Excursions 7, 8 and 9 The Southern Mountains and Dibidil

by E. P. Holohan, V. R. Troll and C. H. Emeleus

Note on Excursions 7, 8 and 9 The Southern Mountains and Dibidil. Exploration of the highly variable and structurally complex geology of the spectacular Southern Mountains may be undertaken from Kinloch Castle. Alternatively, one may use the refurbished and re-roofed 'open bothy', maintained by the Scottish Mountain Bothy Association for one or more overnights (see p. 5 for items needed for the bothies). This bothy [NM 3930 9275] is situated in Dibidil about a hundred metres west of the mouth of Dibidil River. On this basis, we provide below a number of suggested routes around the Southern Mountains. Each route has various optional or additional branches that the reader can explore upon consideration of time available, weather conditions, and starting and end points for the day (i.e. accommodation in bothy vs. castle). The 1:25,000 'Explorer' Ordnance Survey map (with cliffs marked) is absolutely necessary for these excursions.

Safety note

Several large streams cross the path between Dibidil and Kinloch. The lag time on the island from rainfall to streamflow is very short (a few hours), and if rainfall is heavy or lengthy, these streams consequently swell very rapidly into raging torrents that may prove impassable and can be fatal if attempted. If presented with such a problem while walking along the Dibidil path, the best solution is usually to detour upstream away from the path. Once a suitably safe fording point is found, cross the stream and walk back down beside the stream to rejoin the path. If still in Dibidil before the onset of bad weather, bear in mind that it is also possible to return to Kinloch by walking up to the head of Glen Dibidil to Bealach an Oir (the col between Askival and Trollaval). However, this option is not recommended in poor weather conditions, especially with low cloud. If the visibility is good, from the bealach contour through the screes on the lower slopes of Askival, to the west side of Hallival, then on to the col between Barkeval and Hallival. From that col walk down into Coire Dubh and take the path from the hydro-electric dam to Kinloch. The journey time for this route is perhaps slightly longer (3.0–3.5 hours) than by going along the Dibidil path. Alternatively, if it were essential to get back to Kinloch and visibility was bad, it would be possible to walk down into Atlantic Corrie, then to the south end of the Long Loch and follow along near the west side of the loch to the 'whaleback' (Excursion 4), reaching the Harris–Kinloch road north of Locality 4.4. (The total distance for this roundabout route from Dibidil to Kinloch is about 13 km.)

References