Sgor na h-Ulaidh (Munro) and Meall Lighiche (Corbett) sees me finish off Glencoe.

First off allow me to apologise for the lack of any blog updates in the last few months. My last trip away was the last week in August and saw me bagging both Munro's in Glen Creran, unfortunately neither of them made the blog after I experienced some gremlins which wouldn't allow me to save my work and then swallowed it up leaving me pulling out my metaphorical hair in frustration.

September saw me enjoying some R&R in Florida with my girlfriend and her family. Meeting Mickey Mouse was fun but nothing compares to a cold autumnal morning heading for a Munro.

I collected Fiona at four o'clock and headed off on the familiar road towards Fort William. This is a road I have travelled on many recent occasions without incident...nothing wrong with spicing things up now and again though. When I left the house I had, what I believed to be, a half tank of diesel in the car. However just after passing Laggan Bridge the fuel light came on and told me I had fifty miles left in the tank. There was no need for panic at that point as I knew we were within at least thirty miles of  Fort William. However after driving up the short incline at Loch Laggan the gauge changed dramatically and took five miles off me. Another couple of miles along the road and it changed again to say that I only had thirty five miles in the tank...and at least twenty five miles to drive. Fiona kept trying to assure me that we would make it to Fort William, even on fumes apparently, though I was becoming less sure by the mile. As the clock ticked down on the fuel gauge I started turning off all non essential fuel consuming accoutrements, such as stereo, air conditioning and headlights (okay just the main beam). Thankfully once through Spean Bridge the road is mostly downhill towards Fort William so we did indeed make it to the petrol station before the fuel ran out...but not without my stress levels shooting through the roof panicking about it. I vowed there and then never to undertake any long journeys again without first filling up the car the night before.

We arrived at our destination slightly behind schedule as a result of the fuel stop and pedestrian driving on the way down, but I new I could catch that up on the return journey.

We left the car in the layby and crossed the A82 to the start of the walk in, passing through an open gate and heading along a tarmac road signed for Gleann Leac na Muidhe House. The Munro of Sgor na h-Ulaidh is not visible until a lot further along the track, but there are exceptional views back to the Aonach Eagach Ridge and the Pap of Glencoe all the way along the path.

We continued on the track and crossed a small bridge over the Allt Gleann Leac na Muidhe. We passed one fine looking house and then arrived at a detour which would take us around the outskirts of the other three houses on the route.

Once back on the main route, following our detour, we continued past some livestock sheds and out onto a grassier path and across a wooden stile which led to open land and an opportunity to cross the Allt Gleann Leac na Muidhe towards Creag Bhan.  The slopes here felt rather steeper than perhaps we had expected but were nothing in comparison to what lay ahead on Sgor na h-Ulaidh to our left.

It was clear that far too many weeks away from the gym and pounding the streets, along with way too much donuts in Orlando had reduced me to a physical wreck! I was literally breathing through my hoop on the way up a slope that I should have barely even noticed.

Further up the slope there is a large rocky knobble which appears to block the way but heading right takes you around this and leads to a steep grassy incline which in turn brings you onto a grassy plateau. From here Fiona elected to miss out the Corbett part of this trip and sat by the line of fence posts awaiting my return.

I set off west towards the summit of Meall Lighiche, leaving Fiona alone with her thoughts. I arrived at the summit cairn and set about snapping pictures of all the cloud covered tops around me, when suddenly my phone rang. I answered without checking who was calling and got the surprise of my life when Fiona started babbling about the clouds rolling in up the glen and her starting to worry about me not finding my way back to her position...bless her.

After reassuring Fiona that all was well and I would be back with her in a few minutes I thought I better head back, following the fence posts back to where I left her. 

From here we set off following the fence posts down to the low bealach between Meall Lighiche and Sgor na h-Ulaidh, then started up possibly the steepest slopes I have done this year. There is no underplaying the strenuous effort required of an overweight slob in dragging over 14 stone of dead weight up the side of one of the steepest sided Munro's in the country. Sweat was literally dripping off my forehead (and other unmentionable places) as I finally pulled up to the top of the slope. Fiona, thankfully, was struggling just as much as myself and could be heard cursing my name rather loudly below me on the slopes. 

As we pulled onto the plateau beneath the final summit pull we elected to stop for our lunch break and take stock of our position. The surrounding summits were cloaked in clouds, although this was clearing intermittently, and all we could do was pray for a little bit of luck to be on our side when we made the summit that the views (which we knew would be special) would be clear. 

