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We “wild-camped” in the van (motorhome) the night before, in a layby about ½ a mile from the start of the walk and set off at 05:40, one slow human and one very fast border collie. It wasn’t worth driving to the official start point, which in any case is a much smaller parking area, and although the van is not a large one, I didn’t want to take up too much space and possibly prevent others from parking there.
The first 2km is through a wooded area, which was pleasant to walk through. It was getting light now and there was a hint of pink in the sky but no visible sun rise.
- Near the start of the walk, with today’s ridge walk in the distance.
The path then descends to the Abhainn an Torrian Duibh and crosses via a footbridge.
- Footbridge over the Abhainn an Torrian Duibh (photo taken at the end of the day).
On the other side of the bridge the ground becomes very boggy - Meg loved it! She took great delight in leaping from one boggy pool to the next, trying to get me to join in by leaping up at me from time to time in encouragement!
- The start of the boggy trek to Creag Dhubh Fannaich.
After about another km the route starts to climb towards Creag Dhubh Fannaich, then levels out a bit before the steeper climb up to Beinn Liath Mhòr Fannaich.
- View towards Meall Gorm (right) and An Coileachan (left) from the approach to Beinn Liath Mhòr Fannaich.
There’s no path to speak of on this section, but It’s straightforward, over mainly grass with some rocks.
- Meg surveying the route ahead.
The summit plateau of Beinn Liath Mhòr Fannaich is strewn with rocks and there is a small cairn before the main one.
When we reached the first cairn, the summit was completely in cloud, the second cairn not yet visible. However, by the time I’d rearranged a few things in my pack and eaten a snack, the cloud had lifted enough for photos.
- Looking north from the summit of Beinn Liath Mhòr Fannaich.
We missed the start of the stalker’s path and had to scramble down to the bealach. The going was very steep, with large, unstable, slippery rocks to negotiate. In addition, the wind had picked up making this an arduous descent.
- Sgùrr Mòr still in cloud, from Beinn Liath Mhòr Fannaich.
- Looking north-west from the bealach below Sgùrr Mòr.
Sgùrr Mòr looked imposing from the bealach, but in fact, it was a straightforward climb following a clear track.
Unfortunately, the summit was in cloud when we reached it and it didn’t clear enough to see much apart from a fleeting glimpse of the views that would have been, and not long enough for me to get any photos.
- Meg at the summit cairn on Sgùrr Mòr.
The descent from Sgùrr Mòr was easy, albeit with no path, over mainly grassy terrain.
- Looking back at Beinn Liath Mhòr Fannaich from the descent of Sgùrr Mòr.
- Looking towards Meall Gorm and An Coileachan from the descent of Sgùrr Mòr.
The route to Meall Gorm, passes over the Munro Top of Meall nan Peithirean; the going is easy on grassy slopes with some scattered rocks. There are great views all around.
- Looking towards Loch Fannich from the approach to Meall Gorm.
- Looking back at the start of the route from the approach to Meall Gorm, with Loch Glascarnoch in the distance.
- Looking back at Sgùrr Mòr from Meall Gorm, it’s peak still in cloud as it remained all day. 🙁
- Beinn Liath Mhòr Fannaich from Meall Gorm.
- Another view towards Loch Fannich from Meall Gorm.
The route then passes over Meall Gorm SE Top before descending to Bealach Bàn. It's over loose rock, that was a bit slippery, so was slower going than the earlier walk along the ridge.
The ascent to An Coileachan is over grass and rock, but it didn’t present any difficulties apart from tired legs.
It was quite windy at the summit, so we didn’t stay more than a minute or so and didn’t take any photos!
The descent down to Loch Gorm is steep and pathless, with rock and grass at first, then boggy ground further down. However, there’s a path below from the foot of the steep section, starting just to the right of Loch Gorm, that is the return route. It can be seen clearly (in good weather) on the descent, giving something to aim for and making the descent seem a little easier somehow.
- Looking north on the descent from An Coileachan.
- Meg looking tired 🥱 and no doubt wondering how many more of these hills we would be climbing today! Looking down towards Loch Gorm.
- Loch Gorm from a bit lower down.
Once down the steep section, the path is fairly clear for most of the way, and when it gets lost in the boggy ground further along, the footbridge over Abhainn a’ Ghiubhais Lì can be seen ahead, so gives something to aim for.
The only real problem was that, being a not-so sure footed human, I slipped over a couple of times on the boggy ground and twisted my ankle a bit on one occasion

. Not too badly, just enough to be an irritation at that stage of the walk.
The walk back always seems so much longer than the walk in

. It was about 3-4 km to the first footbridge over the Abhainn an Torrian Duibh but felt more like 5 or 6!
- Looking back towards An Coileachan shortly after crossing the Abhainn a’ Ghiubhais Lì.
It was then just a case of walking the 2km through the forested section back to the road, which wasn’t too bad, but the ½ mile back to the layby where I’d parked was not so good, as Meg took exception to every vehicle on the road, barking and worse, lunging at them.
We arrived back at the van around 19:15. The walk had taken 13 hours, with an extra ½ hour for the additional section along the road.