Over The Bealach na Goaithe to Diabaig

This day turned out to be the sunniest day of the holiday so we specifically picked it for going through Torridon and over The Bealach na Goaithe to Diabaig.

Thankfully the Torridon Stores cafe was open this year, so we had a coffee each and sat on one of the benches outside which was no imposition as the view is fantastic. They also made us two excellent tuna sandwiches to take away with us.

The narrow road to Diabaig followed the right hand side of Loch Torridon before rising up in a series of zig-zags to a pass named Bealach na Gaoithe which is Gaelic for The Pass of the Wind. The views back across Upper Loch Torridon and over to Applecross were stunning and this year, with the weather being fine we got to take some fantastic photos.

The road then continued towards Loch Daibaigas Airde where we had even more superb albeit terrifying views. If you are afraid of heights then I'd recommend not to look down to the Loch as it is far, far below the road and it looks a pretty sheer drop. The rest of the journey down to Lower Diabaig though was very pleasant, apart from us picking bin emptying day for our journey. The one thing you don't want to come across on these roads is a massive refuge truck!

Lower Diabaig consisted of a lovely collection of cottages dotted on the hill-side and alongside the road which eventually led down to the pier. There was lots more evidence that, in the past, it had been quite a busy fishing village and I think a few locals still fish from there but it is mainly oyster fishing. There were old fishing huts boarded up and also one or two run down cottages that were just screaming out for a bit of restoration, it was such a shame.

There was also a shipwreck just offshore called The Dayspring which broke its moorings during a hurricane in 2005 and ended up in the bay. Each time I visit there seems to be less and less remaining which I should imagine bears testament to the weather and storms this area often gets. It still makes for a cracking photo though.

There's no way out of Lower Diabaig other than the way you come in so we retraced our footsteps all the way back to Badachro, stopping at the top ofthe Bealach to eat our sandwiches.

A path does lead from Lower Diabaig along the coast to Red Point, a distance of some 8 miles and then Red Point is only 5.5 miles from Badachro but unfortunately the road journey is some 40 miles! In good weather it is the most beautiful 40 miles