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I had a trip planned for May, staying in Kinlochewe, being well positioned for Torridon and Ullapool areas. As I was whiling away the winter evenings I started looking through the Walk Highlands pages for these areas, and I kept coming back to the Fisherfield Six. Initially I thought it was too far for my ancient legs (hitting 70 next year), but I became very attracted to the route the more I read about it.
If I was going to try it I was only interested in doing it as a two day route with a high camp half way round. Beinn Tarsuinn looked to be around half way. I did read of someone else camping there, which was reassuring. If I was going to carry all my kit round the entire walk, then I needed to try and lessen its weight. Several purchases later I was reasonably happy with the weight, having got the base weight down to 7kg and the total weight with food and water to just under 10kg. Biggest weight saving was the new Atom rucsac, a full kilo lighter than my existing one.
As I ticked off various peaks I kept looking for a two day weather window and it eventually came. After a night of not enough sleep due to excitement, I had an early start. I cooked the biggest fry-up I could and forced it down with plenty of coffee, then a one hour drive to Corrie Hallie. Parked up in the layby and headed off around 8.30am. Weather was already glorious, sunny and nicely cool. On the way down to the valley with the Shenavall Bothy I was struck with how big the first Corbett looked.
- Shenavall Bothy
The first river crossing was straightforward, as I was able to hop across rocks all the way. Initially I took a slightly left leaning line up the big Corbett slope so as to miss the crags. Despite being pathless, all went well until the final third of the climb, when the hill steepened considerably. I took a direct line up the steepest section to get to the summit ridge, but it was exhausting. Maybe there’s a better line?
- An Teallach from top of Beinn a' Chlaidheimh
I was well pleased to reach the ridge, where I took a well earned rest, taking in the stunning views across to An Teallach and the loch below. I stuffed more food down my neck and the last of the water I carried in. Now it was a case of find water or get thirsty. My plan was to look at the bealach before Sgurr Ban.
- Beinn Dearg Mor behind Loch Bhrisidh
On reaching the bealach I found some trickles of running water just down on the west side above Loch a Bhrisidh. After filtering and purifying, I had a welcome big drink, which I needed seeing the exertions that were ahead on Sgurr Ban. Looking at the slope, the right hand side was grassy, whereas the left was a boulder field. I went for the grass, but it was steep and tiring. Not great views on the summit as very rounded, but the first Munro was now ticked off.
As you descend to the bealach you get a great view of the path snaking improbably up Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair. The path is steep and covered in scree, but it is one of the shorter ascents. On the summit I got my first view of my proposed camp on Beinn Tarsuinn, which was a morale booster.
- Snaking path up Fhearchair
- Back to Sgurr Ban from top of Fhearchair
I took the bypass route round the side of Meal Garbh and launched up the final slope to my resting place for the night. I had company on the summit of Beinn Tarsuinn, there was a chap taking photos with a very old style camera and a full length tripod, and a German fellow camping right on the edge of the summit. Never got their names, but we all had a good chat.
- Nicely lit first 3 mountains seen from Beinn Tarsuinn
- Looking down Gleann na Muice from Beinn Tarsuinn
After setting up camp I went into photo mode, as the evening light was superb and there was the beginning of an inversion. The whole of the sea area out west was covered in low cloud and it was sneaking into the valleys that were facing the coast. At the same time the sun was settling down on a bed of clouds, a truly wonderful sight. After the sun actually set, the inversion became much more extensive and we were all spellbound with the view. This absolutely justified all the effort expended in getting here. Only when it got too dark did I crawl into the tent.
- Inversion towards Beinn Alligin from Beinn Tarsuinn
- Inversion around Slioch from Beinn Tarsuinn
- Inversion looking out towards sea from Beinn Tarsuinn
- Inversion around Slioch
- Inversion approaching Tennis Court
I was too tired for a dawn rise, so I just got up when I woke and was off reasonably soon as I had no stove on this trip. The inversion was still present but starting to thin out a bit.
- Home on summit of Beinn Tarsuinn
- Fannichs at dawn from Beinn Tarsuinn
- Lingering inversion over Gleann na Muice
Over the tennis court, along the ridge and down very steeply to the bealach in search of water, as I had none left. The ground was very dry, but I chanced across a couple of very thin streams, which were flowing almost hidden under the grasses. Refills gratefully accepted.
Onwards to the summit of A’ Mhaighdean up a lengthy, but less steep, ascent of a good path up a grassy slope. As everyone else says, the summit is an amazing viewpoint looking seaward over Fionn Loch and back towards Slioch. One advantage of camping on Beinn Tarsuinn is that you arrive at A’ Mhaighdean in the morning, which means you have the sun behind you for the famous shots looking down on Fionn Loch to the west.
- Fionn Loch from A' Mhaighdean
As I was admiring the view two girls from Fife appeared, having walked up from Carnmore. They said they had been out in a boat on Fionn Loch the previous day and caught some decent sized trout which they cooked in the evening. As a fisherman myself I was in awe of their tale and the thought of pan fried trout was very appealing compared to my diet of chorizo and peanuts.
I bade the girls farewell and headed for the final Munro of Ruadh Stac Mor. The ascent was one of the shortest on the trip, with a scree path heading through the rock band to a bouldery summit with more stunning views. My descent towards the twin lochans took me down a steep boulder field, with quite big boulders, that needed a lot of care to avoid a bad slip. I’m sure there is a better route down the ridge running NW from the summit, so I took longer than I wanted. More water was available in the streams running out of the twin lochans, which was enough to see me through the day.
- Seaward from Ruadh Stac Mor
- Twin Lochans north of Ruadh Stac Mor
After a long descent on decent paths I was approaching the area where I needed to cross the river, and I sat on a boulder for a quick rest. A few moments later my German friend from the Beinn Tarsuinn camp turned up, having caught me up. We decided to do the river crossings and the bog together.
With the low water level the crossing was easy and we ambled across the bog toward the Shenavall bothy. At first the bog was quite dry, but then the pools and dykes increased in number, requiring you to jump across the water. With all the vegetation in the water, it is difficult sometimes to see where water ends and land begins. I tested the depth of the pools with my walking pole and they were certainly deep. The thought of stepping into a pool was very unappealing, but neither of us fell in. I just ran across the final river crossing as it was shallow, and kept my feet dry.
My German friend pitched his tent outside the Shenavall Bothy, but I had already decided to walk out, drive back and spend the night in a comfy bed. The walk up and down to Corrie Hallie was a bit soul-destroying, as the uphill section just never seemed to end! My legs were very tired and I was pleased to see the car again. I found the whole route tough, with the long length, the near 10,000ft height gain and the rough ground especially the numerous boulder fields. Having said that, I was really chuffed to do it with the high camp and seeing all the views in great weather and especially the inversion. I will definitely come back and explore Fisherfield some more.
Thanks to everyone who wrote reports on this route before, as the information was very useful for planning my trip.
