I have been longing to attempt this Munro circuit since I first clapped eyes on the shapely cone of Sgurr na Ciche 2 years ago as I drove down the length of Loch Quoich with Louise Miller. Sgurr na Ciche stands out from the other Munro's on the south shore of Loch Quoich like a sharks tooth against the horizon. I was hoping that seeing it from the north shore of Loch Arkaig would not diminish it's impressive visual appeal, and thankfully it did not.
The initial plan was for me to head down to Loch Arkaig on Friday and attempt Sgurr Mor, then meet Angus MacLeod on Friday evening at the Distant Hills guest house where we would be staying for two nights. We were checking the forecast closely on the lead up to the trip and as a result of this our plans changed dramatically. Angus contacted me on Thursday and suggested that he would cancel some appointments on Friday and come out to meet me then instead as it was now looking the better of the two days. We both agreed that we wanted to do this route in the best possible conditions so that we stood a good chance of getting decent views from the summits down Glendessarry and Loch Nevis. The planned route is one of the finest and wildest in the country and anything less than a clear day would be doing it a disservice.
The down side of doing the walk on Friday was having to rise at 03:00 and leaving home half an hour later to make it to the Spean Bridge Commando Memorial by 07:00 but this was a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. I actually stayed overnight in Aberdeen on Thursday as I took the opportunity to visit my folks, specifically to see my Dad who has been unwell lately, knowing that this would be a shorter journey in the morning. My Dad was keen to show off his new car and regail me with his stories of how he squeezed the best deal possible out of the salesman...a true Aberdonian at heart!
I arrived early at the Commando Memorial, around 06:35, and was glad to see that Angus was also early which would give us a good start once we had negotiated the drive down Loch Arkaig. We set off on the road to Gairlochy B8004 then turning onto the B8005 before finally setting off down the minor road along the north shore of Loch Arkaig for 19.3k. This drive took us the better part of an hour and was punctuated by sharp bends and high rises and numerous stops to take pictures along the way...
We arrived at the large car park at the end of Loch Arkaig where the public road stops and the private road to Glendessarry lodge begins. The sun was already streaming from the sky above us and providing a perfect backdrop to the mountains that surrounded us. Unfortunately the heat brought out a multitude of horseflies (clegs) and we were subjected to severe bites throughout the day by these determined little blighters!!
The path winds along the route of the river Dessarry for the majority of the walk in, sometimes skirting very close to the banks which allowed Angus to seek out good fishing spots along the way. He was telling me about the types of fish likely to be found in the river and the best ways to try catching them...Angus is a keen fisherman when he is not trudging up Munro's. We headed to the right where the path splits at first and then avoided turning right towards Tomdoun at the next split, carrying on past Glendessarry lodge and farmhouse and reaching Upper Glendessarry a mere 5k along the track (yet it felt like forever to walk it in the early morning heat and incessant cleg attack).
We left the track and started off north-west across the grassy slopes, following a faint rights of way that traversed the contours of the hill above the tree line, crossing some smaller streams but thankfully not as boggy as it could have been, probably due to the lack of recent rain in the area. This path continued unabated for the next 2k before arriving at and crossing the Allt Coire nan Uth and then branching off to turn north uphill on steepening slopes as we headed onto the southern slopes of Sgurr nan Coireachan.
The slopes are relentless and steep but the views opening up around us more than compensated for the fatigue we were already beginning to feel as the heat and flies were sapping our strength by the second (starting our respective days at 03:00 didn't exactly help either). Angus in particular was starting to suffer tiny cramps in his thighs, which would only increase in intensity as the day progressed, and this was slowing him down slightly. We had already been walking constantly for three hours and there had been a distinct lack of a breeze to accompany the fine weather we were getting.
As we had crossed the Allt Coire nan Uth lower down we had stopped to soak ourselves in the cool waters of the stream, indeed I dunked my t-shirt in the waters then threw it back on along with a buff for my head (lesson learned from the heat on the Saddle). Further up the slopes I was expecting my top and buff to dry very quickly in this heat but my constant sweat ensured that it stayed wet throughout the day.
Thankfully higher up the slope eases and gives a pleasant final traipse onto the summit of Sgurr nan Coireachan at 953m. Jelly McBaby donned some sunscreen and ventured out to get his picture taken on the summit cairn. The views from here were stunning in every sense of the word, a myriad of Munro summits in every direction, some notable Corbett's and the confluence of three Lochs (Arkaig, Nevis, Morar). Pride of place from our summit perch was undoubtedly Sgurr na Ciche, which was peaking out from behind the edge of Garbh Chioch Mhor, not as prominently as from other angles but still a mighty fine peak that we couldn't wait to scale.
After a good ten minutes on the summit replenishing lost energy (scoffing sandwiches) and taking pictures we scoped out our traverse of the coming peaks, which was signposted quite well with a drystone dyke showing us the way across Garbh Chioch Beag on to Garbh Chioch Mhor beyond. We headed down slope to the west and crossed the Bealach Coire nan Gall to follow the line of the dyke back up the opposite slopes.
