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This is my first walk report. I suspect it will be obvious from the photos why I chose this outing. It is one of the best scrambling routes I have completed.
27 August 2021: probably the sunniest day of the year. The plan for the day was to walk over the entire Beinn Eighe ridge, starting by climbing Sail Mhor via Lawson Ling and Glover's route, continuing over Coinneach Mhor before diverted out to Ruadh-stac Mor and back, crossing Spidean Coire nan Clach, Sgurr Ban and Sgurr nan Fhir Duibhe, before descending the Black Carls and walking down via Creag Dhubh.
I usually walk alone, but this week I was visiting with an old friend (Pete).
We had two vehicles, parked one at the end of the walk, and drove the other to park at the bottom of the (good-quality) path to Coire Mhic Fhearchair. We set off walking around 9 am. The weather was superb, and there was still some morning coolness in the air.
- Pete, with Liathach behind
We made good progress to Coire Mhic Fhearchair and stopped for the obligatory photos of the lake and the triple buttress.
- The triple buttress, blurry in the sunshine
Then it was time to tackle Lawson Ling and Glover's route. The start is up a pile of scree falling from a gully in the side of Sail Mhor. The scree is loose and very steep, but for that reason there is no choice but to move slowly and so I found it a relatively easy clamber. After the cone of scree, there is some degree of choice. It is possible to strike off immediately to the right up the short craggy shelves on top of the ridge. Alternatively, the route can continue up the gully before ascending the outcrops on the right hand side part way up (which is what we did). The rock in the gully is greasy, but generally firm. And once out of the gully on the main ridge, the scrambling is superb, on firm rock with good holds. I've tried to give some idea of the route and its general difficulty in the following pictures. Note, however, that it deserves its grade 2 rating, although there is a large amount of choice as to which line to take and how much difficulty to undertake.
The route:
- The start of Lawson Ling and Glover's route
- The gully
- Me, climbing the ridge
- Pete, climbing the ridge
There's a platform on a tower at the top of the gully, with dizzying views down to Coire Mhic Fhearchair, and over the ridge of Ruadh-stac Mor towards Slioch and Fisherfield. I snapped a picture of Pete standing on the edge.
- The top of the tower. Ben Lair, A'Mhaghdean and An Teallach in the background.
On a clear day the top of Sail Mhor must be one of the best viewpoints in the highlands. It's also extremely sharp and rocky; the sandstone outcrops on the way up the ridge give way to bright white quartzite at the top.
- Baosbheinn and Beinn an Eoin
- Beinn Dearg and Beinn Alligin
- Slioch and the far north
- Liathach
There is some further scrambling to get up to the next top (Coinneach Mhor), but it is easier than it looks, at least when tackled in ascent.
- The route to the next top
Once on top of Coinneach Mhor, we were on the standard western Beinn Eighe summits route. The ridge walking is relatively easy, at least as regards the gradient (compared, for example, to the Glen Shiel Ridges), but the terrain is tricky, particularly on the eastern part of the mountain. The ridge is covered in small quartzite rocks, which makes the mountain look almost unreal, as if it had been transplanted from the moon.
- Looking east from Ruadh-stac Mor
- Summit of Spidean Coire nan Clach
- Looking back west at Ruadh-stac Mor
- Looking west again
- Ruach-stac Beag
- Me on the ridge
As a clear highlight of the day, we bumped into Walkhighlands Weasels on the way up Spidean.
Finally comes the Black Carls and the descent. The scrambling over the Carls is easier than the route up Sail Mhor, but a lot of the rock is unpleasantly loose, particularly when descending. There were several times when, rather than securing a handhold, I found I simply pulled a large boulder out of the mountainside. But the scrambling is not especially exposed, and there are enough ledges to allow one to select a firm hold.
The path down is obvious at the top of Creag Dhubh, but it is steep and covered in scree. Around half way down the flank of the mountain, above a cliff face, we lost the path. It veered left and we veered right, seemingly still on a path, but one that soon became so steep that we were in danger of sliding. But a slightly unpleasant traverse over some boulders underneath the cliff got us back on track, and the path along the river at the bottom was obvious, easy, and increasingly shaded from the evening sun.
- The descent. The top of the cliffed section where we accidentally went right instead of left is visible.
We wound up back at the other vehicle (a camper van) around 7 pm to find that an internal light had been left on and the battery was flat. After some unsuccessful attempts to flag down a few passing drivers (to hell with all them), a lady who lived locally stopped and produced jumper cables. Unfortunately I didn't catch her name, but if anyone knows who owns a dark Range Rover (I think) with a yellow light on the top and who lives in Kinlochewe, please let me know.