Sourlies to Tarbet - Knoydart Expedition May 2024 - Day 4

[dharbott]

Objective - Bidein a' Chabair - on our 4 day Corbett bashing trip in May 2024.

Me and Andy spent the night in Sourlies Bothy, which we shared with two canoeists. It rained all evening and most of the night, we had to get to Tarbet to catch the 3:30pm Western Isles ferry back to Mallaig, so an early start was in order…

I’d set the alarm for 5am, but found myself wide awake at 4:30am. I got up silently and heard Andy stirring as I moved about. Without talking or even looking at each other we made coffee, ate porridge, packed our kit, and started walking SE to find a suitable spot to wade the Finiskaig River. There were places to cross near the Finiskaig settlement. Safely across the river we looked SW to Sgurr nam Meirleach and scoped a zag-zagging route up the steep grassy slopes below the fairly imposing ridge line of crags – this proved quite straightforward walking. I noticed the odd recent boot footprint, so we knew someone had been up this way recently. After approx 2 hrs we found ourselves at the small lochan just east of Sgurr nam Meirleach summit where we took a short breather, dumped the sacks and confidently strode towards the summit of Bidein a' Chabair 2.5k away.

This ridge is quite a stunner and gets narrower the nearer you get to the summit, until you hit a show-stopper on Sgurr na h-Aide. There was an impassable notch in the ridge, and very steep cliffs on either side – this was unexpected and not part of my plan today! With our destination just 700m away I felt very deflated. All this effort to be defeated by a small but dangerous step in the ridge! We backtracked a little and found it was fairly easy to bypass the notch on the southern flank. Soon we were admiring the fantastic views from the summit of Bidein a' Chabair – what a viewpoint, and what fantastic weather we were having.

We returned to our rucksacks for a quick drink and snack. We’d spent longer on this ridge than expected. At this point I was still confident we had plenty of time to enjoy the long descending watershed ridge that runs west directly to Tarbet. All along this ridge are outstanding views over Loch Nevis to the north, Loch Morar to the south, with uninterrupted views west to the Inner Hebrides and beyond. The weather was outstanding, especially after the incessant rain and wind we’d suffered over the long winter. However, don’t ask me what the views behind were – time was getting on, and the terrain up here is MUCH tougher than I had anticipated. It’s a maze of rocky tops and boggy hollows, with the occasional peaty section and many small lochans.

I was moving a little faster than Andy today, so I took the role of scouting the route ahead and waiting for him to catch up while I pointed out the most efficient way through this intricate maze of terrain. Progress was painfully slow involving some backtracking and many zag-zags… I was starting to feel a rising panic that we might not make our ferry out!

At some point, towards the end of the ridge I lost sight of Andy. I shouted and waited but he wasn’t around. I shot up the nearest highpoint – no sign of him. So I backtracked to the last point I’d seen him – no sign. Earlier we had made a plan to descent the ridge via the Allt Buidhe (gully), so I continued to the top of it. Andy wasn’t there either! Had I beaten him here, or was he in front? I didn’t even know if it was possible to descend this way – and time was running short. I had to make a decision fast. Knowing Andy was very competent in the hills I decided to continue down the gully alone – scouting the descent for both of us…

I do not recommend descending the Allt Buidhe. I had good weather, low water levels and some rock climbing skills – this was a fairly dangerous descent without a rope. It’s probably a scrappy grade 2/3 scramble, with numerous short waterfalls that need circumventing. The most tricky bit involved lowering myself down a cliff by hanging onto a 4inch rowan tree trunk – yes it was short, but irreversible! Most other steps were more easily bypassed – but beware of loose rock. More time was whizzing by, but I finally made it to the coastal path NE of Tarbet. And still no sign of Andy! I turned my mobile on and miraculously had a 4G signal. I called and messaged Andy to update him – no response. I was quite concerned for him at this point.

I won’t mention too much about the 8ft deer fence, landslide warning signs, and more uphill I encountered after the gully, as this path winds its way back to civilisation!

Arriving in Tarbet was such a joy. I parked myself up on a picnic bench next to the harbour feeling totally knackered, hot and bothered, scratched and scuffed, but safe. I’d arrive with 1hr to spare – time to chill and rehydrate a little, and try again to contact Andy – nothing! With 30mins before the ferry arrived I was very relieved to see Andy walking around the headland about 15 mins away. We’d both made it. Oh, the ferry was 30 mins late.

Andy had descended to Kylesmoror via Allt na Creagaig, which from his description was somewhat easier than my descent, though no walk in the park. My original route plan was to continue along the watershed ridge to Cnoc a Bhac Fhalaichte and descent via Allt Ruadh – this would have taken even longer and I had no idea what that descent might be like either.

This was such a fantastic outing, full of adventure, excitement and wonder, shared with my lifelong friend, Andy. We’ve had many adventures in Scotland over 40+ years, but this one ranked amongst the very best. It was such a privilege to share it with you Andy!

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