I loved a brief however rewarding stroll of Fyrish hill, close to Evanton, in Easter Ross with my daughter.

Fyrish hill stroll

“It’s simply across the subsequent nook,” I inform my daughter a number of occasions as we ascend the Easter Ross hill of Cnoc Fyrish.

“No, properly, it have to be simply over the subsequent forehead of the hill, or perhaps the subsequent one,” I recommend to her a short while later.

Though I’ve walked to the 1486ft summit earlier than, I’m satisfied the distinctive landmark that awaits 23-year-old Havana and I’ll come ahead of it does.

And it’s not as if there may be nothing else to see throughout the 3.7-mile stroll on the signposted Jubilee Path from a carpark situated north of the village of Evanton.

At first, we stroll on a observe that undulates by way of a peaceable forest, the place sometimes we glimpse a wider rolling panorama between tall and slender tree trunks.

A brief descent on stone steps takes us to a bridge over a gently burbling stream earlier than a brief however steeper climb on the opposite facet.

As we proceed by way of extra bushes, Havana and I chat companionably and settle right into a relaxed tempo. We’ve got not seen one another for a few months and whereas we regularly speak on the telephone, there may be at all times a lot extra to be mentioned once we’re collectively.

Increased nonetheless, the trail rises above the bushes and we cease to get pleasure from an expansive vista that appears over the city of Alness, throughout an enormous patchwork of fields and in the direction of the Cromarty Firth. Within the distance, I level out a number of oil rigs that handle to look each incongruous and strikingly good-looking amid the pure surroundings.

The rigs are usually not drilling within the waters right here. They’re both within the strategy of being decommissioned or ready to be moved to the North Sea for work once more.

We proceed previous a small loch and discover ourselves all of a sudden amid a wilder moorland. The bottom both facet of the trail is roofed with thick, purple-brown heather and dotted with inexperienced shrubs and smaller bushes.

It’s at this level that I begin to speak excitedly in regards to the stunning sight that “actually isn’t that far-off”. Unwilling to divulge to Havana what it’s, I merely encourage her to stroll a bit quicker so the the large reveal will come sooner.

And, then, lastly we spot it: A formidable arched monument that dominates the hilltop. The large construction with three central arches and 4 flanking towers was constructed within the early 1780s by the then native laird, Sir Hector Munro. 

He was commander of British Forces in India, the place they defeated the Dutch on the Siege of Negapatam. He later returned residence throughout a time of widespread Highland clearances. 

The historical past books inform that when he realised what number of native individuals have been unemployed and residing in poverty, he paid them to construct the monument.  The landmark was meant as a tribute to his victory at Negapatam and was fashioned as a reproduction of the gates of Negapatam.

Standing on the foot of one of many arches, Havana and I gaze up in marvel and focus on how exhausting it could have been to deliver the stones to the summit.

We survey, too, the view under, from the North Sea, alongside the Cromarty Firth and in the direction of a well-known native mountain, Ben Wyvis. 

Our descent route is just like the ascent, aside from a brief detour, simply previous the loch, the place a small signal factors out the choice path.

Strolling downhill is quicker and simpler and our continuous dialog solely abates once I cease a couple of occasions to level out wild flowers and bushes of blaeberries.

Whereas solely a brief hill route, Havana and I agree the rewards of Cnoc Fyrish are a lot bigger. 

Fyrish stroll particulars

Begin/end: Automotive park on the Novar Property, accessed from a slender street off  B9176, in the direction of Boath  and north of Evanton.

Distance: 3.7 miles / 6km 

Complete ascent: 984ft/ 300m 

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours half-hour.

See: Strava and Stroll Highlands.