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Hello again, fellow Walkhighlanders and mountain maniacs. I admit I spend too much time on other social media and I'm struggling to keep myself motivated to update my blog here, but OK, here's another chapter.
The last day of 2023 was crazy in Torridon, all car parks full to bursting, so to be able to do our planned walk we had to find space on the grassy verge near Coire Dubh car park. We just about managed. We intended to revisit Seana Mheallan, a much overlooked (and underrated) Sub2000'er. Technically, weather was good enough for something bigger, but Kevin's back is still playing up and it is still hard for him to do a lot of ascent, so at the moment we are playing safe.
We had done this hill before, during the infamous Beast of the East season several years ago, but we didn't really enjoy it as we were pushed from pillar to post by horrendous wind and views were rather restricted. This time, we hoped for better vistas and we were in luck. Weather held nicely all day long and we took our time strolling along the easy ridge, taking numerous photos and admiring the snow-covered pinnacles of Liathach.
The route was the same as the previous time, starting and finishing at the Ling Hut:
From the very first moment as we started walking down the path to Ling Hut, we knew we were in for some good views today!
The ridge of Liathach was still covered by cloud but it looked patchy and we hoped it would eventually burn off:
The pinnacles in snow:
We spotted an eagle, but it was too far away for any good snaps, this is the best Kevin could manage with his camera (mine is just an old compact with hardly any zoom):
We followed the Cadha Friannach path for about 1.5km, then turned due west to climb the end of the long ridge of Seana Mheallan. The stream was crossable today (might be a problem in spate) and the climb pretty straightforward. At about 300m we encountered a thin layer of snow:
It didn't take us long to gain the ridge proper. Now we could enjoy the views while strolling along to the main summit, which is located at the western end.
Liathach breathtaking:
View west along the ridge with Beinn na h-Eaglaise prominent to the left:
Someone here has completely forgotten about the whole world...
Kevin's pano:
The snow wasn't too deep, a few inches in places so we didn't even need spikes (though we had packed them just in case), so walking was pure pleasure. Kevin's back was behaving at the moment, which was a good sign:
On the final climb to the summit cairn:
The ridge is studded with numerous lochans of different shapes and sizes, making for a fantastic foreground for photos:
More pinnacles:
Lochan Dubh panorama with Sgòrr nan Lochan Uaine and Sgùrr Dubh in the background:
Panther reaching the summit:
Kevin, of course, was lagging behind...
We found a flat rock just below the top, cleared it from snow and sat down to enjoy a cup of hot tea, sinking in the winter wonderland views around us.
Loch Torridon:
One more eastern pano:
The mighty Liathach, today the white one rather than grey...
After our traditional summit tea and cookies, we set off to drop back down. Instead of retracing steps, we descended SE towards Lochan Neimhe, passing the southern end of Lochan Dubh en route:
The descent line we took was a bit bumpy and wet lower down, but nothing a couple of mountain maniacs couldn't cope with...
Another body of water we passed, Lochan Sil:
After hopping over some boggy terrain and crossing two streams, we found the Cadha Friannach path eventually and followed it back to the road. At the final stage of our stroll, we were granted a splendid view of Liathach reflected in Lochan an Iasgair:
When we returned to the car park, we spotted Callum the Stag just casually resting next to a line of cars. He's been visiting the Coire Dubh car park for years and has become sort-of a local celebrity
As we didn't have any plans for a New Year party (we are far too old for that
and we bore everyone with constant talking about mountains we had climbed, so nobody invites us, anyway
), we decided on another outing the next day. Much more snow this time as it was a Corbett. We tested a route on this one, we had never tried before. Nothing complicated, but very enjoyable. TR to come soon.
If you want to join me on X (former Twitter), I'm there as @CoolEvvie