Following lunch we pressed on for the summit and managed to arrive just as the wispy clouds were drifting across the cairn...and as an added bonus the clouds on some of the surrounding Munro's appeared to be dissipating. Sgor na h-Uliadh summit cairn 994m was one of the toughest of the year to bag, but also one of the most satisfying. We spent some time on the summit taking pictures and waiting for the clouds to clear and were eventually rewarded when Bidean nam Bian began to clear and some of the other Glencoe peaks began to appear for us.

The summit top is scarred by a deep gully heading down through the crags on the north-east slopes. Once around this gully the slopes descend in a series of zig-zags to another bealach before climbing up to the summit of Stob an Fhuarain on a far gentler slope than previously. From here we followed the path that continued over the top and descended north to another low bealach on the Aonach Dubh a' Ghlinne ridge. At the lowest point of the bealach we turned sharply west and headed down through some minor scree before turning onto grassy slopes and following a direct line down to the Allt Gleann Leac na Muidhe. From the river we traversed back along the track on the east side until we returned to the point where we had crossed almost seven hours earlier in the day. The track back to the car was duly followed and it allowed us to admire the slopes of the Aonach Eagach Ridge all the way to the car.

 

Thankfully with a full tank of fuel there was no need for conservative driving on the return journey and I could also switch back on some luxuries like air-conditioning...

 

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No Hope of a view on top of Ben cloudy...

Originally I had intended to tackle the Munro's from Corrour Station this weekend but had a change of mind when Fiona informed me that she couldn't make it along. Instead I contacted Jacqui and Gordon to see if they were able to put me up for the evening in Muir of Ord, then tackle one of the Munro's I had remaining in the North-West highlands. I elected to tick Ben Hope off the list whilst I was up here, as the alternative was to face a very lengthy and remote drive with a very early start.

I travelled up to Muir of Ord mid afternoon on Friday in torrential rain for most of the journey, interspersed with outbreaks of glorious sunshine, stopping off on the way to purchase a couple of bottles of Sancerre to wash down the Indian banquet we had planned for tea later. It had been eight months since my last visit to Muir of Ord and I have to say that I noticed a huge difference in Jacqui and Gordon's youngest, Euan, since the last visit. When I was last here he was still a baby and now he was a robust toddler that would climb anything in his way, absolutely fearless. He is also a bit of a comedian and his timing appears faultless. He kept us entertained throughout the afternoon and evening until he finally wore out and had to be put to bed...I was exhausted just trying to keep up with him!

We had a great evening reminiscing and stayed up till the wee hours eating and drinking till we were burst. The Sancerre ran out and Jacqui thankfully had some back-up supplies chilling in the fridge as the banter still had a long way to go before it dried up tonight. I have a small group of friends who appreciate that I am not the most socially affable person in the world, but that just makes them all the more worthy of cherishing and spending valuable time with. Good food, good wine and lots of giggles will improve any Munro trip exponentially.

I had a relatively long lie in bed, for a Munro trip, but it only amounted to about five hours in reality when I realised I hadn't been in bed before one o'clock in the morning. I was ready to leave the McCauley household by half seven and head off on the lengthy and remote trip to Strathmore on a variety of road types, culminating in a final 14 mile drive on nothing more than a dirt track beyond the wild bounds of Altnaharra to reach a large grassy area with enough room to park around ten cars comfortably.

The route starts at the sign "way up Ben Hope" and follows a path heading north-east up the slopes, zig-zagging towards a high plateau at around 530m, then heads up the steep slope of the western crags to where the cloud base was waiting to envelope me at around 730m.

At this stage visibility disappeared and there was nothing left to see but the ground beneath my feet for the remaining 200m until I reached the trig point at the summit cairn. I had left the car behind at 09:50 and reached the summit at 11:30 but with nothing to see and the moisture in the clouds starting to seep through my baselayer leaving me chilled enough to put on my hardshell until I could get beneath the cloud level once more.

I stayed long enough at the summit to take a quick picture of Jelly McBaby on the trig point at 927m then headed back down towards the car on a reversal of my outgoing route. The Munro was busier than any I had been on this year, with three other walkers at the summit when I arrived and six more passed on the way up, then another two as I made my way back down to the car. I arrived back at the car park at 12:35, exactly two hours forty five minutes after departure, making this the quickest Munro I can recall walking (except Cairnwell/Carn Aosda from Glenshee ski centre). The distance required to reach here, combined with the state of the roads, means it's unlikely that I will want to return to do it again, which means that I will miss out on the splendid views of barren landscapes visible from the highest summit between Altnaharra and Hvannadalshnúkur on Iceland some 700 miles away. 

