Tornapress is not much more than a handful of houses at the head of Loch Kishorn, but it marks the start of one of the great roads of Britain. The Bealach na Bà, the Pass of the Cattle, climbs from sea level to over six hundred metres in a few miles, the steepest ascent of any road in the country, and the first sight of it, a thin grey line zigzagging up the hillside into the cloud, is enough to make you check your brake pads.
The loch itself is a quiet sea inlet, with oak and birch on its shores and the red-brown mountains of Applecross rising behind. In the 1970s, the shore of Kishorn was the site of a huge construction yard where gigantic concrete platforms for North Sea oil were built, a strange chapter in the history of a remote and beautiful place. Today the yard is quiet, and the loch is back to seals, herons and the occasional otter.
The road climbs from here. It is single-track for much of its length, with passing places, tight hairpins and gradients as steep as one in five, and it needs care and patience, particularly at the bends where the road disappears from view. Never use a passing place as a stopping place, and be ready to wait or reverse for oncoming traffic. Weather can change in minutes, and the pass is sometimes closed by snow in winter and spring. Large vehicles and caravans are advised to avoid it, which gives motorcyclists a certain smugness.
The pass was built in the early nineteenth century to link the isolated settlements of Applecross with the outside world, replacing a drovers' track. The name comes from the cattle that were driven over it to market, and old stories speak of hard winters and hard people. The scenery is a mix of bare hill, loch and sky, with red deer grazing on the heights.
There are no services at Tornapress itself, and the nearest large settlements are far away, so plan ahead. Choose a clear day if you can, since the views from the top are the whole reward, and go early to avoid the traffic.