Liathach - Traversing Before You Can Walk

[scottnairn]

Munros #3 + #4 - Liathach - Spidean a' Choire Leith + Mullach an Rathain

Learning to Scramble before you can Walk

Preamble - not content to progress in a logical way, choosing new mountains to tackle largely seemed to be a case of 'which looks the most awesome' and 'is the weather forecast okay' before bundling in the car and jumping right in the deep end.

Liathach is touted highly by mountaineers and of course, Torridon is a haven for those craving grandeur, fresh air and a wild escape. The text accompanying the walk description says -

Its traverse is an expedition that will be remembered forever.

and that was more than enough to convince myself and introductory hill companion, Matthew T, to go get it bagged!

Still early in my walking adventure timeline, I don't recall having ever heard of, let alone been to, Torridon prior to this baptism of scrambly fire. Assynt had blown my mind and immediately took my "coolest place ever" slot inside my noggin; all the seemingly unique, characterised monoliths spread around a landscape of lochs and tiny, winding roads. When I drove through Torridon, it was the single track road that started so innocuously, but then shrinks beneath gigantic, intimidating walls of rock that demanded attention and respect - a whole other style of mind-bending presence!!

Upon return to climb Liathach, once more these great mountains appeared and made me feel utterly insignificant. With Liathach growing ever taller as we drew closer, the cloud that drifted along the top only allowed hints at what was to come. Geared up, a bit nervous but ready. It began!

Within the first hour, it became apparent that the cloud was to come and go, swirling in coires and out of sight beyond peaks. Warmth was unexpected but the steepness of the ascent into Toll a' Meitheach coire meant perspiration! This was a real 'leg-burner', right from the off!
I remember seeing a group of red deer hinds on these slopes; as I glanced round to look, it felt like they were moving effortlessly at a 45° gradient. A touch of vertigo, no doubt brought on by the exhausting pull in altitude!

Beinn Dearg, Beinn Alligin featuring Matt's rucksack

We breached the bealach top and decided to take the Top of Stuc a' Choire Dhubh Bhig, heading east over a short boulder field. This gave us a look at the massif ahead of us - a truly spectacular prospect. Views of unfamiliar Flowerdale and surrounding Torridonian peaks were well worth a few seconds considered gaze before moving on. A woman passed us here, negotiating the boulders and slopes at a pace that I couldn't fathom. Jogging... On a mountain? Well, fair play to her!! We nicknamed her 'the Mountain Goat' and watched her progress ahead of us.

The profile ahead, hiding the Teeth featuring Matt's headband

Munro #3 arrived at the end of a pleasant ridge walk - Spidean a' Choire Leith being a great place to have a break, dismantle my camera bag for some hastily taken photos before reversing the packing process. I certainly did not have it down to a fine art back then!

Near to (or maybe) Spidean a' Choire Leith summit

Looking down a cleft to Loch Coire na Caime

Of course, the main attraction of this sprawling mountain maze is the 'Teeth' - Am Fasarinen. As we approached, I elected Matt to lead the way - a purely selfless act as I wanted him to experience the scrambles before me. Nerves and a complete lack of scrambling experience may have contributed to my decision.

Matt in good spirits prior to my vertical anxiety meltdown

Laden with my DSLR in my rucksack, I was too conscious of the chance of damaging it were I to fall - perhaps not falling to my complete demise should have been higher on the list of priorities but as Matt coaxed me over one pinnacle, I froze and clung on for dear life, likely a few feet off the ground but I may as well have been clinging on to an aeroplane with no parachute!!
The alternative was to retreat and take the 'bypass' path on the southern flank. Having scoped it out, it looked exceptionally narrow!! and therefore, I took blind scrambling advice from Matt who was safely talking from beyond the crest of the pinnacle. I swore then I would have to work on my head for heights - this has been met with varying success.
Indeed, we learned that the day following our traverse, an experienced mountaineer and fell runner had fallen to his death on Liathach. This proved a sobering lesson and a reminder that these mountains are beautiful, interesting yet can be deadly.

Fortunately, as one might gather upon reading, I lived to tell this tale and to surge on towards Munro #4 - Mullach an Rathain - our second of the day. The views back, coupled with the feeling of achievement in conquering the Pinnacles, were astounding and below remains one of my favourite mountain photos (after many years and thousands more since!).

Looking back on Liathach and the southern flank of Beinn Eighe. Atmosphere at maximum!

The terrain eases and we dropped a little but could see the pull towards the summit. And out of the grey; it was her, the Mountain goat Lady!!! She had done well, but we had somehow leap-frogged her and our unannounced race was now neck-and-neck so we upped our tempo to 'brisk walk'.

