left their calling cards, all of the cattle were further down the hill. The top was marked by a few stones.....

and this is looking across the Moray Firth to the Banffshire coast.....

The walk car to car took only 40 minutes.

I just had to cross the Cromarty Firth on the ferry. This is what travel in the Highlands used to be like! The ferry crosses between Nigg and Cromarty and takes 4 cars. It uses a turntable to turn the cars round when they are on board- no RoRo here! The route is called the King's Ferry and is the route taken by King James VI when on pilgrimage to the shrine of St Duthac at Tain between 1493 and 1513. It took 10 minutes to cross and cost £9 for the car, Ben and me. Well worth it! Here are a few pictures.....

And this is the view of Hill of Nigg from Cromarty, the highest point is to the left of the shot.....