The Coward's Way Down Beinn Alligin

[aaquater]

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It's not often that the far NW offers the best weather. The days were getting shorter, but I reasoned that out of the areas that came into consideration, a round of Beinn Alligin - at least the version I had in mind - was still doable.

It was my first time driving down the Torridon road, and... I mean, the many passing places were definitely welcomed, but at this point, making it a proper single carriageway wouldn't make such a difference... or had that decision been made in consideration of the many hillwalkers using the road to return to the cars?

The road also gave me a scare at first as turning left in Kinlochewe, it looked like I was just heading for dark clouds - but by the time I reached the Beinn Alligin car park, clearer skies had been reached, as exemplified here by Beinn Dearg and Liathach

My target was looking nice ahead, too

A good path led all the way up Tom na Gruagaich. There were some boggier places at the very beginning, but all of them could be bypassed easily. A step requiring scrambling, a hop over a stile, and I was heading for the corrie. The altitude was rising quickly, and I had to take care not to push too hard, too soon. I was also sweating quite a bit; at this point, it was sunny, and easily twice as warm as the foggy, grey civilisation I'd come from.

Beyond Upper Loch Torridon: Beinn na h-Eaglaise and Beinn Damh

Looking ahead: Tom na Gruagaich, Sgurr Mor, and the Horns look like three distinct hills from this angle, more than just three parts of the same massif

A closer look at Coire nan Laogh

Up the corrie, it was steep. The sun was still sending down lots of energy - and zapping it from me in turn. But I plunged my hat into Alltan Glas and pushed on. The path there sort of split in two, twisting and interweaving with one another like a double helix of DNA. Whenever I took a breather (guess I'd still gone a bit too fast at the start), I amused myself by imagining what other components of the cell nucleus the surrounding terrain features could be.

Or I could look up the glen towards Beinn Eighe, gaining energy from the lovely view

Once that wasn't possible, I could gaze down and estimate how much I'd ascended from Upper Loch Torridon and how much was still left

Eventually, though, the ground flattened and I made it to the plateau. A minute later, I laid my hand on the trig of Tom na Gruagaich. 1h20 from the car park - not bad at all, I thought, though it had drained me quite a bit. But that was some 60% of the day's ascent done, and amazing views gained as a result.

Over to Sgurr Mor, with Baosbheinn beyond

Liathach and Beinn Eighe, starting to cloud over again

Beinn Damh and Loch Damh

And clearer skies further W, with the Graham of An Ruadh-Mheallan a seemingly tiny lump on the ground

Tom na Gruagaich was also the first place where I met any other walkers - but I guess that was no surprise; despite the car park being full, I'd only reached it at 12:30. Everyone would've been long gone, and most of them likely returning via the Horns. The few I met on the first Munro, and then also on the ridge connecting the two, were probably already retracing their steps.

Speaking of the ridge, the good path was still there. As was the scrambling. But, at least the first scrambly passage... I got down just fine, but I'm not sure about calling it simple. Maybe I missed a place where it was truly that. Or maybe it was just simple by the Torridon standards of scrambling?

The official walk says the path climbs over a minor top. The path I was on bypassed it on the left - so I climbed up to take a picture looking back

As well as looking ahead

The rest of the climb up was quick and easy, as can be seen on the picture. After shaking a midge off of my hand (it had got cloudy but there was hardly any wind), I arrived at the cairn to take more pictures. 45 minutes from Tom na Gruagaich.

Baosbheinn, now in full, behind Loch a' Bhealaich and Loch a' Ghobhainn

Harris and Lewis in the distance, Skye on the left, Rona in front of it, and An Ruadh-Mheallan below

Back to Upper Loch Torridon and Tom na Gruagaich

The Horns of Alligin and Beinn Dearg

The official route now continues over the Horns - but I didn't feel up to scrambling over them. The rocks were a bit slippery, and it was quite late, and I was walking alone. The other option was returning the way I'd come - but I try to avoid that if I can help it. There's a reason why the bagger in me kept pointing out An Ruadh-Mheallan in the previous pictures.

Granted, I backtracked to the first bealach; it might've been possible to just head straight down, but this option seemed a lot friendlier. Now, I just headed for Meall na h-Odhar-aghaidh, and from there, An Ruadh-Mheallan

One could question why, if I was worried about being stranded somewhere in the dark, I chose this pathless mission, abandoning the good path that's even on Google Maps. Maybe it doesn't make immediate sense. I was just confident enough to make it to An Ruadh-Mheallan, and from there, to the road, in the daylight. And if I didn't make it back to the car before it got dark, I just preferred to be on a road, however good the path would've been.

But first things first, descending Sgurr Mor. It was a little slippery, especially on mossy ground. I found myself aiming for tussocks, which felt a lot firmer and more stable underfoot. But the gradient was reasonable, so it wasn't too long before I reached the part where the ground flattened. I also reached an intact fence with no stiles in sight, so it had to be climbed over. Or climbed through, slipping between the two top wires. A good fence, but not an electric one.