The drive home took four and a half hours, most of which was spent itching the multitude of midgie bites on my lower legs from when I had briefly rolled up my trouser leg to tie my boots earlier in the day!!

I now have 38 Munro's remaining and will hopefully make some headway into that statistic during my upcoming annual leave at the end of August.

 

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Sgurr nan Coireachan, Garbh Chioch Mhor & Sgurr na Ciche from Loch Arkaig...

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.

 

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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.  

         

Early start for Maoile Lunndaidh...

After the exertions on Liathach earlier in the day, and waving goodbye to Michael and Eric, I settled into my overnight accommodation at Ledgowan Lodge bunkhouse. I was initially dismayed to learn that I would be sharing a room but my roommate Andy was a lovely old bloke as it turned out. There were another two blokes in the bunkhouse when I arrived, Phil and Pete, and they were good company for the evening as the four of us monopolised the dining room and stayed up well later than expected as we swapped stories of walking adventures and life stories.

After the usual restless night away from home I awoke at 05:30 and decided it was pointless attempting to sleep any longer, so just got up and showered and left for Achnashellach station a couple of miles along the road to tackle Maoile Lunndaidh.

I left the car park at 06:30 and headed across the A890 to the level crossing and carefully crossed the rail tracks (well, have you seen the advert where the girl gets splattered by the train!!) to access the track up the glen. I have been on this track once before, when I bagged the two Sgurr's last summer. I would be following the same track all the way past them but it was oh so different from last year as there is a huge amount of excavation work going on now at the Allt a Chonais gorge as part of the Green Highland project.

The view along the track is dominated by Sgurr nan Ceanaichean, a Corbett which lost it's Munro status in September 2009. The cloud was low lying, as forecast, and there was a slight chill in the air as I continued onwards. As I turned the various twists in the path, passing through a deer fence and passing lots of Hydro activity (even at this time in the morning) I could only hope that there would be a change in the weather as the day progressed. I passed the turn off on the track for Sgurr Choinnich and Sgurr a'Chaorachain and kept going on a track that was starting to feel like forever (26k for the day) without even seeing my Munro yet.

I don't recall exactly when it dawned on me that I had left my sandwiches behind in the fridge at the bunkhouse, but like a light bulb going on in my head a stark reality hit me that I had nothing but a small packet of dried fruit and some jelly babies to sustain me through the day in my ruck sack. All I could think of for the next couple of kilometres was the tightly wrapped bundle of sandwiches remaining in that fridge for weeks, slowly decomposing and the owners of the lodge tracing them back to me and banning me from returning!! I elected there and then to ensure that I stopped at the lodge on my return journey and removed them from the fridge...providing I didn't forget again!!

My first sighting of Maoile Lunndaidh came around 8k in to the route as I turned another corner in the path, I could see her eastern slopes protruding from around the side of Sron na Frianich. I carried on the path for a few hundred metres then turned off east as the path continued north-east, across a sea of bogs, crossing a slow moving stream that required careful negotiating as it was deeper than it initially looked. Around a kilometre later, veering south, I reached the Am Crom-allt, which was easily crossed on stepping stones, and then faced a choice of ascents.

I could have carried on south and then south-east to ascend the extremely steep looking wall of grass/heather leading up between Fuar-tholl Beag and Fuar-tholl Mor to come out on the minor summit of Carn nam Fiaclan...or I could save that route for my descent later in the day and continue east on a bearing across boggy ground that would lead to a path on the west side of a narrow gorge that would bring me out on less inclined slopes at 680m. I elected for the latter route and horsed on through the bogs, thankful for the lack of recent precipitation which meant that they were mainly easy to cross, to reach the gorge on the far side.

As an unexpected treat there lay a clearly defined path waiting for me, once across the stream running down from Fuar-tholl Mor, which I ascended with ease. Once up on the higher reaches of the plateau however the path disappeared and I returned to heather slopes which really slowed my progress for the next 200m or so as my legs felt like they had lead weights attached. The final 130m was through rocks and boulders and this seemed to speed me up again...of course this could all be just my imagination, perhaps it only felt like the heather slowed me down and the boulders were faster to ascend, but it's how it felt at the time.

