Meall Lighiche and Sgor na h-Ulaidh on a Sunny Winter Day

[go spazieren]

I took advantage of a rare good forecast for Friday 1st March and decided to finish off the Glencoe Munros with Sgor na h-Ulaidh. The route described in WH looked like a good day out, including the Corbett Meall Lighiche. I stayed in Fort William overnight. There was some nasty weather on the drive over between Newtonmore and Spean Bridge with heavy sleet showers, so must have been grim in the hills on Thursday. After an early night I awoke to a very fine sunny day with the hills nicely covered in snow. As usual I took advantage of the included cooked breakfast and made the short drive down to Glencoe, parking in the layby just south of Achnacon.
Got going around 8am, heading a short way back along the A82 over the bridge and onto the track, up past the houses of Gleann-leac-na-muidhe and through the sheep sheds.

Sgor na h-Ulaidh from the approach

I pretty much followed the WH track crossing the Allt na Muidhe at the island. Easy enough, although it needed a bit of care as all the rocks above water were coated in verglas, safest to pick the slightly submerged rocks as stepping stones. Across the river the ground was pretty sodden, probably as a result of the recent rain and sleet, rather than being a permanent bog. Things dried out a bit as I gained height and from about 300m there was a little snow cover. It was quite a steady pull up onto the ridge, picking the way between crags, but although steep, plenty of small grassy terraces created natural steps and the snow was not a hindrance. Once up on Creag Bhan on the northern shoulder of Meall Lighiche it was just a pleasant walk through the snow in the sunshine along the ridge, detouring out to the summit of the Corbett a few 100 metres to the west. Great views from here of Beinn a Bheithir to the north west and Sgor na h-Ulaidh and Beinn Fhionnlaidh to the south.

Meall Lighiche from Creag Bhan

Beinn a Bheithir

Summit of Meall Lighiche looking down Glen Creran

I then headed back to the east end of the ridge before descending south into the Bealach Easain. On this south facing slope the snow was melting and it was a bit treacherous in places, but never too difficult to pick a safe route down. From the bealach I made a climbing traverse to the west, getting onto the north west flank of Corr na Beinne. I was probably a bit east and above the path which was not really visible in the snow, but the going was straight forward enough, initially at least. This side of the hill was in shadow, so the snow was firm although not very deep and rocks still ice covered. As the snow covering was pretty minimal, I thought I could get up without deploying the crampons, but nearer the top things got a little more scrambly and not so easy given the icy rocks, so on went the crampons and good progress resumed. I should know by now that as soon as you think crampons might be needed, then you should stop and put them on! Still a lot of bare rock of course, so much scratching and scraping, but better than slipping and sliding. Once on Corr na Beinne, it was just a straight forward little stroll through the boulders up to the summit of Sgor na h-Ulaidh. I timed arrival on the summit to perfection, as the wind disappeared completely, so spent a little time to have a flask of tea and a couple of scotch eggs and enjoy the view

Stob an Fhuarain in foreground, Bidean nam Bian, Aonach Eagach, Mamores and Ben Nevis further back

Beinn a Bheithir from Sgor na h-Ulaidh. Bit of a cornice on the ridge back to Corr na Beinne

Looking south towards Glen Etive and Ben Starav

Leaving the summit, I must have been daydreaming, as I started following the line of fence posts down the south east ridge, rather than going all the way around the cleft in the summit and heading down the north east ridge towards Stob an Fhuarain. It was an easier route initially and I thought that I could probably traverse round to the left. Pretty stupid mistake to make, as I have a Garmin watch with route loaded (which I ignored), a phone with OS maps and GPS and a map and compass none of which I consulted. The only consolation is that I would certainly not have been as lax in bad visibility, just got a bit lulled by the fine conditions, and I'd only gone a couple of hundred metres before realising. When I got round to checking the map, it was apparent that a traverse to the left was not an option, so back up I climbed before traversing higher up. There was significantly more snow on this side of the hill, and as per the SAIS forecast it was a bit wind slabby in places and less secure underfoot as a result so care was needed picking the route. After this short unintended detour I rejoined the correct ridge and found the footsteps of the only other person I saw on the hill who was on their way up the correct way as I was on the way down the wrong way. Our paths did not cross, but I'm not so anti-social I would deliberately go to these lengths to avoid another walker!
I descended the rest of the ridge down to the bealach and made my way up to Stob an Fhuarain where the wind had picked up and was now blowing the snow around. No point waiting there too long, so I headed along the ridge to the next low point before following the correct route this time and heading west down into Gleann-leac-na-muidhe. This was not as steep as it looked from the way up, and I made quite good progress, only shedding the crampons when the snow became soft and rocks no longer icy. Once down, it was just a case of following the muddy path by the river and rejoining the track from the outward route. The only remaining excitement was walking back along the A82 and taking refuge behind the barrier just before the bridge as two trucks passed in opposite directions at speed. Alarming. Made sure nothing was coming before I sprinted (?) across the bridge to get to the relative safety of the verge on the other side. Back at the car by about 3pm.
All in all a very nice day out, not too tiring and a couple of timely reminders on use of crampons and navigation.