The Rois Bheinn round - alternative exit

[Verylatestarter]

Given the weather on Sunday I had high hopes for Monday but low cloud has set in on the West coast; still I was set on these hills having viewed them from Beinn Odhar Mhor on Saturday. I took the ATV track alongside Roti burn, past the hydro building and up the hill. At the turn off for the brand new bridge the ground became boggy and, as described on WH this is a long and punishing ascent; made more so by the tedious wet tussocky grass and the restricted views owing to the low cloud. 2.5Km and 660m later I arrived at the foot of the Druim Fiaclach ridge. By which time there was an indication the cloud would clear.

From the fancy new bridge up to Meall Damh - soggy tussocky grass all the way

The North ridge of An Stac with exit track low down; I took the ridgeline until it dipped into Coire Beithe

Looking back North down towards Roti Burn and the (green hut) power station - a useful marker point.

View from Meall Damh towards the head of Loch Ailort

Druinn Fiaclach and the 3 Corbetts starting to clear

After the rocky ascent of the North slope the ridge levels out to provide a really enjoyable ridge walk, with steep sides and great views. For the only time in the day the cloud base lifted above the Corbett tops; I could see Munro tops further inland were also clear. I had lunch whilst in weak sunshine and then carried down to the bealach and up onto An t-Slat-bheinn. By the time I reached the first Corbett, Sgurr na Ba Glaise, it was back in the cloud. As is typical in Moidart the summit cairn was negligible (as was Rois Bheinn’s) but the drop to the bealach substantial, 180m and then back up 180m.

The rocky North ridge of Druinn Fiaclach

The North ridge of An Stac now in sunshine with Ardnish and Arisaig beyond

Beinn Coire nan Gall and Meall Damh

The beautiful ridgeline West from DrF. The only time all three peaks were clear of cloud

Steep Southern slope of the main ridge

Croit Bheinn in sunshire, steep rugged Northern slopes and gentle Southern side

The Eastern extension of the DF with Corbetts Beinn Mhic Cededh and Beinn Odhar Bhearg beyond

West end of DF on the ridge

An Stac and it's northern ridge

DF from the West

The three Corbetts from the ridge

An Stac in sun

Looking East to Croit Bheinn

The East slope of An t-Slat-bheinn

Geometric sandstone

Sgurr na Ba Glaise

The summit cairn with quartz arrow

Looking West through the gap between RB and AS

By the time I nearly tripped over the RB summit cairn it was in thick cloud; I headed for the West summit, reputed to have some of the best views on the West Coast, but gave up and turned round. Back down to the bealach and even further down to the even lower bealach to An Stac, a mere 320m below , some of it on steep unstable grass. The sun was out at last although it didn’t want to shine on RB for some reason; the climb up to An Stac’s summit was quiet enjoyable despite the steepness and the summit the best of the three. The descent down the North ridge, in sunshine, was also enjoyable and I decided to vary the route from the WH description.

The summit cairn of Rois Bheinn, trip hazard!

The fabled West ridge of R B -some of the best views on the west coast apparently!

The steep grassy drop down to the bealach from R B, follow the wall then left, then right as ground levels out.

An Stac, 250m rise from the bealach, steep but not too difficult when in beautiful sunshine.

The main DF ridge in sunshine

Beinn Resipole above the Bealach an Fhiona. The steep route down from Rois Bheiin follows the wall seen on the right, and then sharp right (West) above the crag

The bealach and Seann Chruach from the North ridge - the WH exit is down to the right and onto what looks like a very muddy ATV track. It would be a shame to end the walk in shadow on such a beautiful evening

On the way in I’d noticed how poor the path down from An Stac looked and given how nice an evening was I thought I’d try to stick to the sunny ridge top as long as possible. At the bealach I opted to go straight on and ascend the small hill of Seann Chruach (521m) and take a Northerly bearing till I reached the shortcut path before Tom Odhar. This is a delightful ridge with plenty of smooth outcrops of glacially abraded sandstone sparkling in the evening sun; there were few abrupt drops. I kept near the ridge line avoiding the steep wooded West side and upon reaching a shallow gulley above the woods I bore right and then left down through the wood till I met the stream and then the footpath.

The alternate exit route off the North ridge

Which way did the glaciers go?

Glacial abrasion on beautiful grippy rock with mica flakes

Someone has gone over these hills with a very big scourer - Seann Chruach

The summit of Seann Chruach (521m) wins the much coveted 'cairn of the day' award (to be fair not much of a contest)

From Seann Chruach looking down towards Roti burn, i aimed for the power plant shed which is almost dead centre of the photo, but kept to the left hand spur of the ridge.

Looking down at the fish farm and my parked car from the ridge

Looking West down Coire Beithe towards the fish farm. I came down through the woods on the left.

The cottages in front of Seann Chruach ridge which is densely wooded on it's West side

View of the hills from the A830

The path was very wet as was the meadow but I made it onto the ATV track without too much difficulty. There were plenty of deer around the woods and even more outside the cottages on the way out. It took about 1 Hr 10min from Seann Chruach to the end of the walk. It being a beautiful evening I drove onto Arisaig for a look around.

That's all five Moidart Corbetts completed; what a beautiful area of the country! There are so few people around; three days in these hills and I didn't meet one other walker, just lots of pathless soggy grassy terrain and rocky hills with brilliant views. I return later this month!