Fabulous Beinn Eighe - 50 shades of grey!

[Noheadforheights]

My daughter K and I had visited Torridon together for the first time in 2019, and vowed that we would return, but until this year a combination of lockdown/a back injury (me)/work commitments (her) had prevented us. Finally in July we managed a short three-day visit. I wrote most of this up shortly after we returned home, but computer issues and general inertia meant that I did not quite get around to finalising. Nice now to look back on it as the weather turns colder and wetter.

We had been thinking about Beinn Eighe for a while, in fact ever since we had seen it from the BE Mountain Trail walk back in 2019, but this time around were not sure if we were in decent enough shape to tackle it. Completion of the Kentmere Horseshoe a few weeks earlier had suggested that we were there or thereabouts, but still? Finally a re-assuring chat with a chap named Keith, who looked about my age, and his son, whom we espied coming off the mountain the day before, convinced us to give it a go. It also confirmed in our minds that the better route for us would be clockwise via Coire Mhic Fhearchair, and thence up to Munro no. 1, Ruadh-stac Mor, before going along the ridge to Munro no. 2, Spidean Coire nan Clach, and descending from there.

The wonderful thing about Beinn Eighe, and this route in particular, is that it offers so many options, and a sense of reward and achievement with every single one. So if you have spent a sleepless night, as I did after a dodgy meal the night before, and can only toy with your breakfast, you can still look forward to achieving something with your day. If you only walk 3 or 4 kilometres up alongside Allt Coire an Anmoich , between Beinn Eighe and Liathach, you can still marvel at the sheer scale of these magnificent mountains, and consider it a worthwhile excursion. If you go a bit further up and see, for the first time, as we did, Coire Mhic Fhearchair in all its glory, you will be completely blown away by this Cathedral of the Gods.

Beinn Eighe looming on the right

And Liathach to the left

There is a decent path up to the Coire

At the Coire entrance, Ruadh-stac Mor ahead

The wonderful Coire Mhic Fhearchair

The famous triple buttress

If you then decide you are still feeling fresh enough to give the stone chute a go at the far end of the Coire, you’ll be pleasantly surprised that it is not quite as impossible as it looks from afar (at least on the way up). With judicious use of a few natural steps to the left of the scree, plus the occasional hand on rock, even someone with a routinely dodgy back like me can find it doable. And if you reach the top of the chute in clear conditions, as we did, you will be rewarded with the most spectacular views of the entire Beinn Eighe complex and the other mountains around.

On towards the stone chute

Getting closer

It's bigger than you think! Spot the hikers..

From the top, looking over to Munro no 2

At that point however there is also some sobering news: 1) to reach the summit of Rhuad-stac Mor, you still have a fair distance, and probably another 150m of ascent, to go. 2) to get to the second Munro, you have to retrace your steps from 1), then tackle what looks like a long and quite pointy ridge receding into the far distance in the opposite direction, and 3) there is the dawning realisation that if you do not do 2) then your only other route of descent is back down the way you came, which now looks like it has slipped disc written all over it.

Looking back down the chute

First things first, having caught our breath, we head off towards Rhuad-stac Mor. It is a straightforward pull, and we are soon at the summit. The views are superb, and the colours amazing, all hues and textures of grey, 50 shades indeed. We would love to stay there longer, just soaking it all up. But already we can see hints of cloud forming on the adjacent peaks, including our second Munro, and having been told that the way down can be easily missed, we return fairly smartly to the bealach.

Looking over to Spidean Coire nan Clach from Ruadh-stac Mor

Triple Buttress and Sail Mhor, from Ruadh-stac Mor.

I am feeling quite tired by this point, but the disinclination to go back down the chute is a powerful motivator, so we carry on up the quite steep and scrambly slope to Coinneach Mhor, to begin the ridge along to Munro 2. There we meet a lad from Austria who tells us he is going to paraglide off the top! We are well impressed, especially as all his kit seems to be packed in a bag no bigger or heavier than a small daypack. We would love to stay and watch him, but he needs a bit of time to set up, and the clouds are beginning to gather in earnest now , so we head off along the ridge while we can still see where we are going.

Heading along the ridge

The ridge itself is really enjoyable, and we settle into a rhythm, mine a slow plod while K bounds ahead. There are probably four or five separate bumps to negotiate, but nothing is particularly difficult, and each seems like a minor victory. At one point we hear a shout as our Austrian friend drifts past on his way down into the valley, and we give him a cheer. That’s one way to avoid a descent via the stone chute.

Paragliding

Looking to Ruadh-stac Beag, and beyond, Meall a Ghiuthais. Two Corbetts for another day

By now the cloud is banking up all along the ridge, on the north (steep) side, and Munro 2 is completely hidden. Fortunately we can still see the descent path on the south side, including the “dogleg” that has to be made part way down. Glad now that we did not hang about earlier. We know we are quite close, so we leave the packs at the junction with the down path, and scramble up into the clag to reach the summit of the second Munro, Spidean Coire nan Clach.

Getting close. The down path is on the hill line.

The final push

By the time we get back to the packs, the way down is also obscured, but we can still the beginnings of the path, and it is no problem to follow it down. Eventually we come out of the cloud and into some light rain. The descent is quite steep, with a bit of loose scree in places, and takes a long time, but with walking poles it is quite easy to stay in control, and for me, preferable to going back down the chute, although the latter is probably not as bad as I am making out.

By the time we reach the bottom we are both flagging a bit, and still have a couple of miles to walk along the road back to our start point, but, with the universal camaraderie of hillwalkers, a kindly lad stops to offer us a lift (Thank you!) and we are there in seconds. Overall it has taken us nine hours, but has given us one of our best ever days on the hills.

No time to go back to our B&B before dinner, as it is already quite late, so we pile into the first restaurant that we see, in Kinlochewe. Who should be there but Keith and his family. He pops over to our table to ask if we did the walk as we had discussed, and it is with a fair amount of satisfaction (and relief) that we can say that we did. We spend some time chatting with him about our common experiences on this fabulous mountain. A lovely way to round off a great day.