From a distance I could make out the large summit cairn of Maoile Lunndaidh 1007m ahead of me on the wide open plateau. The weather was staying kind for me again but not so kind as to give me unhindered views into the outlying Munro groups around me, a low cloud was lying above like a blanket smothering the surrounding peaks. There was also no view of Loch Monar to the south as yet, indeed I would have to walk across the plateau to the 2nd cairn to get that longed for view. I took a couple of pictures anyway, including the master poser himself on the cairn, and scoffed down the bag of dried blueberries and blackberries in my ruck sack, followed closely by some jelly babies, before heading across the wide open grassy summit to the next cairn. On this cairn I was afforded better views as the cloud appeared to be lifting above the summits and I could make out a number of familiar peaks. I could also see down the length of Loch Monar into Glen Strathfarrer and across to Mullardoch. 

I followed the crest of the wide ridge around to the final summit cairn and indulged myself in some pictures of the corrie beneath me to the north-east and of Sgurr a'Chaorachain to the south-west. I traversed the top of the ridge NNW through rocks until the ridge turned north-west and started down the steep grassy/heather strewn slopes that I had elected to avoid on the ascent earlier. This descent really slowed me down as I had to take care with each step so as to avoid the usual pitfalls associated with heather slopes. I arrived at the bottom of the slopes with only one slip to report, a minor one where I ended on my arse with a walking pole almost piercing my side, so no harm done.

Once back at Am Crom-allt I only had to locate the spot I had crossed at earlier, yet surprisingly found an even better one. By now the weather had cleared and blue skies were the order of the day, and increasing heat which seemed to bring flies and midges out of the bogs ready to feast on my delicate skin.

I returned across the bogs to the outward path and resumed the trek on gravel once more. There now left a 9k walk back along the same path to return to the car park, except this time it would be done in increasingly searing heat as the skies above cleared completely and the mid-morning sun beat down on me.

I passed a group of four girls heading out the way as I passed Sgurr nan Ceanaichean and another couple as I passed the deer fence, I had earlier spotted three mountain bikes at the path heading off to Sgurr Choinnich, and when I returned to the car park there were a number of cars suggesting a busy day on the surrounding peaks.

It was still only 13:00 when I arrived back at the car park so I elected to be rather cheeky and jump into a shower when I arrived at Ledgowan Lodge as well as collect my sandwich from the fridge, that way I could be fresh for the drive home, as well as not needing any tea when I got there. 

 

All in all I had a successful trip away this week, three new Munro's bagged, some good company along the way and some cracking pictures to bring home...roll on the next adventure. 

 

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Liathach (Spidean a'Choire Leith & Mullach an Rathain)...

Liathach. The very sound of it instils an air of excitement in your average hill walker and I had managed to arrange a meet up with Michael (and his friend Eric) to do it this week. Forecasts were checked for the best day's to go and it was looking likely to be the start of the week, rather than near the end, as a low front appeared to be approaching later in the week. I emailed Michael and told him to meet me on Tuesday in Achnasheen, then promptly emailed him back and informed him to make it Wednesday instead (when I had called the Ledgowan Lodge they had no rooms left on the Tuesday night) which was a lesson learned for me.

I had arranged to meet Michael at the car park in Achnasheen at ten on the Wednesday but made it for around quarter past nine as the traffic wasn't too bad on the way up from Peterhead. He introduced me to his work colleague, Eric, who announced that he knew me from the Caberfeidh Munro Baggers Facebook page and was friends with a number of the members as he had served in the QOH regiment. In particular he knew Angus, Mike, Frank, Paddy, Kenny, Angus and Paul whom I have met through Munro walking and am proud to call my friends.

I packed my stuff into Michael's car and left mine in the car park for collecting later in the day, then set off on the road to Kinlochewe and eventually Torridon. We arrived at the start of the walk and parked up at the south side of the road before crossing and making our way over to the path that would lead us up the east bank of the Allt an Doire Ghairbh stream.

The path was relentless and steep on the ascent but the compensation was in the fantastic views that were opening up with every step of height gained. The A896 snaked in tandem with the river Torridon through the length of the glen, from Kinlochewe to Shieldaig.

We had clear views across to Achnashellach forest and the collection of Munro's and Corbett's within it's wild bounds. A waterfall tumbled down the slopes of the Allt an Doire Ghairbh just before we turned east along the path to detour the great cleft above us and swing out on the ridge a little bit south-west of Stuc a'Choire Dhubh Bhig.

There were a couple of short sections of easy scrambling on the way up to the ridge, which helped to focus the mind back on the walk and not the views. That all changed when we reached the ridge and saw the stunning view of Beinn Eighe ahead of us, looking almost impregnable from this angle (Sail Mhor) with a thin ribbon path running beneath her slopes through Coire Dubh.

