Cnoc Mor (Strathpeffer)

1 June 2012

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Cnoc Mor, 269m/883', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 26, NH 490569

I have been in Strathpeffer umpteen times and done some walks there but had never ventured up Cnoc Mor. Maybe it was all the trees that put me off. Anyway, it is a sub-2k Marilyn, the day was still young after climbing Carn Faire nan Con, so I drove to Strathpeffer and parked in the woodland car park at the west end of the village signposted Blackmuir Wood. This is Cnoc Mor from the approach to Strathpeffer.....

I took the track signposted Knockfarrel past some houses; one of these had the most amazing collection of wood carvings that I have ever seen.....

There has been some forestry work here in the not too distant past and the lower slopes were clear although the trees looked pretty thick higher up.....

It certainly wasn't obvious how we were to get up through the forest; however, just before a sign pointing to "Maze", it looked as though there might be the beginnings of a path through the trees. It soon broadened out into a firebreak and it was clear that this was the trade route to Cnoc Mor. It was quite steep especially near to the top but the forestry had kindly provided a stile over the fence (Ben was able to get through a hole in the fence) and we were out on to the ridge of the hill. A rough path headed along the ridge with a few ups and downs along the way but it wasn't far to the trig which was in the middle of some deciduous woodland and gorse.....

There was no view from the trig but by dodging about between the trees and the gorse I managed to find a spot where I could get a view to the hills of the west (Affric, Strathconon etc).....

We had passed another stile on the way to the trig and Ben wriggled under the fence when we got back to it. He had obviously decided that this was a better way down. It looked in fact as if this might have been the route before the forestry operations started but the path was still in reasonable condition and less steep than the one coming up, although we did have some fallen timber to negotiate near the bottom. But we also got a good view of Ben Wyvis from the felled area so it was worth it!.....