A fabulous mountain ridgewalk taking in two Munros with stunning views; the route is marred however by the ascent and descent from the ridge on pathless heather and eroded paths.
Summary
Excellent walking on narrow grassy and rocky ridges higher up, but the ascent is up pathless, steep heather and the descent is on a poor, eroded and muddy path.
Terrain
NN084584
Grid ref
15.5km/9.5 miles
Distance
Grade
Ballachulish village car park
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Ballachulish is served by both local and Citilink buses.
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Pronunciation
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1. Park in the car park by the tourist information centre in Ballachulish. This village, famous for centuries of slate quarrying, enjoys a spectacular location by Loch Leven at the foot of Glen Coe. The village is dominated by the eastern summit of Beinn a'Bheithir, Sgorr Bhan. Begin the walk by following the road from the tourist information centre into the village, keeping straight ahead when the main road bends right next to the pub. Follow the road to the river and cross over this before turning immediately left onto a lane past the school. Right after the school, go through the iron farm gate on the right hand side, and follow the boggy track as it veers to the right, passing through the field and past the stone wall. Once out of this field, the hard work of the day begins. Climb directly up the steep slope ahead, which is boggy and grassy at first, becoming heather-covered higher up. There is no path and the climb is tough and exhausting, the only compensation being the fabulous view back over the village. Climb over the fence at around 250 metres before continuing up through the heather until a path is finally reached.
2. Turn right along this path, which thankfully climbs gently uphill. Soon it forks; take the left fork which climbs up onto the end of the Beinn Bhan ridge; there is an excellent view of the Ballachulish Bridge over the mouth of Loch Leven. The path now climbs gradually up the ridge. When the ridge steepens, the path traverses the slopes on the right. Just before the path crosses a scree slope, turn left off it (it eventually peters out) and climb steeply, with traces of another path, to get back onto the crest of the ridge. Follow this up stony terrain to reach the Munro Top of Sgorr Bhan. This is a fine viewpoint, but most eyes will be drawn along the gracefully curving ridge that descends slightly before climbing up towards Sgorr Dhearg.
3. Sgorr Dheirg is the highest of Beinn a'Bheithir's summits at 1024m and is the first Munro of the day. There are few remains of the trig point marked on maps as being at the summit apart from a couple of iron rods sticking out of the cairn. The views are fabulous in all directions, with the great trough of Glen Coe prominent, and a fine prospect along the ridge to Sgorr Dhonuill. Perhaps the finest view is that of Loch Leven and the Mamores back by Ben Nevis.
4. Descend the stony ridge WSW which leads gradually down to the bealach, where there are some old iron fence posts, at 760 metres. Begin the climb on the path up the far side. The first section is up a grassy slope but after a brief gentle section it becomes increasingly rocky. The final ascent looks like an intimidating cone but involves only a very little simple scrambling.
5. The summit of Sgorr Dhonuill is 1001m and is surprisingly spacious after looking so small on the ascent. It is a finer viewpoint than Sgorr Dheirg, with a magnificent vista over outer Loch Linnhe towards the islands of Lismore and Mull; keen eyes can pick out Scarba and even the Paps of Jura further to the south. After enjoying the views, return carefully down the ridge to the bealach.
6. From the bealach a path begins the descent to the north. It is boggy in places but avoids the crags and keeps fairly close to a line of old fence posts. As you approach the first scattered trees of the forestry that clothes the corrie, keep just to the right of the fence posts - do not enter the forest. The path on this section is very boggy, but continues beside the fence until the forest begins to rise up across the hillside ahead. At this point there is a 'ride' or cleared section marked by a cairn and a path heading down through the trees. This is the old descent route, and is badly eroded and slippery. There is a much improved newer route - hard to spot at first - which instead slopes slightly uphill for a short distance before slanting down into the trees. The path eventually bends left and descends to a forest road. Cross straight over this onto a wide new section of path.
7. Continue down the path to reach another junction. A wide forest track runs left and right here, whilst a smaller track heads straight ahead (this heads to Glenachulish forest car park); to continue towards Ballachulish, turn right. When the signed cycle route turns off left, continue ahead (now signed for St John's Church). There are beautiful views over Loch Leven from this track, which slopes gently downhill. Ignore the turnings to the right and emerge on the A82 just west of St John's. Turn right along the road (there is a pavement) to return to Ballachulish. You can follow the old road through the village by taking the turn for 'West Laroch'.
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