It seems like forever since my last walk, never mind blog, but work is getting hectic, the daylight hours are reducing, and winter is back! I have had few chances to plan any trips away recently so was really looking forward to the prospect of getting out for the 2nd St Andrews day in a row. Last year I was on my own and played safe with a gentle (though lengthy) stroll along Glen Ey to bag Carn Ban. This year the plan was for some company to indulge in that Scottish tradition on St Andrews day of a wee dram (swig of whisky) at the summit of Slioch no less. Slioch is one of those Scottish mountain icons, taking pride of place on numerous calendars published yearly, photographed from across Loch Maree it looks almost impenetrable for the average walker. All the walk reports I had read about her tell a different story though, one of a long beautiful walk in along the shores of Loch Maree, a strenuous but manageable climb, outstanding summit views, an often steep boggy descent, and finally a long walk back along the shores of Loch Maree to return to the car.
Snow had arrived in the highlands a couple of weeks ago, coating all the high vista's in a thick layer of white frozen beauty. Then a mini thaw had arrived, pushing back the layer of snow to the very tops of the Munro's, followed by a couple of days of heavy rainfall, meaning that our walk in was going to be even boggier than we were expecting.
I had sent out a number of invitations to this event, to the usual collection of Munro loving friends, in the hope of making a weekend of it in Kinlochewe. Unfortunately, at this time of year, everyone has plenty on to keep them busy and, to be fair, I probably gave them too short notice. It didn't help that the Kinlochewe hotel was fully booked either! Plans were changed to accommodate this unforeseen occurrence, and so it was that on Friday evening I drove from Peterhead (I have recently returned to reside in that godforsaken hole of a place for work related reasons) to Muir of Ord to take advantage of an open invitation from my good friends Jacqui and Gordon to stay over any time I am in the area. As is usual the plan is to have an Indian takeaway and a couple of bottles of wine...perfect pre walk preparation...and a late night (not so perfect) putting the world and all it's ills to right.
I arrived bearing the usual means of payment for an overnight stop (sorry Jacqui but I simply cannot accept a free bed) of sweets for the kids and wine for the adults. Michael (who was accompanying me the next day) had text me as I was driving up to say that he and his wife would be joining the curry night. We had made similar plans around this time last year (or earlier this year, I forget) only to be thwarted by the weather...I hadn't been able to make it out of Aberdeen that night because of the snow...so I was doubly excited about us all getting together tonight to make up for that. Chris, who had also intimated that he would come along this time, had left a message on my answerphone as I was driving up saying that he would not be able to make it along this time.
The drive up was frustrating, stuck behind drivers that cannot go any quicker than 40mph in rain on a single carriageway in the dark, and seemed to take forever (2 hours from Aberdeen usually, 3 hours from Peterhead tonight). I am not looking forward to driving that road too often in the coming months.
As expected the evening prior to the walk was excellent...good company, good crack, good food, fine wine, late to bed and then a bleary eyed early rise in the morning. Gordon had threatened to join us on a walk the last time we were there...but this trip had fallen on a rare chance for him to see his favourite team (Hibernian) play in Dingwall...so he bottled out and went to the football instead!
I awoke at half six the morning after the night before...bleary eyed and with a mouth like a desert...and stumbled into the shower (trying really hard to be quiet enough not to waken any of the children or adults I could hear snoring in other rooms). There was no need for breakfast as I was still stuffed from last nights curry...to be honest I was too scared to eat as normally I would then need to poo an hour later...and following an early morning effort I felt compelled to keep pooing to a minimum today. The wine sweats (an all too common occurrence after copious intake) started the moment I pulled on my baselayers and never stopped until just below the summit plateau. Michael arrived ten minutes later than expected, I was almost at the stage of giving up on him also, and looked as rough as I felt...thank god!
With a final thank you to our gracious hosts we set off into the cold dark morning, destination Kinlochewe (or Incheril to be precise). We had a minor scare on route along the road to Conon Bridge when Michael ran over something resembling a bag of bones in the middle of the road, the front passenger tyre took a bit of a hit and concerns were that a slow puncture might affect us on the return journey. There was a slight false start, as we missed the turn off to Incheril, but that was soon rectified and we found our way to the large car park at the end of the slip road.
Daylight was starting to peek through the clouds above us as we set off on the path from the car park, up the steps, through the wooden gate, following the path alongside the fence, stopping briefly at the cemetery to snap a couple of shots of Beinn Eighe in the early morning light, snow and ice coating her jagged peaks.
We continued on this path as it joined with another one coming from the centre of Incheril, heading north-west along by a stream, crossing a wooden bridge and continuing on north-west until we were skirting the edges of the broad river Kinlochewe. Mist was shrouding the slopes around us and we knew in our hearts that there was no chance of it lifting for us today. We arrived at the edge of the loch regarded as the most beautiful in Scotland by many, Loch Maree.
The expected early morning chill had disappeared and the wine sweats were making me feel uncomfortable beneath so many layers. Thing is, as soon as you stop to remove a layer the chill gets to you, so you spend the next half an hour wishing you had persevered with it. We had been walking for a couple of hours and not gained any height...which was all about to change dramatically. We crossed another wooden bridge and started to climb steeply up the left bank of the stream, turning away from it higher up and heading across open hillside, cutting through gorse and heather on the way up the steepening slopes towards Gleann Biannasdail. The path returns then disappears then returns to cut it's swathe through some rocks on the slopes as we headed towards a bealach to the west of Meall Each. Another brief stop to take on some fuel and off we went once more into the thickening mist and gloom.
We had to pull on full waterproofs as we entered the bowl of Coire na Sleaghaich as the wet mist threatened to seep through all our other layers. Because of the thick mist we were left to imagine just how awesome this bowl of a Coire looked from our position. We could just make out some snow on the slopes of the Coire above us as we searched for the path that would lead us safely through the soggy ground around us to the far side.
On the far side of the Coire, beyond the bogs, there is a path to the left of the Coire wall that rises up steeply towards two small lochans. Once beyond here the climb becomes steeper once more as it passes through more rocks to finally gain the summit plateau. The route I had read said to bypass the minor summit at 933m, which is just as well because in this weather we couldn't even see the minor summit. Our traverse led to the summit triangulation point at 980m, surrounded by a small shelter.
The summit cairn lies a short distance to the north, down a brief dip and then back up the other side.
We stopped to swig our St Andrews day dram at the summit cairn, joined by Jelly McBaby, before heading east to traverse the narrowing ridge of Sgurr an Tuill Bhain. I believe the views from the summit are some of the best in Scotland, looking out over the Fisherfield and Letterewe forests to the north and Torridon to the south.
Unfortunately we were unable to see any of them today...so will just have to return on a clearer day next year to savour them in full.
All that remained was to descend down the far slopes of Sgurr an Tuill Bhain to return to the soggy bowl of Coire na Sleaghaich and then return on the outward path from earlier all the way back to the car park. We overtook a couple of guys that had tabbed along ahead of us all day on the final stretch back to the car park, and met two other walkers just heading out as the final light of day was fading fast. Michael drove back to Muir of Ord so that I could collect my car and then off I sped home once more. The weather may not have been the best, but any day in the hills with good company is a day to remember fondly, the memories of good hill days far outlast the aches and pains it takes to achieve such nirvana.
