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Munros: Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan, Mullach na Dheiragain.
Grahams: Carn na Breabaig
Date: 24/04/2022.
Distance: 22km.
Ascent: 2000m.
Time: 7 hours, 45 minutes.
Weather: Low cloud early on followed by strong sunshine on the highest summits.
Plus an 8 mile cycle back to Killilan from Iron Lodge.
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Link to part 1)
Having had a half-decent night's sleep, I woke early next to Iron Lodge. As the tent was pretty much dry, I took it down after breakfast and stashed my overnight rucksack by my bike a short distance away. Today I had decided to visit the remote northern ridges of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan - something I had been meaning to do for years but newly motivated by some top bagging. Since Jackie has pretty much retreated from going up hills of any height for the time being, my motivation to get out has decreased due to feeling guilty for going off and doing stuff that she can't. That has often kept me to the most local hills, doing fairly short routes and not feeling overly inspired by getting out on the hills. However a chance day on Creag Meagaidh a month or so back kick-started my enthusiasm to pick off the remaining Munro tops. I haven't felt the need to bag hill lists for some time but a bit of structure has got me looking at interesting routes again and given me some drive to travel a little further afield. It doesn't change much for her but there's no point in both of us being miserable about me going out in the hills...
First light on Carnan Cruithneachd 
Iron Lodge The morning was pleasant enough, and rather than walk the couple of miles back down the glen to reach the stalkers path to Creag Ghlas I went straight up the hillside behind Iron Lodge. The ground was well grazed around here so just as easy as following the path, if a bit of a steep start.
Back down to Iron Lodge 
Loch na Leithrach and Carnan Cruithneachd 
Zoom to the Red Cuillin Before too long I picked up the faint line of the stalkers path onto Creag Ghlas and also disappeared into the clag. The weather had been very similar yesterday morning so I was glad I hadn't bothered camping high - while it would have got me an earlier start, I would most likely not have seen anything. Now I only had to carry my day pack.
Bit gloomy up here A couple of bearings saw me off Creag Ghlas the correct way. This part of the ridge was broad and rocky, and looked as if it would probably interesting. However aside from the occasional thinning of the cloud, I could see little. This continued over Stuc Fraoch Choire and towards Stuc Mor, at which point things began to clear.
Cloud beginning to break If the first couple of hours had been slightly disappointing, it was worth it for the feeling of emerging from the clag to find yourself on a high and remote mountain ridge. This was some spot, and after the murk it felt much brighter and sunnier than the photos look (the real sunshine came along later). The remainder of the walk to the west summit of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan was straightforward and impressive, and I found one of those weird rock sculpture things at the top. Along the way I had managed to send a message to Jackie to let her know I was still alive - there had been no signal anywhere yesterday. Not even on the summit of Aonach Buidhe.
At last! Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan and Stuc Beag 
Back of the Five Sisters 
Back to Stuc Mor 
Final ridge to Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan 
Stuc Beag 
Kintail and Beinn Sgritheall 
Black Cuillin 
Ridge to the east summit 
Cloud breaking to the west (Rum just visible behind Beinn Sgritheall) 
West summit art From the west summit the ridge to the main summit looked great, with a big bank of cloud sitting on the Glen Affric side. I had brought my axe and crampons along in the car but the logistics of strapping them to the bag for the cycle had been beyond me yesterday in the rush to catch up the rest of Greg's final Corbett group, so I had left them behind. On the basis that I hadn't needed them on the nearby Mam Sodhail just over a week earlier, I hoped I would be lucky today. As it turned out, the snowmelt had been quite substantial over the last week so I barely even had to put my foot on snow. Any that remained was soft.
Ridge to the main summit 
Back to the west summit There is a single part on the ridge where hands are needed to descend a shallow gully, but the traverse from west to east summit was easier than I remembered. The great scenery continued from the main summit, with my ridge to Mullach na Dheiragain shifting further out of the cloud. It was lunchtime now so I had a decent break on the tiny summit.
