Blaven from the start of the track to Luib
About 8 miles there and back
Gaelic on the route
This route looks interesting on the map with a black dotted track all the way up Srath Mr from just west of Torrin, going all the way to Luib. It certainly turned out to be interesting enough, with knee deep bog, plenty of carrying and a river crossing too!
The best place to park the car is near the bridge over the river flowing south from Loch na Sguabaidh at gridref 565235. The track is easy to locate as it goes down the side of the burn and looks as though it'll be an easy ride to Luib!
End of the path!
Just round the corner, though, the track disappears into the loch and the best thing to do is just cycle along the shore, occasionaly going into the loch to bypass deep bogs and heather. The going's not too bad but definitely worth the front suspension upgrade! Past Clach Oscar, a split stone and we climb away from the loch with the track getting drier and rockier. Much rockier. Technical stuff up the side of Loch na Sguabaidh and before you know it, you've passed a large cairn, beyond which, the track has disappeared and you're faced with the terrain on the left. Wet mossy bogs! Where did that black dotted line go?
At this point I got the map and the bins out and had a look around. Spotting a path on the west side of the glen I shouldered the bike and humphed it over wet, slippery ground and over the Abhainn an t-Stratha Mhir to pick up the main track again. What you should do, is take a diagonal slanting left line from the cairn to get down to the burn and cross by a cairned "ford". I say ford, but it's actually a great swimming pool. Clear cool water, an easy splash across (knee deep) with a deeper part just next to it for a dip on a hot summer's day. Stop here to take in the view back down the glen: Lochain Stratha Mhir
The last 1Km to Luib
It was a fair plod from the burn crossing to Luib and in fact I didn't even get there. I was looking forward to a strpag and cilidh at the Blanshards' in Luib when I came round the corner to see this great looking track, pulled up a steep incline and the chain broke! Not a problem, I thought, only this time I'd forgotten my chain tool! What a wally. There was nothing to do but wrap the chain up and push the bike all the way back! If you ever need to carry a spare chain, I can recommend doing it this way:
Looking south to Belig
How to carry a chain!
I was caked in bog and soaking below the knees - just as well I wore sandals. Not a route for clipless pedals! I had to abandon the strpag session and the planned return over the old drove road to Dnan and the main road back to Torrin and instead turn round and push back to the car. It wasn't too bad though as the whole route is only about 4 miles and the walk wasn't too bad as I knew where the path was now. It's a very nice route indeed but try and do it after a drought!
This could be from Sguab, which is related to the plant "broom", which was used to make brushes. It suggests that there's a lot of broom around here but as I don't recall any it could mean sheaves of corn.
Oscar's stone.
The river of the big wide valley.
Loch of the otters
A bending of the shore. It can also mean a little glen but looking at the map, I think the most likely meaning is the bending shore one.
Possibly hill of the fold, as in cattle\sheep fold\pen. I like the other meaning - hill of witchcraft as it seems to tie in with the next one.
Burn of the fairy hill
Gualann is an elbow/corner of a mountain - Corner of the deer.