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I and a group of friends found ourselves holidaying in a luxurious 14-person AirBnB near the Mullardoch dam in early August; the hillwalkers among us were eyeing up a traverse of the Mullardoch Munros. Plan A had been a full circuit of the 12 Munros as a 3-day wildcamping expedition, but in view of an unsettled forecast (and, to be honest, the very comfortable surroundings of our accommodation) we decided to split the route into two trips, separating the northern and southern sections. Plan B had been to tackle the northern set first by engaging the services of Angus the ferryman to take us to the western end of the loch, but unfortunately Angus is not operating the service this season so we were left with Plan C: walking out across the four Northern Munros and then back along the shore of the loch, guaranteeing a hefty day out. Still, conditions were bright as six of us left the AirBnB at around 9am and set off towards the dam.
- Loch Mullardoch from just beyond the dam
A track runs along the north shore for the first couple of kilometres (before becoming a more rugged path) and we followed it to the Allt Mullardoch before heading up into Coire an t-Sith - other walkers often go directly up Mullach na Maoile instead, but the route into the corrie follows a good path and felt like an easier start to the ascent. We plodded up until the path disintegrated, then pulled onto a stony bealach between Carn nan Gobhar and Creag Dubh. We turned west onto the first Munro summit of the day, Carn nan Gobhar, a rather featureless place but with impressive views opening up north and south, and to the taller and grander hill ahead of us, Sgurr na Lapaich.
- Climbing up to the bealach from Coire an t-Sith
- Sgurr na Lapaich from Carn nan Gobhar, east ridge in the centre
We descended west and then up onto the east ridge of Sgurr na Lapaich. This narrows near the top and is supposedly a Grade 1 scramble, but we must have inadvertently dodged any real scrambling by keeping under the crest on the south side. It was, nevertheless, an interesting ascent over some broken rocky ground which emerged suddenly onto a stony summit with stunning views in all directions: ahead to An Riabhachan with the Skye Cuillin peeping out from behind, north across Loch Monar, northwest to the Torridon hills, and south across Loch Mullardoch to the Cairn Eighe massif and beyond.
- David and Marion on the final section of Sgurr na Lapaich's east ridge
- Arriving on the summit of Sgurr na Lapaich, looking back east
- Looking across Loch Monar, Sgurr na Lapaich's northeast flank in the foreground
- Looking northwest with (I think) the Torridon hills back centre
- Looking southwest from Sgurr na Lapaich: endless hills
- Looking south toward Loch Mullardoch
- Two Munros down: many miles still to go! An Riabhachan (next hill) behind
- Beginning the descent towards An Riabhachan
300m of descent and reascent beckoned as we set off for An Riabhachan. Both the view and the weather continued to be stunning, with impressive corries on both sides. Eventually we pulled up onto the flat summit ridge; An Riabhachan translates as "The Grey One", and to the northwest we could see the other "Grey One", Liathach. We could also see the final Munro of the day, An Socach, a dispiritingly long way away.
- Loch Beag and Loch Mor from the bealach below An Riabhachan
- Summit ridge of An Riabhachan
- Me on the summit of An Riabhachan, the Skye Cuillin behind
- Six of us on the summit of An Riabhachan
Now five and half hours in, Marion decided that 3 Munros was sufficient for her and headed south from the western shoulder of An Riabhachan down to Coire Mhaim and the loch-side path. The rest of us continued towards An Socach, enjoying more excellent ridge-walking over some small pinnacles, though conscious that each step was taking us still further away from our finishing point. One final descent and reascent later, we were sat on the summit of An Socach staring at a rugged panorama of hills, corries, sea and Skye.
- Ed H and David descending from An Riabhachan
- Me on the ridge heading towards An Socach
- Ed C stepping out towards An Socach
- Torridon from An Socach
- View from An Socach summit
The forecast had warned of rain in the early evening, so Ed C (who runs ultramarathons) decided to cut his losses and run the return journey. We, the remaining mere mortals, watched him set off along the south ridge of An Socach and then steeled ourselves for a long trudge - probably over 14km - back to our AirBnB. The south ridge was pleasant, grassy walking, and the peat hags of Coire a' Mhaim, though a little awkward, were mercifully dry. But as we crossed the bridges over the Allt Coire a'Mhaim and the Allt Socrach onto the loch-side path, the rain began to fall.
- Ed C begins his running descent
I had read varying reports of the loch-side path: one blog, on the history of the area before and after the building of the dam, wrote that "access to the surrounding hills is limited to one truly
horrible path that stretches partway along the north side of the loch: muddy, undulating, and in places obliterated by landslides", while my SMC Munros guide simply described it "a fairly good path". Personally, I thought the path itself was fine - a little eroded in places, but not difficult; its chief failing was that it had appeared at the end of a long day's walking and lay between us and our dinner. Irrespective of the path, though, this final part of the journey had a purgatorial quality, particularly in the rain. We trudged monotonously on, rounding each curve in the hillside hoping (vainly) to see the dam; it would be fair to say spirits were flagging a bit over the middle few kilometres. Thankfully, the crossing of the Allt Taige was straightforward - everyone kept dry feet. Half an hour later, reaching the track by the Allt Mullardoch gave us fresh impetus and we pushed on over the last section to arrive back at the house in time for substantial dinner. Marion, it transpired, had managed to hitch a lift on a passing boat and so had avoided both the tedious walk along the loch and the rain!
It had been a fantastic day over some quite remote hillside: we had met only one couple (and their dog) in spite of the excellent weather.