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Sgùrr na Cìche by packraft

Sgùrr na Cìche by packraft


Postby PhilBehan » Tue May 03, 2022 8:10 am

Route description: Sgùrr na Cìche: 3 Munros from Loch Arkaig

Munros included on this walk: Garbh Chioch Mhòr, Sgùrr Mòr (Loch Quoich), Sgùrr na Cìche, Sgùrr nan Coireachan (Glen Dessary)

Corbetts included on this walk: Sgùrr an Fhuarain

Date walked: 12/07/2021

Time taken: 36 hours

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Having already walked into these hills by the traditional route from Loch Arkaig I was not looking forward to my return. The previous trip had been a 20km trudge through an alarming amount of bog and particularly midge infested. It had been so depressing that we’d not even left the glen and just returned to the car. The time came that I had five Munros left and felt some compulsion to once again tackle these hills. That time was last summer. A different approach was needed.

Looking at maps of the area we kept commenting that the best paths appeared to be on the North side of the ridge, but this was unhelpful due to the small issue of Loch Cuaich / Quoich being in the way. A solution to this problem was to raid the kit pile and dig out the packrafts. For those who aren’t familiar these are inflatable rafts built more sturdily than a beach dingy, but small and light enough to be carried on an extended outing (ish). In reality packrafts tend to be somewhat bulky and heavy to lug about, especially the whitewater models designed to be even more robust. Our flat water models are thankfully lighter and smaller than these, but a light weight set up will still easily add another few kilos for a boat, another for your paddle and then the safety gear…

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One of our packrafts: Alpacka Expedition


These hills weren’t going to do themselves and I was assured they were well worth it once up high so we decided this was the way to go. If nothing else who can resist playing with more kit? Not me: I was hooked on the idea.

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Packing up at the van


Our morning started with a drive over from Aviemore, followed by a good kit sort parked on the north side of Loch Quoich. The big issue was that carrying the packrafts would slow us down and they are a slower method of travel in the first place. We’d end up having to stay out and so had to carry the extra kit for an overnighter. This is a slippery slope towards a 60L pack and going nowhere slowly, especially on the rough ground of these hills! Eventually we made our way down to the water and were off at last!

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Clare paddling out across Loch Quoich


We made an easy crossing over to the northern slopes of Sgùrr an Fhuarain and proceeded up old stalkers paths that were so little used they were hidden by grass in places… but they were solid and dry!? In fact they helped us make easy work of this rather pretty Corbett. We were especially pleased to find a spring at the col with Meall a’ Choire Bhuidhe and to enjoy a rest with clean water on the summit. With fab views along the ridge to Sgùrr Mòr and Sgùrr na Cìche in the distance.

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Clare descending from Sgùrr an Fhuarain


The ridge over to Sgùrr Mòr is pathless and feels more wild than much of the rest of the chain which only added to our sense of adventure on this route. Besides this it’s a lovely walk and the views over Knoydart and out towards Lochaber were great. Once we topped out the day was starting to draw to an end and so the hunt for a camp spot was on. We pitched on the col below An Eag and ate our tea watching the deer on the hillsides around us.

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Watching the deer at tea time


After a good nights sleep we trucked on slowly up An Eag and into the clouds. Sadly we didn’t get much of a view on Sgùrr nan Coireachan or Garbh Chioch Mhòr. The hefty packs didn’t add to the fun either as this was pretty rough ground. We bumped into our fist and only other people (and collie) on the ridge as we started to drop down from Garbh Chioch Mhòr and took the excuse of a chat!

Our planned route up Sgùrr na Cìche was a there-and-back so at the col below it we took advantage and dropped our bags at the col. We pretty much levitated up and got our first view of the day when we topped out above an inversion. It was one of those where your only just poking out of the cloud so can’t really see any other features but the clouds around and it felt pretty magical for my penultimate Munro.

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Happy to be above the clouds


The descent was possibly the most adventurous part of the trip. Descending off the north side of the col where we had dumped our bags required dropping down some really rather steep ground, avoiding screes above ravines and navigating past some awkwardly placed cliffs. Eventually we descended out of the clouds and the views opened up. At the valley floor an old stalkers track appeared and took us down to the loch where we saw another human camped!

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Dropping down from the col (spot Clare)


The paddle back up Loch Quoich was a long one, not helped by a crosswind that got up not long after we set off. With a reasonable amount of gear in our boats and being so remote this was pretty much the most dangerous part of our trip. After a long paddle we made it to the van though and set off for our next adventure on Skye…

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Weather starting to deteriorate


A safety note: on our paddle back we never had waves bad enough to have us land, but we were certainly aware that it could deteriorate and so hugged the shoreline, staying together. Stronger paddlers than us have become separated from their packrafts and died on lakes like this so we took care. Packrafts are fast becoming popular and this may sound over cautious, but with their increasing popularity are coming increasing numbers of incidents and sadly fatalities. We both had basic safety kit eg. floatation aids and throw lines and knew what to do in an emergency, but in such a large loch it’s a long way to swim or hold on to your partner’s boat if you loose contact with your own boat in the wind. It doesn’t take long to find people paddling solo in poor conditions with less preparation on YouTube for example and that’s a concern. You need to remember that if doing a combined trip like this you’re likely to be paddling tired. This is compounded by the fact that these are inefficient craft: wide, flat bottomed and without a keel they turn each time you paddle and that wastes a lot of energy. Tired people make mistakes and fall out of boats more easily. Because we were on flat water in summer we wearing hiking waterproofs and weren’t wearing dry suits which we’d consider in winter as the cold water is the biggest problem then: this is a weight trade off and one to consider. This wasn’t Alaska, so we had planned for ways we could walk out if we had to.
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PhilBehan
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Re: Sgùrr na Cìche by packraft

Postby Graeme D » Wed Jun 29, 2022 9:41 am

Excellent report and more useful information in my own research into doing these hills by the same means next month. :D
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Graeme D
 
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Location: Perth

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