Quiet celebrations and an indulgent 'photo-finish' as we crossed the line, with Loch Torridon giving scale to the might of the mountain and the character of the region. The cloud was just about tickling our heads and looking back along the ridge, it gave an ominous sense of drama - absolutely fitting of such an exhilarating traverse!

A pre-determined "adventure is out there" pose

Upgraded to black cotton joggers! I will learn, someday...

High above Loch Torridon. The scree awaits

All that was left now was to descend via the scree slopes of the Toll Ban, meet the road and link back to the car. I remember the fun of digging the heels into the shifting rock-dirt and how the novelty lasted all of 5 minutes my boots began to take on passenger material, my knees did not agree with this new form of motion and it was tiring!
The thrill of reaching sea level after so long was met by disdain at walking on the flat, endless road. From car to car, 6 hours and 20 minutes. One for the memory books - and we had barely even started!!!

[Anne C]

Excellent report, great fun to read too. I love that photo of 'looking back to Liathach' with the wee lochan below, that's a belter.
Maybe it's a young man thing, going for the big scary exciting ones right away ? My younger son has a friend who has just started hillwalking - one of the first he did on his own was the Aonach Eagach! I was amazed AND shocked but he loved it and just seemed to take it (literally) in his stride.How I wish...

[iangpark]

A really interesting report this. Liathach was my 2nd & 3rd Munros and, despite an encyclopaedia of fear-inducing reports in my head, I found it to be the easiest Grade 2 scramble I've done - I barely paused for thought the entire traverse despite being a very inexperienced scrambler. I think partly the windless, sunny, dry weather was what allowed this, and had there been any wind or rain about, it would have been very different. Your bravery shines through tremendously!

[scottnairn]

Excellent report, great fun to read too. I love that photo of 'looking back to Liathach' with the wee lochan below, that's a belter.
Maybe it's a young man thing, going for the big scary exciting ones right away ? My younger son has a friend who has just started hillwalking - one of the first he did on his own was the Aonach Eagach! I was amazed AND shocked but he loved it and just seemed to take it (literally) in his stride.How I wish...

Thank you Anne! I don't think there's been a hill day yet that I returned from without plenty of tales, photos and memories to relive again and again!

Haha perhaps it is a "young man's" thing - though the Aonach Eagach is still on my to-do list and scrambling still gives me the heebie-jeebies so it might be one of the iconic walks that gets saved for a much later day! I suppose I'm racing through the adrenaline early so I only have the nice bimbles left for later life!! 😊

Cheers and take care!

[scottnairn]

A really interesting report this. Liathach was my 2nd & 3rd Munros and, despite an encyclopaedia of fear-inducing reports in my head, I found it to be the easiest Grade 2 scramble I've done - I barely paused for thought the entire traverse despite being a very inexperienced scrambler. I think partly the windless, sunny, dry weather was what allowed this, and had there been any wind or rain about, it would have been very different. Your bravery shines through tremendously!

Thanks for reading and your comment, Ian!
Talk about having your work cut out for you with Liathach so early on! However, I agree that it is not quite "knife-edge" scrambling and on a good day, I feel like Liathach's pinnacles would be an sure-fire thrilling climb for all the endorphin boosting reasons ☺ perhaps I let the text take over my hands and feet too much

Cheers and take care!

[Sgurr]

Well done you. My lack of head for heights (and finding it snowing at the top of the first one) lead to me doing these one at each end without the ridge. Always said I'd come back one day, but the rest of the lesser hills got in the way and am neither brave nor fit enough now. Gave a great feeling of what it would be like to be there, and your favourite photo is GREAT. Congratulations on TR of the month.

[scottnairn]

Well done you. My lack of head for heights (and finding it snowing at the top of the first one) lead to me doing these one at each end without the ridge. Always said I'd come back one day, but the rest of the lesser hills got in the way and am neither brave nor fit enough now. Gave a great feeling of what it would be like to be there, and your favourite photo is GREAT. Congratulations on TR of the month.

It is certainly a great shame to have not experienced the classic traverse, Sgurr, but I'm sure there were many memorable days elsewhere that made up for it we just decided to get one of the airy ridges out of the way early and it has certainly not faded from my memory, over 5 years on. Liathach is a great day out!

Thanks for reading and for your kind words! Stay safe and well!
Scott

[Huff_n_Puff]

Brilliant - I love your approach to these hills, bravery plus fear, that's about right

A big advantage of doing the harder hills first is that you won't end up as I did, climbing the In Pin at 60 and wishing I'd taken up rock climbing in my youth but then if I had I might not be here writing this comment now