In my last story we explored the Glen Sannox circular walk on the Isle of Arran, which was the day before our bigger challenge of walking deeper into the glen through its surrounding mountains, then a steep scrambly hike up to The Saddle and down Glen Rosa to the village of Brodick.
Staying at Garden Cottage in Sannox for a week was the perfect base as the village of Sannox is where the Glen Sannox walk and The Saddle hike begins.
Before we visited, I was researching YouTube videos of other people hiking up to The Saddle to get an idea what it was like. I must admit, every video I scrutinised gave me doubts as it looked like a steep technical scramble. I also asked people I knew in person and the response was that it’s a short steep scramble but if we took our time, help each other and know our limits we could manage it.
Wednesday was the best day in the week with sunshine and cloud forecast, so we set our alarm for an early wake-up call. Alan left the cottage and drove to Brodick, parked in a car park across the road from Cladach Visitor Centre, and took the bus back to Sannox. This was perfect as the car would be at our planned finishing point waiting for our tired legs.
As I gazed out of the cottage window waiting for his return, I suddenly saw him in the distance walking up the long drive getting closer and closer.
I had a moment when I was looking out the window and felt like Alan was returning home after being away for a long time, then imagining myself running down the driveway to meet him with arms wide open for a huge hug. Yes, the old romantic in me seems to be resurfacing… 😂
It was almost 10am and we were now ready to go back up Glen Sannox the same way we walked yesterday, but going all the way through the glen and further. This time we didn’t stop at the Old Sannox Churchyard or the Oak Tree, you can see these photos in my Glen Sannox circular walk story.
As planned, we saved time not stopping until we reached the stepping stones, enticing us to cross over into a different world. I mean, how can you not keep walking into what lies ahead, it’s simply magical!
If you ever visit the Isle of Arran and would like to walk into Glen Sannox, you don’t need to take the stepping stones.
An alternative way is crossing the wooden footbridge near the beginning of the walk. It is signposted and takes you across the beautiful Sannox Burn, then turn left to walk up the glen. Stepping stones are fun and I do love the excitement of them, but I know that even my balancing skills can be unreliable at times!
The inviting footpath was leading us towards to the prominent peak of Cìr Mhòr, pronounced ‘Keer Vore’, and also known as Arran’s Matterhorn. Isn’t it just glorious! I wish I could stand on top of that peak.
I was thinking that Cìr Mhòr reminded me of ‘Mount Doom’ from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ movies, then Alan asked me if my blog title was going to be the famous ‘Boromir’ quote “One does not simply walk into Mordor.” A lovely Instagram friend commented on one of my Glen Sannox photos and said: “Much too beautiful to be Mordor. Looks more like the lands of Rohan.” She was right!
With the terrain being flat it helped warm up my legs, easing them in gently for the unknown that lies at the top of the glen. When I started the walk today, I had painful shooting pains up the back of my calves for the first 20 minutes or so. Strange, as this didn’t happen the day before!
Every now and then we would come off the footpath to look at our running friend the Sannox Burn. Rocks and boulders were scattered through the burn, framing scenic photo opportunities all the way up the glen.
A paraglider was also enjoying the scenery from a different perspective, gliding through the air like a bird!
I zoomed in to look closer.
As we were getting nearer the top of glen, Cìr Mhòr wasn’t just a peak far in the far distance now and getting closer and closer. There was no obvious path going up that I could see from here and was wondering how we climb up to The Saddle, the flat ridge below Cìr Mhòr.
Red sandstone rock was now carrying the Sannox Burn, just look at the colours! I could spend all day exploring the burn never mind the mountains.
We made it to the top of the glen, reaching the boulder stepping stones that took us across the Sannox Burn. This is where the walk turns into a hike up to The Saddle.
As I looked back, far away in the distance was a glimpse of the sea and how far we had walked, around five and half kilometres (just over three miles) from the cottage. I honestly felt like this was a flat walk into the glen, but looking back there is a gradual incline. I was feeling pretty good and not too tired.
When I zoomed in with my phone, trying to use it as binoculars as well as taking a photo, I could see the Isle of Bute, another Scottish island I’d love to visit but I keep coming back to Arran.
This Sannox Burn crossing is where we stopped the first time we walked here in 2015. Nothing has changed except us, and the cameras we used to take photos in 2015. I’m fairly camera shy and rarely show photos of myself or talk to the camera but thought it would be fun to look back at the ‘younger’ us sitting here in 2015 compared to the ‘older’ us in 2024.
Nine years does change us a bit, but I’m grateful we can still walk long distances and get to experience these wonderful moments in time. We should have hiked up The Saddle and all the Arran mountains when we were younger though!
We sat here for a wee while so Alan could fly the drone up and down the glen for my video, which you can watch at the end of this story. Four young men with two dogs walked past us heading up to The Saddle and we caught them in our video, visible viewing on a large screen. The were tiny specks of movement ascending fairly quickly up to The Saddle and made it look so easy, and the dogs too!
As we sat there preparing for the next part of our adventure, I was in total awe of the mountains surrounding me, with pointy ridges looking majestic against the backdrop of the blue sky and white clouds. No wonder the Isle of Arran is known as ‘Scotland in miniature’, the highlands on the island are out of this world!