The going was every bit as tough as we expected it to be, but there is a path all the way up the slopes and across the top of Garbh Chioch Beag. The views from here were improving as we could now see down into the western end of Loch Quoich and far beyond to pick out some of the Munro summits in Kintail to the north-east and Knoydart to the north-west.
Unfortunately as we were approaching the slopes beneath Garbh Chioch Mhor the weather started to change and the cloud base lowered significantly, mist started blowing across Sgurr na Ciche and the views were rapidly decreasing. Suddenly the longed for views of Sgurr na Ciche from this south-east position on Garbh Chioch Mhor had vanished and didn't look likely to return any time soon.
We settled on the summit cairn of our second Munro of the day at 1013m and actually had to don a second layer to stave off the slight chill that always accompanies such dramatic weather alterations.
Angus was still feeling the discomfort in both his thighs, alternately at first but increasingly the cramps were coming together, and he had struggled more than he would ever willingly let on coming up the steep slopes of Garbh Chioch Mhor. I suggested that it might be worth thinking about making a decent from Feadan na Ciche (the bealach between here and the next summit) if he was still feeling it, but this was rejected out of hand and we carried on.
Feadan na Ciche translates as "whistle of the breast" and it is a very dramatic location, between two admirable peaks in the middle of absolute wilderness. Angus made a valiant attempt to start up the next slope but came up unsurprisingly short when both his thighs tensed together and stopped him in his tracks. He gave a short argument about resting for a few minutes then following me but this was a non starter and he finally gave up and set off down the gully as I set off on the path winding it's way up through a rocky traverse to reach the hidden summit of Sgurr na Ciche at 1040m.
There was absolutely no view from the summit cairn and when I finally caught back up with Angus I could not stress enough that he had missed nothing by heading back down when he did (unlike me Angus is not a bagger and has no real intention of completing them all). After a quick picture on the summit I headed back down the rocky slopes to Feadan na Ciche, which was even more misty than when I had started up the way, and then followed the path towards the gully that Angus had earlier descended. Great care had to be taken on the descent of the gully as it is filled with large boulders and was far wetter than I was expecting. Once clear of the gully the faint path turns to grass and the slope eases down towards the open slopes beneath Garbh Chioch Mhor and traverses south-east around them.
I could see Angus just ahead of me on the grassy slopes and put the head down and trudged until I had caught up with him just before joining the Sourlies path (from Inverie in Knoydart all the way to Loch Arkaig) and walking back together. We followed this track back as far as the wooded area we had passed earlier and then had the choice of continuing to follow it or re-join the outward path. We elected to keep on this path so that we had different scenery to divert our attention from the fatigue we were both now feeling again after such a long ascent and descent of the three summits. When we reached the river Dessarry we followed the path through the trees until we came out into the clearing and realised just how long this path was in comparison to the outward one. A decision was made to cross back to the other path at the earliest opportunity, although this would be easier said than done from here.
Angus swore he thought he had spotted a faint line in the grass that may well lead across to the far bank, and indeed there was a bridge that led across the river which meant that all we had to do was find a safe way across the boggy ground between us and the path, almost a kilometre away. Things started quite well and the going was a little spongy beneath our feet but this deteriorated quickly and I stifled a laugh as Angus crossed a particularly boggy spot that resembled a soggy trampoline, almost bouncing on the surface as it sank beneath his feet. Thankfully I had stifled my laugh as just moments later I suffered the same indignity...then broke through the watery surface and plunged through up to my left thigh deep in the mire, followed quickly by my right leg plunging through and leaving me clawing at the ground in front of me to stop myself sinking any further than I already had. I pulled myself out of the quagmire and staggered to safety with water flooding out of my boots and the legs of my shorts soaking. The good news is that as we had to divert slightly left of position due to this incident we stumbled upon a clearer path for a short distance before it too faded away into the grass. We carefully picked our way through the rest of the expanse of ground between here and the outward path to return to the house at Upper Glendessarry...then the realisation that we still faced a 5k walk back to the car!! My boots were stripped off, socks wrung out then put back on for the walk out. There is no way to underplay the fact that the return trek was one of attrition and our feet/legs were screaming out for the car to be waiting around each corner. Eventually we turned the final corner and were relieved to see the car waiting for us in the car park where we had left it 10 hours earlier...now all that remained was the near hour drive back along the loch and then into Spean Bridge and our overnight accommodation.
The evening was spent, following check in and showers, at the old station restaurant and some beer wine and good food. The following morning saw a change of plan as Angus was feeling his legs, the weather was poor and my boots had come nowhere close to drying out. Instead of walking we spent a relaxing day doing what lots of other people do on a Saturday, enjoying great company, eating lots of food and washing it down with bottles of Sancerre in pleasant surroundings.
We spend so much of our time working that sometimes we forget how to relax, it's nice to know that we rediscovered that art this weekend.
Quote of the day on Saturday from a German tourist to me as we were returning from the view point on Aonach Mor, following a gondola ride up to the ski slopes; "are you Scottish"? to which I replied "yes" to which he retorted "normal people wear jackets in weather like this" as I sauntered along in chilly mist in my t-shirt...glad to not be normal.
