Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan Group from Glen Elchaig

[go spazieren]

I had considered various options to visit the Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan group. I didn’t fancy camping or staying at Alltbeithe. I contemplated the trek in from Cluanie but decided the long boggy trek out would be miserable, and I was not keen on a bike hike from Glen Affric as the biking part looked like it might be a bit tough for a reluctant cyclist. I read a few reports on the approach from Glen Elchaig, and after mapping it out on the OS App, it looked feasible. A relatively easy cycle, followed by a longish walk. Perfect.

Bike route

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Hike route

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It was going to be a long day, so I stayed at the Glen Shiel campsite the night before and booked in for a second night as driving back home for 3 ½ hours afterwards would not be sensible. I’ve stayed there a few times, nice and informal but can be prone to midge mayhem. All was fine until my luxury airbed sprang a leak and deflated in the middle of the night. Surprising how cold the ground is and how little insulation a deflated airbed provides. After improvising with some spare clothing below the bed it was not too cold, but not very comfortable. Next time I’ll take the self-inflating mat. I got a bit of sleep against the odds, woke at 5:30am and had a leisurely start, cooking a substantial fry-up to fuel myself for the day ahead. The weather was looking excellent, and the breeze kept the midges at bay. I arrived at the car park at Killilan about 7:20am, got organised and set off up Glen Elchaig at 7:30am.
The private road is beautifully tarmacked for the first 4.5km, and then is a rougher, but still well-maintained vehicle track.

Glen Elchaig

It is reasonably level and perfect for cycling although I must confess to pushing the bike up the steepest incline. I could have done it in crawler gear, but no point burning excess energy at this stage, and the stiff easterly breeze did not help. About 9km along the road a track branches off to the Falls of Glomach. I had been there over 50 years ago on foot so must have walked this track before but have no recollection other than it being a long walk and the waterfall not being that impressive. You have different perceptions as a child it would appear.

Falls of Glomach are up there somewhere

Glen Elchaig is very scenic, especially the stretch beside Loch na Leitreach.

Loch na Leitreach

I left the bike just after the loch near the house at Carnach. It had taken almost exactly 1 hr to cover the 10.8km. Not too bad considering the headwind and my lack of bike fitness.
So, now for the walking part, starting at 8:30am. The track from Carnach crosses a bridge over the Allt na Doire Gairbhe and then winds up beside the Allt Coire Easaich before branching off to the east then winds in a generally south east direction passing above Loch Sgurr na h-Eige.

Waterfall on Allt Coire Easaich

Looking back to Carnach

Initially the path looks like a new ATV track, but further up, it is clearly an old built stalkers path. The ATV tracks sometimes follow a different route and eventually disappear altogether. The old path is a bit indistinct in places but can be followed without too much difficulty and is pretty much as marked on both Harvey and OS maps. It certainly makes progress easier across some quite boggy terrain and gains altitude steadily. It is not a very well trodden route, I saw no footprints to indicate anyone had been this way recently.
The path finally petered out below some small crags on the north ridge of Creag Ghlas (the Harvey map calls it Creag Chias). I picked my way around these to gain the ridge and headed South. This was the start of a whole lot of ridge walking for the day. Conditions underfoot improved with height, a mixture of grass, moss and rocks, quite dry. I reached the top of Creag Ghlas after a little over 2 hours of walking from Carnach. Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan still looked a long way away, as did the return route over Mullach na Dheiragain.

The route ahead to Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan from Creag Ghlas

Continuing along the ridge, I headed as directly as I could for the next high point, Stuc Fraoch Choire.

Cairn on Stuc Fraoch Coire

The ridge here is broad and not very well defined, navigation would not be straight forward in poor visibility, but that was not an issue today. The undulating and rocky terrain did not allow for fast progress though. Not difficult walking, but just taking that bit longer than usual to cover the ground between points. Stuc Fraoch Choire is listed as a “Top” of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan, as are the next two high points on the ridge, Stuc Mor and Stuc Bheag. In fact, this route took in all the Tops of the 3 Munros apart from Creag nan Clachan Geala out to the west. This would require a short and easy detour, but I’m not a Top bagger and didn’t fancy adding another 150m of ascent to the journey.

On Stuc Mor, Stuc Bheag ahead

Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan from Stuc Bheag

Stuc Mor and Stuc Bheag are nice looking peaks, certainly more impressive than An Socach, but I suppose there is insufficient elevation drop between them and Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan to qualify either peak as a Munro in their own right.
After more descending, climbing and generally zig-zagging through the rocks, I finally made it up to the West Top of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan.

From West Top looking across to Munro summit of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan

There was still a fair bit of snow about up here especially on the north facing slopes, but the cornices had mostly melted, and the ridge lines were almost clear of snow. Some very minor scrambling was needed descending from the West Top, and I had to walk down a few patches of soft snow, but with no difficulties. I had brought an ice axe as a precaution, but it was not needed. The crampon ballast was left in the car this time. After a short descent and climb, I reached the summit of the first Munro of the day, Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan, just before 1pm, 4 ½ hours walk from Carnach.

Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan summit cairn looking back at West Top

From Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan looking NW to ascent ridge

It is a very fine peak, unlike the next destination, An Socach, which looks a little pathetic when viewed with the bulk of Mam Sodhail and Carn Eighe dominating the skyline to the East.

An Socach in centre of photo, dwarfed by the big Affric hills behind

An Socach had to be bagged though, so I didn’t sit around long. This part of the ridge has a clear path as it is back on the standard route from Alltbeithe. Still a bit rough and undulating terrain however, with a few remaining patches of soft snow, but no problems.

Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan from Stob Coire na Cloiche - a fine peak

After the Top of Stob Coire na Cloice the ridge drops to the lowest point at 798m before climbing back up to An Socach. I was a bit weary at this point and couldn’t help wondering why An Socach qualified as a Munro. The wise people at the SMC will have their reasons of course. I finally made the summit of An Socach at 2:20pm. Nearly 6 hours in from Carnach, and just starting the return journey!

On the summit of An Socach

As described in the WH guide I cut the corner to get onto the long ridge out to Mullach na Dheiragain. From An Socach, I made my way back down to the 798m point in the direction of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan and climbed up a short distance where a small cairn marks an exit point to drop into Coire nan Dearcag to the north. There are some cliffs on the north side so care is needed not to leave the ridge too far east. A path comes and goes for this descent, and the terrain is fairly steep and a bit boggy but didn’t present any problems getting down into the coire. I spotted a group of 2 or 3 other walkers on the skyline in the distance making their way up from the Bealach nan Daoine to Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan, presumably on the return route to Alltbeithe. The only other walkers I saw all day.

Down in Coire nan Dearcag

After dropping down to about 730m just below the lochan I had an extended break by a burn, giving my feet a cold dip and replenishing the water bottles. Feeling rejuvenated, I set off up to the Bealach nan Daoine. This is an easy and short climb, and once on the ridge which is quite sharp and well defined, there is a clear path leading northeast to north over Carn na Con Dhu and on to the summit of Mullach na Dheiragain where I arrived at 4:40pm.

From the summit of Mullach na Dheiragain looking South

At this time after a day in the mountains I am usually already in a café having a coffee and some cake, but there was still a fair bit of ground to cover today. I continued north to the Top of Mullach Sithidh and then dropped steadily just west of due north with the very steep slopes into Gleann Sithidh on the left.

Cairn on Mullach Sithidh

The going became much easier and smoother at this point, more grass and less rocks. There was a faint path initially, whether made by hill walkers or deer I am not sure. I continued north past the 673m point after Bealach Sithidh and skirted northeast around some crags at the “nose” of the ridge before turning west and dropping over rough and boggy ground to reach a junction of two ATV tracks at the end of Gleann Sithidh. I had contemplated coming off the ridge due west at Bealach Sithidh, but it looked a bit steep and with small cliffs here and there which would need to be avoided, so I opted for a slightly longer but less steep route which worked out fine albeit a bit wet in places.
It was now just a case of following the ATV track. This was boggy initially, but after 1 km or so it led to a more well-constructed vehicle track running to Iron Lodge from Loch Mullardoch.

Iron Lodge

Another 3km on this track led down to Iron Lodge (which is looking a bit dilapidated) and I crossed the bridge over the Allt na Doire Gairbhe onto the main track back down Glen Elchaig. It would have been nice to have the bike at Iron Lodge, but only a couple of km walking and I was back at Carnach. Always a relief to find the bike where I left it, another 11 km on foot at this point would not have been pleasant. It was now 7:20 pm. My cycling muscles must be different from walking muscles, as I had no problem maintaining a good speed back to the car park, arriving 40 minutes later. Helped by more downhill than up, and a nice tail wind of course. Just in time to nip over to Kyle to check if the Co-Op had a cheap sleep mat or airbed. No success there, but they did have beer, so back to the campsite for a couple of tins before another not very comfortable night’s sleep.
So all in all, a pretty hard day (by my standards at least), but I would say for fit hillwalkers with bikes, a viable way of bagging all 3 of the Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan Munros (plus Tops!) without staying over at Altbeithe.
Note that the walk distance-ascent-time stats at the top of the page are combined for the bike-hike, but for those interested it is broken down (according to my Garmin watch) as
Bike in Killinan to Carnach – 1 hr, 10.82km, 183m ascent
Walk Carnach to Carnach – 10 hrs 50 mins, 28.71km, 2214m ascent
Bike out Carnach to Killinan – 40 mins, 10.82km , 102m ascent.

[litljortindan]

Looks like a good option if I ever manage to get there. Certainly got the weather for it.

[jayedubya73]

What an excellent report.

Really interesting route you took. I did the long day cycling in from Affric, dropping off the bike at the youth hostel and doing the 3 hills. Definitely a shorter walk, that looked a big (impressive) day you did !

[HalfManHalfTitanium]

Brilliant TR with beautiful photos!

And, the text gives great information for anyone thinking of following in your footsteps.

Over the years I have looked at maps of the SnC group and surrounding glens - this is definitely the way I'd go if I ever get there. I think it will give the best views of the many aspects of this wonderful remote mountain.

For anyone planning to approach this way, there's a video of this route at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoV6kCbrLgQ

Tim

[Colin1951]

Great report, great photos, thank you for posting! As a matter of interest did you think about returning down the Falls of Glomach ?

[Mal Grey]

A great report,and roughly how we did S n C in 2001. We didn't have daylight, being winter, or energy, to add M n D so dropped west and back to Carnach in failing light. The cycle down the glen with snow shining off the hills and stars above as we dodged icy puddles in the dark, was memorable. Fair play to you for adding in the other hills, we were bushed.

I think the twin summits of S n C are one of the finest places to sit and stare in the Highlands.

[go spazieren]

Great report, great photos, thank you for posting! As a matter of interest did you think about returning down the Falls of Glomach ?

Could have gone up by Falls of Glomach but would have reduced bike part by 2km each way and require 3km schlep across uncharted territory from above Falls to gain ridge onto SnC. So certainly feasible but would add a fair bit to already relatively hard day.