Hike date = May 20, 2024
After a longer-than expected full-day hike up Cul Mor, our Wilderness Scotland guide gave us a bit of a break. We enjoyed a cruise among the Summer Isles to start the day. Then we piled in the van and headed to Stac Pollaidh (pronounced Stack Polly) for an afternoon tromp. Mr GeoK’s Relive video recap of our afternoon hike can be viewed here.
Getting There
Our guide drove north from Ullapool on the A835. About 15 minutes along, and maybe 100 meters after crossing over River Runie, he turned left onto a single lane road with passing pullouts. Another 8 km (5 miles) along, the parking lot was on the left. Similar to Cul Mor, there was room for about 20 vehicles. Unlike Cul Mor, there were no toilet facilities at the parking lot.
Fortunately for our group member who suffered a head injury the previous day, Loch Lurgainn is less than 200 meters from the parking area. She headed to the shoreline to enjoy a low-key afternoon of photography while the rest of us crossed the road to start the short hike.
Ascent
A songbird chirped away as we approached the fence line across the road. What a nice trail greeter! It’d be kinda cool to have birds welcoming us to every hike. 🙂
The hiking trail started the same as most of the hundreds of other trails we’ve traveled. Boot beaten dirt, a few loose rocks here and there, with grasses and the occasional wildflower off to the sides. The false (eastern) summit loomed over us.
As soon as we approached the first rise up through some half buried rock bands, it was clear this trail would be different from most of our hiking experiences. Why? Much of the path was made of fairly rough stone steps. For most of us, this made for easier going – steps up, steps down, easier on the knees. It reminded me a bit of what it’s like to hike in the Lake O’Hara area.
But one member of our group turned out to be a strictly visual balancer. This meant she had to keep her head bent down, watching as she placed a foot on each step to observe that it was safely positioned, and then pushing up to place her other foot on the next step. It kept her safe. But for the rest of us, it made for a v..e..r..y s..l..o..w hike!
Mr GeoK and I chose to hang out at the back of the group, carving out time for photography as we climbed. Here are some of our shots:
Visible lochs include Loch Lurgainn (to the east), Loch Bad Na H-Achlaise (middle) and Loch Bad A’Gahil (to the west).
Stac Pollaiadh is a “Graham” with views of the Summer Isles. What’s a Graham, you ask? It’s a Scottish mountain between 2,000 and 2,500ft, standing proud of the surrounding landscape by at least 492ft.
The Summer Isles views are quite distant…off to the horizon behind Mr GeoK in this image:
We even tried a selfie on the way up!
Turnaround Point
Most people hike up the stairs to a saddle, but not everyone in our group made it that far. Cresting the saddle, there’s a flat outcrop dead ahead. It’s “the” place to stand on for the classic Stac Pollaidh photograph. This one was taken by our guide, using his phone.
While I hung about taking a Lego family photo…
…Mr GeoK continued to the eastern (false) summit. There he took photos of the distant Summer Isles and the car park surprisingly far below.
It’s a scramble to reach the true summit – beyond the risk parameters for our week of guided hiking.
Descent
Our guide opted for a bit of a loop route , so once we’d taken turns being photographed at the saddle outcrop, we retraced our steps for a bit, then continued counterclockwise to come down around the other end of Stac Pollaidh.
The trail soon became less established, and we kind of picked our way between boggy patches. Interestingly, the visual balancer in our group did much better on this stretch.
Eventually, about 4 hours after departing, we were back at the car park, where our not(?) concussed group mate was patiently awaiting our return. 🙂
SUMMARY
Stac Pollaidh is a “Graham” with views of the Summer Isles. A scan of online trail reports suggest it’s a 4.5 km (<3 mi) circuit that should take 3-4 hours.
Our distance (excluding Mr GeoK’s side trip up the eastern false summit) was 5.2 km, which took our group 4 hours. Total elevation gain = 538 meters (470 net). It’s a solid half-day hike offering great views of lochs and the Summer Isles, perhaps with the opportunity for a lochside picnic before or after.