We took a moment to compose ourselves for the traverse of the ridge ahead, snapping away with cameras and hoping that the thin layer of cloud blowing across Spidean a'Choire Leith would be gone by the time we got there. Two minor tops lay between us and the first Munro summit of the day, along the ridge of Stob a'Choire Liath Mhor. The views from these tops was stunning as far north as you could hope to see, a sea of Corbett's lay in wait for an adventurous weekend with a tent, to the south Achnashellach forest looked equally inviting. Beinn Eighe was by far the most dominating peak on view and Eric seemed rather keen to find out the best way up and down her slopes.

The cloud may have been thinning out but it still lay across the summit of Spidean a'Choire Leith as we began the ascent of her steep stony slopes. As we were ascending the slight breeze blew some more cloud in behind and around us, blotting out all the views that we had just a few seconds earlier, swirling around us on the summit and sinking our hopes of a cloud free Munro. Strangely the cloud seemed to remain in abeyance to the north of us and we could see clearly out towards Baosbheinn, Beinn Eoin and Beinn Dearg (all Corbett's) lying in the Flowerdale forest between here and Loch Maree.

A sandwich was the least we deserved after our efforts thus far, a pint (shandy) would have to wait until we returned to Achnasheen in the afternoon. Jelly McBaby took his usual stance on the summit cairn of Spidean a'Choire Leith 1055m for pictures and Michael also obliged. We lingered on the summit cairn for far longer than I ever would on my own, it was just so worth it for the views that we did have. The other guys concurred with my assertion that this was already shaping up to be a great day out. Eventually we decided that we had to push on and get the rest of the ridge done, before we became too comfortable for our own good. Then the miracle we had been praying for happened, within a few steps of leaving the summit cairn the clouds ahead of us shifted and we were treated to an awe inspiring view of the ridge ahead.

Am Farasinen (the teeth) juts up in a jagged barrier to the average hill walker, almost barring access to the 2nd Munro summit of the day, except for a path that meanders around the pinnacles to the south which is seriously eroded and exposed.

Eric was just back from a week climbing in the Austrian Alps, so really he was the ideal walking partner to have along on this trip, and even he was impressed at Liathach. There had been an earlier discussion on the way up to Spidean a'Choire Leith about myself and Michael's lack of head for height, but nothing that led me to believe we wouldn't be tackling the pinnacles of Am Fasarinen when the time came...yet somehow that is exactly what happened.

One minute we were following the path towards the first pinnacle and then suddenly we were traversing around it instead. I foolishly thought we were still about to start heading up to tackle them, via a different route from my map, but there appeared to be no way up, and then before we knew it we were round the other side of them. I asked Eric if he had intended to avoid taking us over the pinnacles and he told me that he had just followed the path and didn't realise there was another one.

At the other side of the bealach between Am Fasarinen and Mullach an Rathain I pointed out the summit path over the pinnacles, which suddenly appeared quite obvious. He did offer to reverse our route but as we still had a summit to reach and our legs were already feeling the strain we declined on this occasion...but it means we have an excuse to come back and do Liathach again.

The ridge now follows a wider plateau up to Mullach an Rathain, although only on the south side as the north face falls away steeply for hundreds of metres less than a foot from the path. The remainder of the ascent was in complete contrast to the earlier part of the trek, wide grassy plateau as opposed to boulders and scree.

We pulled up onto the summit 1023m of Mullach an Rathain to be met with even more splendid views than anything thus far. We could literally see for miles in every direction, to the south-east into Applecross, to the north-west Beinn Alligin, to the north the Flowerdale peaks, to the north-east Beinn Eighe and to the south and south-east Achnashellach forest. The only thing we couldn't see from here was an obvious path off back to the road!

 

There were the obligatory pictures at the summit and then we started heading west looking for the descent path, and there it was a couple of hundred metres from the summit cutting south and heading down the steepest scree path EVER into Toll Ban. We set off down the slope like downhill skiers, slaloming from side to side to slow our descent to a manageable speed. After a couple of hundred metres we bottomed out in the corrie and from there followed the path alongside the Allt an Tuill Bhain until it wound away from the stream as it made it's way through the steep sided sandstone terraces.

Eventually we strode across the last obstacle before the road, a deer fence, and then walked the last two kilometres back to where the car was waiting for us at Glen cottage.

 

We drove back to Achnasheen, stopping to give a lift to two hitchhikers on the way, and enjoyed that refreshing pint back at Ledgowan Lodge before Michael and Eric headed back to Inverness and left me to settle into the bunkhouse for the night as I planned another Munro raid on Thursday, though nothing that could possibly match today's... 

 

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