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Tom a' Choinich, Toll Creagach and a hazy day

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:52 pm
by BlackPanther
We've been so busy since Good Friday that only today I found time to sort pictures from our Easter trips and write reports. My husband got himself a new camera and he was all eager to test it on mountain tops. Of course, he loves his new equipment so much that I am not allowed to touch it :( so all that was left for me was the good old Sony camcorder. It also takes still photos but certainly not of a great quality.
Having split the equipment we had a look at the map to find a good local walk. Tom a' Choinich and Toll Creagach came to my attention as they are not far away from Inverness and both offer good views to the whole Glen Affric area.

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The start point for this walk is the car park just before Chisholme Bridge along the banks of Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin. The bridge itself is a nice viewpoint. Looking NW one can clearly see the bulk of Sgurr na Lapaich, the outlier of Mam Sodhail.
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Kevin spent a while taking photos from the bridge in all possible directions :)
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As we headed up the track along Abhainn Gleann nam Fiadh, both our target hills came into view. The day was rather hazy...
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Looking back towards Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin:
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After a couple of kilometers the track curved round to the left and eventually it turned into a boggy path. Views were already second to none, and when we approached Bealach Toll Easa, we could see other Affric hills peeking out from behind. The glen by itself is a lovely place for a walk, even if you don't intend to climb any Munros.
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The summit of An Leth-chreag in the far distance:
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If you look behind you, the top of Beinn a'Mheadhoin (613m) dominates the view:
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Sgurr na Lapaich and me:
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As we came closer to the base of Tom a' Choinich (which we intended to climb as first), we had a good look at the waterfalls of Allt Toll Easa.
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Wood anemone
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Just pass the stream a steep, narrow path gave us a good climb up the slopes to the hanging valley. As we reached the more level ground Kevin couldn't resist taking more snapshots...
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... but I quickly hurried up the rocky ridge of Tom a' Choinich and he had no choice but to follow :lol: :lol: :lol:
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There is a faint path up Creag na h-Inghinn, the southern side of the Munro – steep and bouldery but with very little scrambling. The reward is well worth the effort, with fantastic views towards the east face of Tom a' Choinich.
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Sometimes it pays off to look back :D
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The round shape of Toll Creagach:
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Higher on the ridge the slope becomes less steep and it offers a pleasant walk with magnificent views in all directions.
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Glen Affric mountains including Mam Sodhail to the south-west:
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Sgurr na Lapaich (the Loch Mullardoch one) finally revealed:
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On the rocky ridge...
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The final short push to the summit:
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The Creag na h-Inghinn ridge as seen from the summit of Tom a' Choinich:
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Munro no. 29 officially ticked off!
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Unfortunately we couldn't stay by the summit cairn for a long time - suddenly, a strong wind woke up and the conditions became so unpleasant that we decided to descend down to Bealach Toll Easa without any hesitation. Walking down was an epic struggle against the gusts :shock: Kevin's backside had a painful encounter with the slippery ground (but he saved his precious camera from any damage!!!) and I considered stuffing my pockets with stones (maybe I lost too much weight recently - next time the wind will blow me off the slope :? ). We eventually reached the lowest point of the bealach where we stopped to have our well deserved lunch while looking back to the narrow ridge we left behind:
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Lunch on the bealach:
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From the col one can catch a glimpse of Loch Mullardoch:
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When there was nothing left to eat, we continued up the easy slope of Toll Creagach. After the struggle in the wind it was a nice change - we landed on the summit in next to no time.
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Tom a' Choinich from Toll Creagach:
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Such a shame about the haze...
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Toll Creagach offers remarkably good views to down to Loch Mullardoch and surrounding mountains:
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The trig point - hooray, I've reached number 30! Still only 253 to go...
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To finish our expedition we walked down the southern slopes of Toll Creagach towards Beinn Eun, then we found a good descending route along Allt a'Choire Odhair with any boggy bits easily avoidable.
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Tom a' Choinich again:
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The shoulder of Beinn Eun and Beinn a'Mheadhoin in the background:
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The last opportunity to record some views:
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Back in the glen, we took our time to get back to the car park. No hurry at all :D :D
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Saying bye-bye to Tom a' Choinich:
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Happy to have conquered another two Munros:
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Well, if anybody asks me about last Friday, I'll have to say - Friday was Good. Good indeed 8)
But our Easter Adventure wasn't over yet. The story continued on Easter Monday with my good old friend Suilven playing the main part. Report to follow - as soon as photies are sorted.

Re: Tom a' Choinich, Toll Creagach and a hazy day

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:19 pm
by ChrisW
Brilliant BP and some beautiful pics, hope you didn't help Kevin toward the painful encounter between his butt and the ground as a result of camera envy :lol: looking forward to the next instalment.

Re: Tom a' Choinich, Toll Creagach and a hazy day

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:25 pm
by BlackPanther
ChrisW wrote:Brilliant BP and some beautiful pics, hope you didn't help Kevin toward the painful encounter between his butt and the ground as a result of camera envy :lol: looking forward to the next instalment.


Thanks Chris,
finally I overcame the 25 pics limit problem. As for Kevin's bum-slide, it was his own fault, he wanted to prove that he could walk down the snow patch - obviously he couldn't. :lol: :lol: :lol: