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With lovely weather last weekend came the long postponed idea to revisit Beinn Eighe. It was also a belayed birthday gift to Kevin - he loves all Torridon mountains, with Beinn Alligin and Beinn Eighe on top of his list of personal favourites. He had already climbed all Eighe tops in different combinations, I did several routes including a winter traverse but I had never been to the Carls. Since this year we did very little new stuff on the hills, trying a new route sounded like a brilliant idea, especially when Kevin mentioned "some easy, entertaining scrambling" on the Black Carls. Hey-ho, don't tell Panther twice!
Our planned route starts from a small car park near Cromasaig Cottage (space for 4-5 cars) and follows the glen of Allt na Chuirn and climbs up the eastern slopes of Creag Dhubh, then follows the ridge over two more tops to Spidean Coire nan Clach, finally descending into Coire an Laoigh and returning to the car by following A896 in Glen Torridon:
Having been to Beinn Eighe so many times, it always feels like homecoming... I have a special spot in my heart for this mountain. It's where my hillwalking career started, where the first steps were taken...
"I've been looking all my life
Waiting for the perfect time
Never knew that I would find it
Right back where I started from
Why'd I have to go so far
When everything was where you are
How'd I know that you be waiting
Right back where I started from
Who can tell ya where the rivers flowin'
Just ride the wave - let it take ya down
All the twists and turns I navigated
It's so frustratin' you were there all the time"Bryan Adams "Right Back Where I Started From"
And there she is... always waiting for us. This picture actually shows the ascent route and the ridge from Creag Dhubh to Sgurr nan Fhir Duibhe:
There's a good network of paths, a part of Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve. We walked back along the road for a short distance and started on a track which soon shrinks to a path. Past some woodland, we reached a little viewpoint (marked with a wooden sign). From here, the path enters the glen of Allt na Chuirn. Walking was easy and we passed some lovely old pines en route:
The first obstacle that some might find difficult is a burn-crossing located in a small ravine:
The best way to tackle this is just follow the faint path down the overgrown slopes. Warning: it's slippery and eroded!
When inside the ravine, Kevin smelled his first scrambling opportunity (there is an easier way out of the ravine, but he just wanted to show off!).
Kevin's way up:
Once out of the gorge, the path was obvious and following a nice ridge, with fantastic views around!
This is where we're going!
After about 150m of ascent on the path, the shoulder flattened for a short time and while walking, we studied the white quartzite face looming over us, trying to work out how to tackle it. Soon we noticed that the path continues up in zig zags, avoiding all difficulties:
One can practice scrambling even here, but we preferred to leave the four-paws experience for later and stick to the well-worn route for the time being:
Looking down the shoulder:
At some point Kevin noticed that the hills behind us were half-hidden in cloud. Fantastic partial inversion!
Strathconnon Corbetts (Sgurr a' Mhuilinn and Meallan nan Uan) emerging from the mist:
Panther studying the slopes for the best route
The path higher up is less obvious. The ground looked easy enough so we just aimed at the ridge line above us and went for it. Soon we discovered that we took the wrong line - we were on loose scree and for every two steps up, we were taking one down. As a result, 10 minutes later we didn't gain much height
It was a relief to reach more stable ground eventually:
Once back on the crest, we found the path again and from now on, it was fantastic ridge walking!
Slioch and Beinn a'Mhuinidh:
More cloud inversion:
The higher we were, the whiter the world around us. This side of Beinn Eighe is built almost exclusively of quartzite:
Once on the first summit, which is marked with a sizeable cairn, we decided to take a break and spent some time photographing the views. As it was my first time on Creag Dhubh, I was gobsmacked by the fantastic panorama of the rest of Beinn Eighe ridge:
Lucy was bewildered, too. She preferred the cloud inversion though
Looking north to Meall a'Ghiubhais, the birthday boy in the foreground
A small herd of deer in the glen:
Kevin was an eager beaver today and couldn't wait to get to the Carls. He had done this ridge before but in the mist, so paraphrasing a well known proverb, no views no glory
This time he wanted the full experience!
Just amazing. Beinn Eighe is a complicated ridge but that gives walkers so many variations in routes, that no one could possibly get bored here!
Zoom to Stob Ban, the middle top of the eastern ridge:
Me and my mountain! Despite this brave pose, I was a bit reluctant to approach the Carls. I was entering an unknown territory so wasn't really sure what to expect. Despite Kevin saying "it's just a rocky ridge, I can't remember anything difficult about it!"
There's no way to hide the fact that the pinnacles are exposed. Scrambling is generally easy but very airy in places. As long as you have good head for heights, you will enjoy it.
The first "wall" can be skirted to the right hand side but we preferred to go over the pinnacle. Kevin went first and sniffed the best route
I approached the first pinnacle cautiously but soon discovered it was easy enough even for a scared cat. As long as the rock is dry (quartzite is a nightmare to even walk on when wet):
The exposure is significant especially if one sticks to the crest of the ridge. This photo was taken on the easier ground between two pinnacles:
There's more to come!
Looking down the vertical cliffs into the northern corrie, with Stob Ban in the background. When traversing on loose scree I was more concerned about losing my balance on wobbly stones than about the drop itself, which in my case is a HUGE leap forward. In the past, looking down the big drops made me feel sick. Now it makes me more careful. I might never reach a high level of scrambling abilities, but I'm coping with exposure. That's a good sign!
Heading for the next scrambling section. We climbed the middle part of the wall:
The most annoying thing about the Carls is the amount of loose scree below the rocky sections. This is actually more dangerous than the scrambling itself. Watch your feet, Panther!
On top of the second scramble with views down to Toll Ban corrie behind me:
Looking back along the eastern ridge to Creag Dhubh:
Panoramic view of Toll Ban corrie with the Corbett Ruadh-stac Beag in the middle and Stob Ban to the left. The Corbett is due a second visit - it's another fantastic hill with many opportunities for scrambling!
But back to our current position, even though we had climbed over the most exposed parts, we were still far from the end of interesting sections...
There are bypass paths further on, which can be used if one doesn't fancy the steeper scrambling sections. Kevin investigated one of them and found it very unnerving:
Eventually, the four-paws experience was over and we found ourselves near the summit of Sgurr nan Fhir Duibhe, panting and sweating but very happy indeed!
Birthday boy on Sgurr nan Fhir Duibhe, he admitted that "the Black Carls were actually harder than he had remembered". Just as well he didn't remember the exposure or I'd never have the courage to do them!
