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Day 5 of the summer pass and after a tough, pathless day on the Ledgowan Grahams the previous day, I was very much looking forward to the "luxury" of the long track from Craig over the River Carron and on up above the Sloc Mor gorge and then the long, gradual drop down alongside the Allt a'Chonais to the ford at the Pollan Buidhe.
It was back on with the big overnight pack (with the little Aiguille daypack stuffed inside it) as far as the Bealach Bearnais, before doing a big loop over the Munros of Sgurr Choinnich and Sgurr a'Chaorachain and back to pick up the overnight pack at the bealach and then heading to meet up with Kev at Bearnais Bothy. Many is the time we have pondered the option of a walk in to this bothy for an overnighter before tackling the remote peaks of Bidein a'Choire Sheasgaich and Lurg Mhor. Today and tomorrow were to be the days it would finally happen, but first I had these two to knock off. I was still harbouring faint notions of trying to tag Maoile Lunndaidh onto the back of them as well, but by this stage in proceedings, that hope was quite faint indeed.
I wandered down the track out of the car park and across the road to the railway crossing, two more days and potentially 5 more Munros still ahead of me on my quest to do 22 new Munros in 2022.
Sgurr nan Ceannaichean and the long northern arm of Sgurr na Feartaig from the railway crossing at CraigI was soon caught up by a bloke and his dog (Bobby I think was the name - the dog that is, not the human). Packless, he was moving at considerably more pace than I, and they soon disappeared up the track into the distance.
An industrial feel in some early parts of the routeBack across Strathcarron to Fuar Tholl, Sgorr Ruadh and Beinn Liath MhorI took my time tootling up the track. No rush. Lunndaidh was an almost definite no go and with Kev planning on doing a cycle in to grab his outlier Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair in the Fisherfield group before heading down to the bothy for our meet up, I was in no great hurry. Just before the gate above the turn off for the Allt a'Chonais pine woods, I met Bobby and his owner coming back down the track. I chatted to him for a moment or two (the human that is, not Bobby) and he said that he lived in Craig and this is basically his daily dog walk. I told him my plans for the day and he said he had enjoyed one of his finest mountain days on this pair back in December on a day of stunning cloud inversions.
On the move again, I soon reached the high point in the track and the start of the long, steady descent down to the Pollan Buidhe. The only other human I was to see (until Kev rolled into Bearnais bothy later in the day) soon passed me on a bike. He had done Cheesecake and Lurg Mhor from Attadale yesterday (brutal he said) and was considering my two targets for tomorrow, but today he was heading for Lunndaidh. He sped on while I continued on my leisurely way, lobbing pebbles into the river at regular intervals to keep Luna suitably entertained.
Sgurr nan Ceannaichean from the high point on the trackAll downhill now to the Pollan BuidheAllt a'Chonais and Coire CoinnichI passed the first of the two cheese-wire bridges and just before reaching the second of these death trap contraptions I hit the ford across the river to the scar like track that begins the climb up alongside the Allt Leathad an Tobair to the Bealach Bearnais. No problems with the river crossing in this fairly dry, hot spell.
Looking back down the glen of the Allt Leathad an Tobhair towards the Pollan BuidheThe northern nose of Beinn Tharsuinn from just below the Bealach BearnaisBack down the glen to Sgurr nan Ceannaichean and MoruisgIt was a long, warm pull up to the bealach but eventually I reached it and could finally drop the big pack and transfer a few items into the little daypack. I left the overnight pack atop an easily identifiable slab of rock before taking to the Streangan nan Aon Pacan-deug ridge of Sgurr Coinnich with renewed energy and vigour.
Sgurr Coinnich from the west from where I dumped the big overnight packSgurr na Feartaig from across the Bealach Bearnais - maybe later today, probably some other time!Looking along the western slopes of Sgurr Coinnich towards the outlier of Sgurr na ConbhairenSgurr nan Ceannaichean from the start of the ascent up the western ridge of Sgurr CoinnichBeinn TharsuinnBeinn Tharsuinn and the western end of Sgurr na Feartaig with the road to my bed in between themAcross the sprawl of Beinn Tharsuinn to tomorrow's targetsThe ascent up the Streangan nan Aon Pacan-deug ridge is a delight with a number of scrambly sections up rocky steps and an increasing sense of airiness as the summit ridge is approached. Despite 5 consecutive big days of hillwalking and clearly having been tired as a result of each one, Luna was bounding up the ridge with abandon. I was trying but all I was abandoning was any last notion of doing Maoile Lunndaidh today!
Approaching the 979m spot heightThe great northern cliffs of Sgurr ChoinnichLuna contemplating the final pull up to the summitThe 999m summit of Sgurr Choinnich backed by Sgurr a'ChaorachainLooking back to the 979m spot height with the sun hitting Loch Sgurr na Feartaig in the background across the Bealach BearnaisAcross Coire Choinnich to Sgurr na Feartaig from the 999m summit cairnCeannaichean and Moruisg across the voidThe Peak of the Place of the Rowan BerriesBeginning to look a bit frayed around the edges after five days on the hillLunndaidh might have been given the heave-ho for today but Chaorachain hadn't, and it wasn't going to tick itself off, so I made tracks for the Bealach Choinnich.