It was time to start the ascent, and my usual thoughts were “Could we both do this?” Or maybe the words are “Should we even try?” My mind was ‘slightly’ over thinking both of our abilities, but I felt deep down no matter what we would keep going unless we didn’t feel safe.
A narrow-stepped path was leading us upwards into this excitingly beautiful land.
Looking up at the impressive towering boulders of granite, I still didn’t know how we reach the top. I knew from the videos I watched we were looking for Whin Dyke, a narrow gap in the rocks also known as the ‘Chimney’, which would lead us up to The Saddle.
I zoomed in to The Saddle to check if I could see Whin Dyke. From where I was standing, I couldn’t see any narrow gaps to climb up, all I could see was a maze of granite boulders.
The ascent was making both of us slightly out of breath, so we stopped regularly as planned. We had all day with nowhere else to be, and the sun setting around 10pm. We didn’t bring our walking poles, knowing we will need our hands free to possibly rock climb and scramble.
The higher we got the more the view changed, so stopping and looking around us was a must anyway.
I spied a lone tree standing within this majestic landscape and wondered what kind it was. I know there’s a unique tree on Arran called ‘Arran Whitebeam’ and I wondered if this was what I was looking at.
The Woodlands Trust website says:
Rare, rugged, isolated. Arran whitebeam is one of the rarest and most endangered trees in the world. It is a hybrid of rowan and rock whitebeam which has stayed on the Isle of Arran since the last glaciers were formed.
The tree did look Rowan-like, so maybe I really was looking at the Arran Whitebeam in all its rarity in a landscape that was formed by glaciers. Amazing, and what a wonderful place to sit and catch our breath!
This adventure was becoming “Curiouser and Curiouser” when I passed a rather large hairy caterpillar lying on a boulder. I’ve never seen one so big, wiggling swiftly as it lifted one side of its body up towards me.
I read that caterpillars don’t have faces, but when I look at my photo, I can see a little face looking up at me. Researching online I think it’s a common ‘Oak Eggar Moth’ caterpillar that will feed on heather, which is plentiful in Glen Sannox.
I was beginning to feel like I was in “Wonderland”, and also not believing where we were and where we were going. 😂
The stepped path eventually disappeared, now leading us into the scrambly part climbing up scree and large boulders.
I was thankful it was a dry clear day, as I would never have tried this over wet slippery boulders and no visibility. We had moments where we were negotiating the best way to climb, and I couldn’t believe I was clambering over boulders at such a height. I was loving it, reaching a point of no return so onwards and upwards it was.
As we got higher, we thought we spied a gap in the rocks that might be Whin Dyke, and it was! I was so relieved as I knew we were going the right way now. When I viewed Whin Dyke online it looked vertical, but it has more of slant, and I felt reasonably okay about climbing up here.
My legs stretched better than I thought they ever could, and I knew to look for footholds and handholds to pull myself up over a large boulder. I don’t know where my strength came from.
It might not look too difficult for more experienced climbers, but it was certainly an exciting and challenging hike for us. After climbing up and over a huge boulder, I looked back down, it was scarily high!
I was enjoying this so much and now feeling like I was a mountain goat. I said to Alan I should manage this as I am Capricorn the Goat! And if you read my story about the Holy Isle Coastal Walk, I kept talking about loving the Saanen goats. I sense a goat theme here. 😂
When I was in my early 20s, I tried a bit of rock climbing and abseiling. I remember loving it back then too, but I only tried this one time with a group of work colleagues and their friends. I think it was a crag called ‘The Thirlstane’ in Kirkcudbrightshire on the Solway Coast in Dumfries and Galloway.
We didn’t need to climb all the way to the top of Whin Dyke as after the huge boulder there was an exit to the left, then a bit of a scramble that led us up further. We found a rock on the incline to sit on to catch our breath and take photos. We both looked at each other proudly as we conquered Whin Dyke safely and could see the relief on each other’s red sweaty faces.
Being so high up I could now see more of the majestic Arran highlands. It might not be “Wonderland”, but what a wonderful land it is, Arranland in all its glory!
We didn’t have far to go now as step-like boulders appeared and took us further up to a flat footpath where I felt safe walking again. Phew, I couldn’t believe what we just did, the adrenaline rush was so exciting!
We were now both standing on The Saddle, also known as a ‘col’, meaning “the lowest point of a ridge or saddle between two peaks, usually providing a pass from one side of a mountain range to another.”
I wouldn’t like to try climbing back down Glen Sannox, it’s easier going up than a steep scramble down.
The Saddle is a wonderful meeting of the two glens, Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, with 360-degree mountain views all around, and footpaths leading up to the other Arran mountains.
Two young girls were walking down from the pointy peak of Cìr Mhòr and we said hello. I asked how difficult it was hiking up there and they said if we managed The Saddle then we should be fine. My eyes looked at Alan as if to say, “maybe one for another time?”
The photo below is a capture from our drone, showing The Saddle ahead and the slanted ridge to the right is Whin Dyke, the way we climbed up.
