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Why is WEST always BEST?
Because the best mountains are on the western side of Scotland!
It doesn't mean that I don't like the Cairngorms or Aberdeenshire, or the north-east (Caithness and Sutherland). Every corner of the country has its charms, but every time we take the western bearing, my heart beats faster.
Since finishing off the Munros has been postponed till some-time-in-the-far-future, we are concentrating on smaller targets, like compleating the second round of Torridons (all summits over 2000ft in Torridon area). This is a new "list" we created for our own purpose. At the time of writing this report, we have only 4 tops left to do (1 Munro, 2 Corbetts, 1 Graham). Wherever possible, we try to use a new route for each second ascent. Such was the case with Sgòrr nan Lochan Uaine and Sgùrr Dubh. Our first approach to this duo was
from the east via Cadha na Frianadh path (WH route). We liked it a lot but sadly, weather didn't cooperate that day and we saw next to nothing from the tops due to extensive cloud.
For the second round, we decided to tackle Sgòrr nan Lochan Uaine and Sgùrr Dubh from the east, from Loch Coulin/Loch Clair side. We knew about an old stalker's path going up along Allt na Luib into Coire an Leth-uillt. Originally, we planned to return the same way after bagging both Corbetts, but Kevin liked the look of Beinn Liath Beag so much that he suggested a detour to this top. We ended up doing an interesting circular route, I daresay the best possible traverse of these two Corbetts:
The starting point is the same as for the circular walk of Loch Coulin. The off road parking area is small but when we arrived in the morning, we were the first visitors. Lucky us.
The classic calendar view: Liathach seen across Loch Clair.
Sgurr Dubh reflected in the loch:
We took the track to Coulin Lodge; the start of the stalker's path is not as obvious as we initially thought, but we spotted it eventually. The path goes through some lovely birch and pine woodland. Of course, mushrooms were growing everywhere and I was disappointed when Kevin absolutely FORBADE me to pick anything (I am not carrying five kilograms of chanterelles or birch boletes up a mountain!!!).
- May I take a few? Just a few?... Pleeeeease?....
Higher up, the path emerged from the forest and climbed up the corrie towards Sgurr Dubh:
Coire an Leth-uillt is a typical example of one created by the glacier:
At about 400m we left the path and climbed into a gap between the rocks barring the access to Sgurr Dubh. Going was easy initially:
...with a few isolated pockets of scrambling higher up:
I remembered from our previous visit that there was a small lochan about 100m below the summit. Kevin found it first:
The morning cloud has long lifted, leaving blue sky and fantastic views. We were so happy that weather was kind to us this time. Now we knew what we had missed during our previous visit!
Looking south to Sgòrr nan Lochan Uaine (and Beinn Liath Mhor) from just above the wee lochan:
On the rocky slopes just below the top we spotted a pair of ptarmigan. They were well camouflaged against the gray sandstone:
He Who Knows It All Best knew exactly which rock to pose on!
The summit has a large stone shelter, which was a good spot for Lucy to sit on (she was repeating the two Corbetts as well):
Them two are up to something
After a snack and a hot cuppa (the wind had a chilly edge - autumn is certainly coming!) it was time for a photo session. There are few better viewpoints in Torridon than Sgurr Dubh. So worth returning to on a good day.
- I'm the famous photographer...
Panoramic snap of Beinn Eighe & Liathach:
View south to the Achnashellach hills:
Zoom to Liathach ridge:
Coire Dubh Mor (between Beinn Eighe and Liathach) with the path to Coire Mhic Fhearchair visible in the middle:
The distant Fisherfields:
Having enjoyed the views from Sgurr Dubh, we set off to traverse to the second Corbett. I kept joking that we were now changing colour from black (dubh) to green (uaine). My knowledge of Gaelic is rudimentary - to say the least, but in my opinion, both hills are the same shade of grey. Whoever named these peaks, probably wanted to distinguish them from the "grey one" on the other side of Glen Torridon. Otherwise we'd end up with 50 shades of grey...
On the way down to the first lochan:
We took a slightly different line of descent below the lochan, using a shallow rocky gully to drop to a lower lochan. A well-worn path was a great help. To the right of the picture, a small ridge we traversed next:
Looking back at Sgurr Dubh from the wee rocky ridge; the gully we descended is well visible. Looks vertical from the distance, but this view is misleading:
From the southern end of the rocky ridge we had a good view to the rest of the traverse and I couldn't resist a loud meow
This is how I like my mountains!
- MEOWWWWWWW!
Sgòrr nan Lochan Uaine and the myriad of lochans on the connecting col:
We didn't waste much time and marched over the mixture of rock and grass to our second target. Sgòrr nan Lochan Uaine is nearly 100m higher than Sgurr Dubh but the ascent from the north is relatively gentle up till the final slope:
Black Panther disappointed, no scrambling?...
- Phew, that's too easy!
Lucy on the summit of Sgòrr nan Lochan Uaine, Liathach in the background. Last time we were here, it rained cats and dogs, today it is just...
- It's raining sheep! Halleluyah!
Panoramas from the summit of the second Corbett:
- North (Liathach, beinn Eighe, Sgurr Dubh)
- East (Loch Torridon, Beinn Damph, Meaol Chean-dearg
- South (Lochan Uaine and Beinn Liath Mhor)
To the east, a small yet very distinguished top drew our attention. This is Beinn Liath Beag, officially a Simm, TUMP and a Graham top, but whatever it is, we didn't care. We just liked the look of this wee outlier and decided to add it to our walk to make a circular:
We dropped due east from the Corbett summit, following a faint path down the rocky slopes. The ground was a bit tumbly but not too steep. Views south to Beinn Liath Mhor ridge were stupendous:
- Wow!
After about 70m of reascent, we were on the summit of Beinn Liath Beag and celebrating a new top, not that it really mattered (I tick off our TUMPs and Simms on Hill Bagging page but just for fun really, we have no intention of compleating any of these lists!).
One last look at the giants of Torridon...
There are several ways of descending BLB, we opted for the straightforward drop down the eastern side which proved... well... a bit unstable...
- He has a stone loose...
The experience reminded me of the bottom half of the Great Stone Chute if not as steep. Going down was like sliding on loose scree. Not too bad as long as we kept our balance. Climbing up this would be more laborious, probably two steps up, one down:
We were discreetly observed by the locals:
We spotted the upper end of a track and headed straight for it, passing a small hydro dam en route. The ground here was a bit bumpy and overgrown but once we reached the track (the river must be crossed to get to the beaten track and it might be a problem in spate) it was then easy going.
Looking back to Sgòrr nan Lochan Uaine and Beinn Liath Beag from the end of the track:
We were still good 5 miles away from the starting point but all the hard work was done. The hydro track descends to River Coulin and soon joins the circular route of Loch Coulin.
- On the way home
I was surprised when I learned that it took us over 9 hours to do this walk (we faffed about too much on the way, I guess) but we don't regret a single second. This is definitely the best traverse of Sgòrr nan Lochan Uaine and Sgùrr Dubh, this route does the true justice to this great ridge. I know that many walkers consider these Corbetts tough, rocky, tiring and not worth a second visit, but my oh my! we are so happy that we decided to repeat them
In my next story we'll stay on the western side of Scotland, but head further north. Who knows, maybe we will even discover the north-west passage?...