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This was our last holiday in Roybridge booked for 2020 so we were hoping to get two or three Munros done to add to our small but "better than nothing" tally for the year
under the circumstances we feel lucky to have had the chance to add anything to our numbers, Scotland feels a long way off this year
I was looking to break ourselves in with a single munro day, but which one? I'd looked at Beinn Sgulaird or
Sgor nan h-Udlaidh. On reading the walk description for Sgulaird I decided that it would be an enjoyable day out in the summer, especially if the views are as good as the ones we had from Beinn Fhionnlaidh in August, so it was
Sgor nan h-Udlaidh and maybe do the WH route that includes the Corbett Meall Lighiche, it was closer to base so more time in the hills
Monday 5th Oct was forecast to be a decent day, the best of the week, so we decided to go for it and see how we got on.
We parked up in the small layby just past the bridge over the Allt Gleann Leac na Muidhe around NN120564 got ready and set off walking back down the A82 to the beginning of the track leading to Gleann Leac na Muihhe House.
The slopes of Aonach Dubh a' Ghlinne look impressive
This section of the walk is on tarmac all the way to the large house and cottages, there are nice views back to the Aonach Eagach too.
Looking for the sign for the bypass we missed it due to the sign not being there, just a post, so we walked past it, got as far as the gate and realised the post was the start of the path so went back and saw the path as plain as day
things aren't always that easy until you look properly
The bypass path is ok, I was expecting it to be boggy but it's quite the opposite and we were soon back on the track.
The track runs out a bit further on at a gate then turns into a fairly soggy path to start with it then gets close to the Allt na Muidhe.
The view behind is, well, superb
Meall Lighiche is straight ahead now looking interestingly steep
My left knee was beginning to feel a bit restricted, it felt like I didn't have full movement in it, its something that's been niggling me for a while now so it was here we decided to leave the Corbett out and concentrate on the Munro.
A bit further on our target comes into view
And Meall Lighiche gets closer
Sgorr nam Fiannaidh looks good too
The path follows the Allt na Muidhe for about 1.5km before you leave it and start the long pathless ascent to the 798m bealach, there is a cairn marking the spot to leave the path
From there on, it's a long steep climb, my knee was twinging a bit all the way up so we stopped a few times to take photo's catch our breath and molly coddle the knee
The view to Bealach Easan between Meall Lighiche and Sgor na h-Ulaidh, looked steep sided, I was beginning to think we'd made the right decision.
Once at the 798m bealach a path appears, a decent path too. where did that come from
and from here it starts the steady ascent of Stob an Fhuarain.
The views were opening up nicely, my knee was baring up, the clouds were leaving the higher tops so it was looking promising for some good views at the top
On Stob an Fhuarain we had some brilliant views, I especially liked the views to Bidean nam Bian and Beinn a'Bheithir,
but what was to come from the summit of Sgor na h-Udlaidh was even better.
There's about 90m of descent into the belach below the Munro from here, as usual it looked much more daunting than it does on the map
so it was a case of nice and steady and don't be tempted to rush it, my knee was ok on the down bit but as soon as we started the ascent it got quite painful every time I took a step up, I was beginning to get a bit concerned about it.
Thankfully the climb up wasn't too bad and after a bit of careful foot placing we arrived at the top and, wow, the views were stunning
Looking down what could be an interesting ice climb
Summit Denise
Summit views
We decided to have our lunch just below the cairn, looking into Coire Cearcaill, across to Beinn Fhionnlaidh and
Meall a'Bhuiridh, all the tops were clear now, the views to the Glencoe mountains and beyond were well worth the effort to get here
After half an hour or so we reluctantly had to motivate ourselves and start the return trip
Looking at the re-ascent of Stob an Fhuarain I was not looking forward to it, I must admit. The descent back into the bealach was ok, just a bit tricky in parts for a not very flexible knee, going back up Stob an Fhuarain was a bit uncomfortable
On Stob an Fhuarain
On our way back into the 798m bealach we met our first fellow human, up to this point it was just sheep, if this was the Lakes the humans would greatly out number the sheep
we had a quick chat agreeing how lucky we were to get some decent views, then we were off on our separate ways.
The descent back down to Allt na Muidhe was steady away, we just took our time, once on the path again we could increase the pace a bit
and soon we were back at the cottages where the sign for the bypass path was much more obvious
Evening Aonach Eagach
We had a good day out, as it turned out this was the only day in the mountains, the weather for the rest of the week wasn't brilliant so we concentrated on some low level walks and did some "Touristy bits"
Like everybody else, we're hoping next year will yield some normality, we've loads planned
I'm just hoping my knee isn't going to cause problems