This drone photo is looking down at Whin Dyke and Glen Sannox. I think I spy a lone tree down there! 🌳
The two small peaks on the left of the ridge in the photo below is Caisteal Abhail pronounced ‘Kashteel Avall’ and known as The Castles. As I write this I’m already planning to be standing on The Castles, looking down to The Saddle and views of the magnificent Arran highlands.
It was so peaceful as we wandered around taking photos and enjoyed our well-earned alfresco lunch in this ‘cafe on The Saddle’. I didn’t feel like eating much though as I was still too excited.
The next thing we heard a Helicopter, and it was flying up Glen Rosa towards us. It looked so tiny in distance, and we thought it might have been the Arran Mountain Rescue Helicopter at first, but no, it was a Royal Navy Helicopter!
It flew over the top of us and down through Glen Sannox. Wow, what a treat that was, and the quickest way ever to travel through the two glens. Luckily Alan wasn’t flying the drone as there was no warning about this on his app.
The peak to the far right in the photo below is Goat Fell, the highest mountain on the island at 874 metres (2,867 feet) and the most popular busier hike.
We’ve hiked to the top of Goat Fell many times over the years, and I always love it. It was strange being on The Saddle looking upwards to Goat Fell as usually we’d be on Goat Fell looking down to Glen Rosa.
I sat on flat rock looking down Glen Rosa and recorded a time lapse of the moving clouds for my video. I love the way clouds cast their gliding shadows across the mountains.
It was sadly time to say goodbye to The Saddle. It was going to be a long walk down Glen Rosa with tired legs, but off we went. I was sad to leave.
It was a long plod, and I was finding this more tiring than the first part of the walk and hike.
The views are lovely walking down Glen Rosa though, and it’s a must to keep looking back up the glen at Cìr Mhòr.
I zoomed in to the two jagged peaks on the ridge behind Cìr Mhòr. You can also see The Saddle curved in front, where we walked down from.
This is the Witch’s Step, and the Gaelic name is Cuem na Caillich, pronounced ‘Kame na Kylie-ak’. Just as well I have a great wee book to check these Gaelic Mountain names and pronunciations as I wouldn’t have a clue!
‘Arran for Families’ by David Hilton has interesting stories and what to see around the island, complimented with beautiful illustrations. We bought the ‘First Edition’ for £9.99, then the updated ‘Second Edition’ was £11.99. Unfortunately, these popular books are out of print but I’m sure there will be second-hand copies online.
We were thinking about stopping for a rest at the Glen Rosa Blue Pool, but I knew if I sat down my legs would cease up, so we didn’t stay long. Another beautiful scene that has magical feels of another world!
There are two ways back to Brodick. Either follow the path straight ahead until you reach The String Road or cross the first wooden footbridge to the other side of the Rosa Burn, then through the woods towards Brodick Castle and Cladach Visitor Centre.
This footbridge sits off the path to left walking down from the Glen Rosa Blue Pool, and it’s easy to miss it. We have never walked this way back to Brodick before, so this was another new walk for us today. We were now sore, shuffling and tired, so I didn’t stop much for photos.
When we reached the dark woodlands, it was very atmospheric and beautiful as the soft evening light cast shadows of the trees on the woodland path.
I saw a huge boulder sitting within the trees and now regret not walking up to take a closer look. It’s unusual in this photo and possibly what you would call in geology an ‘erratic’, meaning it has been moved by a glacier to an area where it doesn’t naturally occur. I might be wrong though.
I thought we might get lost in the woods as I didn’t know what way we should be going. Thankfully Alan was navigating today, using ordnance survey maps on his Garmin.
We eventually reached a road within the grounds of Brodick Castle, Garden and Country Park, and I kind of knew where I was as I walked this part of the castle grounds before. I remembered a wooden footbridge that led through beautiful woodlands, the ‘Easceanoch Trail’, leading to the main Goat Fell path and down to Cladach Visitor Centre.
We finally made it back to car. I’m always grateful when we finish a long walk with no major injuries, the only pain being the achy legs which is only temporary, and totally worth it to have experienced this walk and hike.
If you ever visit the Isle of Arran and would like to experience the Arran mountains and walks, but are not comfortable walking alone, the Arran Mountain Festival takes place in May every year where you can book ‘small group’ walks with local leaders. I’ve linked their website below with more information about their annual walking events.
My Garmin watch recorded this walk and hike as:
- Distance: 14.5 kilometres (9 miles)
- Moving time: 4 hours 35 minutes
- Elapsed time: 7 hours 35 minutes
My watch stopped recording when I was hiking up to The Saddle and I think I must have bumped the stop button when I was scrambling. Alan recorded 16 kilometres (10 miles).
Thanks for reading as always. Until the next time, and most likely more Arran stories! 💙
Love, Dawn-Marie xxx
Love Exploring Scotland 
Beautiful story and photos yet again. I feel like I don’t have to do that walk now 😆 you did all the hard work for me!! Xx
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Thank you, so pleased you enjoyed it! 😀 x
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There’s something so satisfying when others enjoy the same things you love! Thanks so much for this beautiful post.
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Thanks Barb! We loved Glen Sannox, another beautiful place to walk on Arran. ❤️
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