The lonely and wild western end of Loch MonarSgurr a'Chaorachain across the Bealach Coire ChoinnichSgurr nan Ceannaichean across my soon to be descent shoulder off Sgurr na ChaorachainI stopped at the bealach for a decent bite of lunch and to savour the views down to Loch Monar. Although out of my line and range of sight, my mind traced a route eastwards along the length of the snaking, undulating loch to the Monar Dam at the far end (which I have never actually visited) and then on down Glen Strathfarrar to the spot a short distance east of Ardchuilk where Bruce, John and myself had camped for two nights just 8 weeks or so ago either side of our day on the Strathfarrar Four. And of course from there it is but a "short hop" south into Glen Cannich and the Loch Mullardoch hills, the Affric hills across the loch and from there southwards into Kintail, Knoydart.............This is what I love about hillwalking in Scotland - the intricate, detailed jigsaw of geography coming together into one great canvas that can transport me back 8 weeks, 8 months, 8 years ........ like it was yesterday.
The northern cliffs of Sgurr Choinnich from the bealachAt some point during the day (it may have been at this point, it may have been earlier, I cannot recall), I had received a Whatsapp message from Kev saying that his Fisherfield plans had been binned after some work issues had gotten in the way and instead he was heading straight for the bothy, cycling part of the way from Attadale before dumping the bike and continuing on foot. I took a look at the map and did a quick calculation and reckoned it would probably be around 17.30/18.00 by the time I was eyeballing the bothy door. Would Kev have made it by then or would we be first in? My instincts told me he would be there waiting.
A wee wisp blowing over Coinnich from the ascent of ChaorachainThe ascent was fairly straightforward, as per the WH description, and it didn't feel like long at all before I was striding up the gentle final slopes towards the large, sprawling shelter cairn. The higher of the two Munros, the summit lacks the depth of views and airiness that the summit cairn of Sgurr a'Choinnich provides, perched as it is right on the precipice.
Where are the views? You try looking south, I'll try north!Something, be it experience of these situations or some sort of sixth sense, told me that there was little point hanging about here hoping for matters to improve in the view department so I took a bearing just to be sure and headed due north down the broad, stony northern prow of the hill.
Descending due northSgurr na Feartaig and the Coulin Forest and Torridon peaks beyondMaoile Lunndaidh - I'll be back for you one day soon!Before the descent got appreciably steeper, I veered north-west and dropped down into the lower reaches of Coire Choinnich. From here things got a bit rough - to be honest, I suspected that rough was pretty much going to be the overriding theme of the next few hours - as I almost but not quite retraced my steps from earlier today up the Allt Leathad an Tobair, albeit on the other side of it and without the benefit of a path.
Descending into lower Coire Choinnich with a clear view of Hell beyondI did think about crossing over and getting back onto the path but didn't, partly because there was more descent and re-ascent involved in that than I had appreciated earlier in the day, but more because the idea of
LITERALLY retracing my footsteps in the course of the
SAME DAY felt downright wrong. Bad enough that myself and the Grand High Ayatollah of Yorkshire, the redoubtable Mr J. Wilson, our very own 2manyYorkies, had once laboured up the same hill path twice in
TWO DAYS in Kintail!
I did eventually rejoin the path a short distance below the Bealach Bearnais and for once had no trouble locating my stashed pack before quickly repacking and heading for the bothy. This was going to be grim! My OS sheet showed no sign of a path and my inital zig-zagging route down the southern bank of the Abhainn Bhearnais failed to turn up any evidence of one either. This side definitely looked a bit more user-friendly than the other side, so I got my head down, tried to pick out the line of least resistance ahead of me and resigned myself to a lengthy trudge. The flies weren't helping but worst of all was that I could SEE the bothy from a long way out but ...... but........but........ it never seemed to get any closer.
Hell on Earth but salvation is in sight!Eventually a very weary man and his dog stumbled into an empty Bearnais Bothy at 18.04 - my earlier estimate of my arrival time being pretty accurate.
Praise the Lord! We are saved!Funny how from here it just looks like a leisurely wee 10 minute stroll up to the Bealach Bearnais!I busied myself getting Luna's dinner sorted, setting out my sleeping bag and cooking gear and lining the beers up for Kev's arrival. The midge were fierce outside, so I mostly kept watch from the window and just before 18.30 I spotted him making his way cross-country from the path on the eastern side of Loch an Laoigh.
I've spent many a summer night in a bothy, often while out leading DofE groups but also on my own personal summer holiday wanderings but couldn't recall ever having a bothy night with Kev outside of the winter months. For years now we have had an annual (in some exceptional years more than one) bothy night during the winter, usually November or December but occasionally into January. The 2020 edition was cancelled due to COVID but we were back last year in Glenpean Bothy. On that occasion Kev had carried in a bottle of champagne to toast the publication of a paper he had written. Once again he now produced a bottle of champagne to toast a promotion at work! Given that I had forgotten the tomato and basil sauce to go with my tortellini and ended up having to eat them "as seen" washed down with champagne, it definitely qualified as the most "unusual" bothy dinner I have yet had!
Tribute to Eric Beard. Not to be confused with Frank Beard of ZZ Top fame. To the best of my knowledge, Frank's friends have not provided for the restoration of this or any other bothy in his memory, although I would dearly love to be proved wrong about that!So, 5 days down. 1 or possibly 2 more to go before I had to return to Base Camp. 7 new Munros in the bag already to go with the 7 I had done in the first 6 months of the year. Good night Kev, good night Luna. Hic!