Beinn Alligin on a Perfect Day

[Artmachine]

The weather forecast for Wester Ross was particularly good and I wanted to do one of the Torridon hills. Having recently only taken shorter walks and after browsing through many of the walking reports, I settled on the one most commonly described as the least challenging of the Torridon Munros – Beinn Alligin.

A good friend was keen to come along and we agreed to drive up during the day, stay overnight and tackle the hill the next day. We took the A82 to Fort William, then the A87 cut off at Invergarry, carried on through Lochcarron before grabbing a quick view of Beinn Alligin from the far side of Loch Torridon. Then back to Shieldaig where we parked up for the night. The journey up was spectacular and the weather couldn't have been better, but the evening sunset over Loch Shieldaig was the perfect end to the day.

Sunset over Loch Sheildaig

Up at seven in the morning, a quick breakfast and we headed round to the Beinn Alligin car park which was surprisingly quiet. With a slight chill in the air and a cloudless sky we headed off. We decided to do the walk in a clockwise direction so took the path to the left of the bridge, headed up the first rise to the plateau and on towards Coire nan Loagh. We could only see one other person half way up the corrie and as we followed the path, the temperature began to pick up.

Looking up to Coire nan Laogh

Looking down towards the car park

The going was pretty easy and we made good headway up the corrie.

Half way up Coire nan Laogh

We pressed on and the views began to improve and in no time we were on the first summit, Tom na Gruagaich. Nothing can quite prepare you for just how spectacular that view is. The view along the ridge to Beinn Alligin with the backdrop of the Torridon range is quite breathtaking. In the other direction you could see out over to the Cuillin Hills of Skye.

The route to Beinn Alligin

Looking towards Beinn Dearg and Liathach

The ridge path connecting Tom na Gruagaich and Beinn Alligan was reached after a small descent and we were soon heading upwards again towards the second summit. We had a brief stop at the Eag Dhubh gully which is quite a sight. When the wind blew, it blew strongly and in gusts which made walking a bit unsteady at times. So when passing the "Black Cleft", care had to be taken. We made a couple coming the other way accompanied by their young son. They were the only walkers we met coming the anti-clockwise route.

Eag Dbubh gully

The climb up to Beinn Alligin looking towards Shieldaig

The 360 view from the top of Beinn Alligin must be one of the best and with the clear day it seemed if you could see forever. As we progressed we could see smoke coming from the Lochinver area which seemed to spread right out to sea and even over to Skye. Apparently the dry weather were ideal conditions for wildfires and big one had started near Achmelvich.

The Horns with Beinn Dearg just behind

On the top of Ben Alligan would finally got a view of the Horns. From that distance it was difficult to see how you could get to the top of even the first of them. But we would tackle them later – time for lunch and a wee rest. As we had lunch we were joined on the summit by two separate couples who briefly stopped to take in the views. We chatted with one of the couples and we all agreed on the breathtaking views all the way round the route and the unusually fine weather.

The route up to the first of the Horns of Alligin

After lunch we headed over to the path that led down to the ascent of the first of the Horns of Alligin. One of the couples had already set of down the path and we followed their progress to see how they might tackle the problem. The path down is quite steep and with a strong, gusty wind it made for wobbly descent in places but we were soon at the first climb.

Earlier we had decided we weren't going to use the bypass routes and climb over the tops. So off we set up the first of the steep scrambles. The gusty wind played its part again making some of the more exposed parts of the path and the more difficult scrambles a bit more thrilling than they probably should be. Myself not being in the first flush of youth, I had to stop a few times to catch my breath and soon the young couple passed us on the way up. We shortly met them on the top and shared an epic view across Beinn Dearg and Liathach and back from where we had already walked. You got a real sense of the sheer drops along the route.

View from top of first Horn

The middle of the Horns was an easy traverse whilst the last proved to be bit more of a scramble and by this time my old legs were definitely letting me know that they weren't up for much more of this scrambling stuff. With the last Horn complete we could see the younger couple down on the path that led out towards the stream and back to the car park. The way down was steep and fast and we were quickly on flatter ground. We had one last look up and along the whole walk.

The path down from the final Horn

By the end the wind had dropped and with clear blue skies the walk out was a hot one. This has to rank as my best experience of hillwalking. The combination of good company, great weather and an unrivalled scenic backdrop could not have been bettered. I'll be back to tackle some of the others as soon as the old legs agree.

Path back to car park

One last look at Beinn Alligin