Reasonably flat until the Graham

The ground looks good on the picture above. Close to the 501 m col, it got boggier, but for some time, there were still enough stones embedded in the mud to pass by without issue. A pre-school could easily take the kids up there to make a game out of it, hopping over the stones without dropping in the mud.

Later on, the stones were gone but the bogs remained, so the col itself required a bit more care. But I was over it soon enough, and bagged Meall na h-Odhar-aghaidh a few minutes later. 35 minutes from the Beinn Alligin col.

The two Munros of Beinn Alligin from, I presume, an unfrequently-observed angle

An Ruadh-Mheallan sending out an inviting-looking ridge

In order to reach the ridge, another boggy col had to be crossed. But once that was over, climbing up the ridge was fun.

A short, simple ascent, without bogs or any other obstacles

35 minutes from the Meall, and I was on the Graham - which turned out to be one of the 'decapitated' hills: a flat top but steep sides (the neck) all around.

Baosbheinn over Beinn Bhreac and Creag a' Chinn Duibh

Beinn Alligin once again

The way down, Loch Diabaigas Airde a clear waypoint

From this altitude, I must add. But An Ruadh-Mheallan had to be descended in a S/SE direction at first, the other sides too steep. And once I dropped down to maybe 400 m, the way wasn't so clear. What was clear was the ravine of Abhainn Alligin, which I'd at one point thought of following, seeing a path on the map further down the burn. But choosing between a road and a potentially boggy, pathless slope... neither sounds that attractive, but picking the former was a no-brainer.

The thing about having only a rough idea where to go... yeah, I was on the phone most of the way down An Ruadh-Mheallan. (Signal everywhere, that's not always a given either!) But I still don't think I would've kept my eye on the compass even if both of my hands were free. I just thought - if I keep going sort of this way, I'll have to meet the road at some point - and was happy with that.

I wasn't quite as happy with climbing over multiple little hills and avoiding numerous bogs, but not much could be done about that

Until I climbed one of those hills, saw Loch Diabaigas Airde again, and realised I'd been going almost directly W, instead of SSW like I'd planned

I should aim for where the road crosses over Allt Airigh Eachainn, I guess

About an hour from An Ruadh-Mheallan. The first time I was slower than Naismith. But, all things considered, no harm done. The final descent was maybe a bit steeper than it would've been otherwise, but I reached the road, and judged I had just about enough time to reach the car before sunset. So I set off.

Stopped at the Bealach na Gaoithe viewpoint to take the panorama

And, indeed, reached the car minutes before it got properly dark, after more than an hour of road-walking. Then I realised I'd forgotten to eat the focaccia up on the Graham, promptly amended that, and started the car. Fortunately, the fogs of the morning had already dissipated.

I'm sure it doesn't look as flashy to turn back from what could be seen as the finest part of Beinn Alligin. But as an option without more serious scrambling, I think this could work. With the use of a compass on the last part, I'd suggest...

[jmarkb]

Great report for an interesting alternative route! An Ruadh-Mheallan is a fine wee hill (so happens I was up there about a week before you), but there is no avoiding some rough country between it and the road. A fairly directly line passing the west side of Lochan nan Tri-Eileanan to the high point of the road avoids the worst of the bogs and has some faint traces of a path. If climbing it on its own, the upper section of the Abhainn Alligin is worth a visit on the way down - there are a couple of lovely waterfalls between the 300 and 350m contours:

[Mal Grey]

That looks like a really interesting route anyway, visiting some wonderful wild country.

[aaquater]

Great report for an interesting alternative route! An Ruadh-Mheallan is a fine wee hill (so happens I was up there about a week before you), but there is no avoiding some rough country between it and the road. A fairly directly line passing the west side of Lochan nan Tri-Eileanan to the high point of the road avoids the worst of the bogs and has some faint traces of a path. If climbing it on its own, the upper section of the Abhainn Alligin is worth a visit on the way down - there are a couple of lovely waterfalls between the 300 and 350m contours:

Next to Tri-Eileanan was the original plan, and I checked a possible route from higher up, but lost track of it when it mattered and, as I wrote, didn't try so hard to look for it. Might be easier to recall if I'd gone up that way too?

The waterfalls look amazing. It might be a better way down than where I went, I just didn't want to take any chances at that time, opting simply to (aim to) go where most people had gone. Definitely looks like a place worth exploring, though.

That looks like a really interesting route anyway, visiting some wonderful wild country.

Funnily enough, the wildest part of it all was not the little-explored NW side of Beinn Alligin but the 'normal' route up An Ruadh-Mheallan, which is rarely ascended from elsewhere. A place wild enough to misplace bagging pins!