free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Watching the weather forecast is not something that will cheer you up, especially at this time of year. We had a 2 day window Friday & Saturday, I was checking the forecast regularly for the NW and it was changing daily. Friday looked like the best day so opted for a 3hr plus drive each way to head to Coulags which was to be our start point. This would be a new route for me as the last time I tackled MCD I approached from Torridon Youth Hostel.
We left Fife just before 6am with our usual breakfast stop in Inverness.
I parked the car at the wide entrance to the estate and we were soon on our way. The weather was absolutely perfect for walking, nice ambient temperature of about 10deg and not a breath of wind. The good news was being the end of October there were no insects to worry about.
The way ahead from the 'limited' parking area
The blurb at the entrance to the estate
The cairn marks a right turn off the road track
Newish bridge
Looking back
Some sort of Hydro system?
As above
The bridge over the burn, showing signs of wear & tear - a few rungs missing and some looking a bit suspect
The bothy
A bit of a guided tour
Leaving the bothy after having a look around
Not the biggest of premises
The point where we turned left and headed up the path uphill
Going up there
Looking back whilst Parminder has a rest
The way uphill
It was at the bealach that we discussed whether we should visit An Ruadh-stac after Maol Chean-dearg and we decided to make a final decision on our return
Heading up MCD - word of warning to any future visitors, pick the path to the right as that is not as steep and the scree is more favourable underfoot
Looking across to the Carn Beag
Stunning view of An Ruadh-stac
Looking back down, plenty of paths going in all directions
On our ascent we met an old Walk Highlands friend jenniferc, I recognised her straight away so we had a good chat. Jennifer was also heading across to tackle An Ruadh-stac and is well into her 3rd round of Munro's - good luck on your next round and maybe once the "Meets" are up and running again we can catch up.
Lovely backdrop
Just stunning - especially when the lochans are like mirrors
Another lochan appearing
The way ahead to the summit
Porcupine grass
An Ruadh-stac from on high
The cairn / shelter on the summit of MCD. I should add that the shelter is designed in such a way that no matter what direction the wind it will cater for you.
Not sure what Parminder found funny
George admiring Parminder's nice clean rucksack - after a spouse wash
Torridon - where else
Plenty of pointy stuff
Descending, Parminder almost blending in
Looking down on the path that leads you up to the bealach
This descent route is not for the faint hearted unless you love loose scree
We met a party of 7 who were heading uphill on the 'better' path
Here we go our first Corbett for a while
A few action shots whilst ascending
Gaining height - quickly
On the lower slopes of An Ruadh-stac we met a couple of guys descending so we had a good chat. We were advised that the descent is far easier than the ascent as you can see the way down. I have to confess I was a bit sceptical but they were spot on.
The lochans from a different angle
Fairly steep now
Looking across to MCD
George literally head down
Looking down again
Not a bad view
Descending now, surprisingly it was easier than ascending - as we were advised earlier, because the way down is more obvious
A bit of low flying cloud passing by
Looking up, kind of shows how steep it is
Looking south, a little pocket of cloud lingering
Parminder just appearing
You can almost see the path
George easy to spot, Parminder not so
Now we are down to the 'solid' slabby sort of rock, plenty of footholds etc for ascending - descending a different ball game, definitely wouldn't fancy it in the wet
Now we come to an interesting bit - George will demonstrate the 5 points of contact
Looking back across the mirror surface lochan
Making our way back to the bealach before the final descent
As usual a few camera photo's - Follow the leader over the bridge, you can see a few planks are missing
A drilling rig or similar out to the west - zoomed (alot)
George admiring the views and they don't get much better
One of George's photo's, uphill shot
Another of George's, side on view of An Ruadh-stac, typical Torridon
What a fantastic day - so glad we opted to take in An Ruadh-stac, that turned out to be one of our better decisions. As I said to George and Parminder, it made sense to include it as we were at the foot of it and we only had a mere 300m to ascend, sounds easy if you say it quickly. This will be our last Munro of the year so all we have to do next year is somehow bag Parminder's final 26 and my 30, it sounds easy enough but we have 7 left on Skye and like most other walkers we also have to visit Fisherfield. One thing we won't be doing is tackling Fisherfield in a 'oner' like my last visit. We are now turning our attention to the Donald's and we may even complete them over the winter months.
