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Munros: Sgurr a' Mhaoraich
Date: 01/03/2024.
Distance: 15km.
Ascent: 975m.
Time taken: 6 hours 45 minutes.
Weather: Sunny and mostly calm.
Bit of a delay writing this one up as I was hoping Jackie would do a report for it...3 months later and she hasn't got around to it! We had both been off work for a week and had spent the beginning of the holiday in Speyside. After a couple of days of poorer weather close to home, Friday was looking good. We decided to go west this time but just for a daytrip. Sgurr a' Mhaoraich had still eluded Jackie and on its own seemed like the ideal sort of length for what we wanted.
Making a reasonably early start from Inverness, we managed to get on the hill shortly after 9am, although not before stopping on the Loch Quoich road for a couple of photos. The day promised to be a good one.
Gairich across Loch Quoich 
Deer on the road Although there are a couple of options for Sgurr a' Mhaoraich, we decided to go up by the most conventional route - the stalkers path up Bac nan Canaichean. There was still a touch of low cloud floating about which added to the atmosphere of a glorious day. It didn't take long to hit the snowline - it was probably at around 600m. Mostly it didn't make the walking too difficult but there were a couple of places where it had drifted over hollows. Some of these were firm but there were soft bits where you might suddenly disappear up to your knees.
Sgurr Mor to Sgurr na Ciche 
Looking back to Loch Quoich 
Sgurr Mor to Sgurr na Ciche 
On Bac nan Canaichean 
Gairich and Sgurr an Fhuarain 
Jackie with Gleouraich and Aonach Air Chrith behind 
Approaching Sgurr Coire nan Eiricheallach There was a short steeper slope leading onto Sgurr Coire nan Eiricheallach - no need for crampons here though as the snow was soft enough. Jackie was impressed and slightly surprised by the way ahead - although I had mentioned a bit of a ridge walk and some steeper sections she hadn't expected this much up and down! Still, we both love a good ridge and this one felt fun without being difficult or dangerous.
South Glen Shiel Ridge 
Jackie and South Glen Shiel Ridge 
Hills south of Loch Quoich 
Ridge to the summit of Sgurr a Mhaoraich 
Aonach Air Chrith and East Glen Quoich 
Gleouraich at the back Closer to the summit the path dips below the crest to avoid some pinnacles. There was some deep snow here which made the going a bit tedious. Then it was onto the final steepening. This is probably the steepest bit of the route and the path dodges between outcrops to the north of the crest. It was completely filled in and overhung by a cornice today so we took the direct route up the nose. I just about scraped up this without crampons but with some harder snow Jackie decided to put hers on. The key difference here is that hers take about half the time of mine to put on so I usually try and hold out without them - not always the best strategy but it worked today!
Back along the ridge 
Approaching the summit 
Sgurr nan Eugllt, Ladhar Bheinn and Loch Quoich 
Jumble of hills to the south including Sgurr na Ciche 
Zoom to the Glen Dessarry hills It was just an excellent day - the wind was low and despite a haze on the horizon the closer hills were crystal clear and picked out in that early spring pattern of black crag against pure white. The summit cairn was a short stroll from the top of the nose and the perfect time and place for lunch. Definitely also a time for reflection though - my last visit here had been with the greatly missed Alteknacker as I messed up one of his ridiculous multi-summit routes by getting up too late! Still, it had been a great day despite him not adding on the last couple of Munros that he'd wanted, and I was glad to have had a full day out in the hills with him
North across Am Bathach 
East along the ridge to Gleouraich 
Sgurr a Mhaoraich Beag and Loch Hourn 
The Saddle and Sgurr na Sgine 
Gairich 
Sgurr Thionail and a glimpse of Glen Shiel We were soon joined by another person - we had spotted him on the ridge behind us. We had a short chat and wandered around the summit area for photos before deciding our next move. Am Bathach and a descent to Alltbeithe was a possibility but in the end we decided to keep things short. After wandering out to Sgurr a' Mhaoraich Bheag we would contour back to the south ridge and drop back to the road not too far from the car.
The Saddle Sgurr a' Mhaoraich Bheag is well worth the visit as it has unobstructed views down Loch Hourn. The contour back across the southern face of Sgurr a' Mhaoraich wasn't too bad although the snow was definitely a bit softer over here and it took longer than expected (with lots of additional folds in the hill that we couldn't see until we were round them) until we were on the south ridge proper.
Onto Kinloch Hourn from Sgurr a Mhaoraich Beag 
Back to Sgurr a Mhaoraich from the south ridge 
Loch Quoich from the south ridge There were a couple of steep steps in the ridge but something of a path seems to have developed here in the 20 years since I last came down this way - we were able to follow it (and some footprints) to guide us around the steepest bits. Certainly made for less thinking!
Looking back to Sgurr a Mhaoraich After a certain point we decided to drop into Coire na Eiricheallach as there is now a hydro scheme with a track in it. This turned out to be what the path did too, although it got quite vague in the bog lower down. We made a slightly fiddly burn crossing and a short wet descent of the east bank to meet the track, discovering that there was actually a bridge slightly further down. Minus brownie points for me
. The track led easily down to the road, from where it was a short stroll back to the car.
Gulvain across Loch Quoich Unusually for us it was only mid-afternoon, and with the daylight hours getting longer it was pleasantly warm. As we stood by the car another group of 3 dropped back down by our ascent route - they can't have been far behind us on the way up. One of them legged it down to the loch and jumped in - certainly a day for it! We were already intending to do the same in a slightly more controlled manner so followed him down to the shore. A refreshing dip followed.
Jackie swimming 
Gleouraich from Loch QuoichFor once we were actually back home in Inverness before dark. Ironically it would have been a nice evening to camp out even if the next day was forecast to be pants.