East ridge towards An Socach 
On Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan 
Stuc Beag 
Stuc Beag and An Gorm-lochan 
Gleann Sithidh and Mullach na Dheiragain I was originally going to return to Glen Elchaig by the NW ridge of Creag nan Clachan Geala but as the trip got closer, I had been getting more ambitious. So Mullach na Dheiragain via Carn na Con Dhu was my next stop. It is a long way down from Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan to the next bealach - just over 300m. Thankfully less back up to the humpy ridge of Carn na Con Dhu. The summit area is a number of confusing confusing piles of rocks and outcrops with dips in between before the ridge becomes much more uniform for the last leg out to Mullach na Dheiragain.
Back to Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan 
Carn na Con Dhu The Mullach deserved another break, particularly as the sun was now fully out and the forecast wind had failed to appear. As I was enjoying a second lunch, I spotted someone coming up the NE ridge of Mullach Sithidh. It was a fellrunner - I wondered if he was doing the Mullardoch round. I had a brief chat when he reached me and it turned out he had actually started in Glen Affric and come up via Carn Eighe and Beinn Fhionnlaidh before dropping right down to the southern tip of Loch Mullardoch and coming straight back up the other side. Ouch!
Zoom to the Abhainn Sithidh I carried on to Mullach Sithidh then northward to Creag a' Choir' Ard. Before too long I found the wind that I thought had failed to materialise - it was quite blowy between about 600m and 800m....of the cold easterly variety
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Mullach na Dheiragain from Mullach Sithidh 
Loch Mullardoch and Beinn Fhionnlaidh I had spotted Creag a' Choir' Aird from Aonach Buidhe yesterday and I thought the route off it looked OK from there. Now standing at the top of it, it looked extremely steep! I discovered that if I veered south slightly I would avoid all of the significant crags, leaving a load of steep grass to negotiate. Certainly steep but fairly straightforward. I veered north again as I spotted a couple of figures ascending and fancied a chat. They were headed for Mullach na Dheiragain and were following a route from a guidebook which suggested there was a path up here! Maybe there was somewhere as I had been on a faint trail further up the ridge, but it certainly wasn't obvious. I suspected they would have a slightly more straightforward time getting up here than I had coming down.
Descent route from Creag a' Choir' Aird I met various quad bike tracks complete with bridges over the burns at the foot of Creag a' Choir' Aird, and could have followed them easily back to the bike. However over the last hour or so I had started to think about including Carn na Breabaig in the route. It isn't the most distinctive summit around but it wouldn't add much on and I had been chased off it by a thundery shower on my previous visit. Perhaps this time I would be able to properly appreciate the views down Glen Elchaig that it offered.
Gloom at the east end of Loch Mullardoch 
Beinn Fhionnlaidh, Carn Eighe and Mam Sodhail As I rose up the slopes of Carn na Breabaig Loch Mullardoch opened out with a clear weather barrier about halfway down and thick cloud over the eastern end. This matched with the gloomy forecast I had seen for Inverness for the weekend - quite at odds with the situation on the west coast.
Loch Mhoicean and An Socach from Carn na Breabaig 
Faochaig from Carn na Breabaig 
Loch Mullardoch and the Affric hills The sun was really out on Carn na Breabaig and I enjoyed following the indistinct WSW ridge back to the track that led to Iron Lodge. While the views were nowhere near as extensive as those from Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan, it was completely enclosed by remote glens and summits.
Glen Elchaig from Carn na Breabaig 
Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan Soon I was on the good track down to Iron Lodge. Again I thought about jumping in the river but it turned out that I had left my towel in the car. I could still have done it but it was now less appealing. I had thought of stripping off completely but soon noticed that this remote corner of Kintail is actually quite busy. I soon remembered that it is on the Cape Wrath Trail, which explained the number of backpackers passing through. Hardly the West Highland Way, but between Iron Lodge and the Falls of Glomach path I passed half-a-dozen or so people.
Dropping down to Iron Lodge with Carnan Cruithneachd behind 
Allt Sgairt Lair The cycle back was more downhill, I packed and attached my two rucksacks together much more securely and the wind was behind me so I got back to the car a good 20 minutes faster than it had taken me to get up there the previous day. The weather just kept improving and it was a shame to be heading back to the gloomy east, but it had been a good weekend in the mountains - the best in a while
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Meall Sguman and the glen containing the Falls of Glomach 
Last look up Glen Elchaig