by al78 » Tue Aug 20, 2024 9:10 pm
Date walked: 19/05/2024
Time taken: 7 hours
Distance: 15 km
Ascent: 1030m
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First full walking day of my trip to the NW highlands back in May and decided to do the Applecross corbetts via a route which looked viciously steep but some people on here had said it wasn't technical.
The weather first thing didn't look inspiring. Heavy clag and occasional drizzle with the cloud base well below the summits. Parked the car at a large kind-of layby/parking area near the Russet Burn and headed along the path to Loch Coire nan Arr where the path goes laterally up the side of the glen whilst gradually dissipating. Continued on into Coire a Chaorachain largely picking my own route across rough terrain and reached the cloud base. Although I was not far from the Bealach Na Ba road it felt remote here as it was very quiet and there was the presence of steep hills around me. I picked a spot to start climbing and it turned out the people on here were right, it is steep but a steep walk, not a scramble and easier than I expected. Got to the ridge and went to the first Corbett where there were no views other than the silhouettes of lumpy bits of terrain in the cloud along the ridge.
Headed back along the ridge and went around the head of the corrie I had walked through earlier, heading for the transmitter or whatever it is at the subsidiary 776m summit. The cloud was slowly breaking up now and I was getting nice fleeting views out to Skye and of some of the surrounding mountain architecture which is very aesthetic. You can tell glaciers have been sculpting this area in the distant past. From here it was a pathless walk to Bealach nan Arr although not a difficult one, I was below the cloud by this point which was gradually lifting towards the highest summits.
Next stop Beinn Bhan and back in the cloud on the way up. Once in the cloud it seemed to take forever to get to the summit, and I can see how easy it is to drift off course and get lost/disorientated. In thick clag and on rocky and largely featureless ground you cannot tell which direction you are heading without a compass other than uphill. No view from the second corbett but early on the long descent back down to the road, the cloud rapidly broke up and the sun came out. I was treated to spectacular views across loch Kishorn and of the route in, which occasionally combined with patches of cloud swirling around the pinnacled ridges to the east of Beinn Bhan to generate a fantastic atmospheric effect. Again, the mountain architecture on the east side of Beinn Bhan is fantastic, I wonder if there are any routes to the summit from that direction without requiring ropes. The great thing about this descent is the continuous view of loch Kishorn and the fjord-like coastline. Descent was straightforward and got back to the car in good enough time to get back to Kinlochewe and freshen up before an evening meal.
- Attachments
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- Ascending the side of Coire a Chaorachain looking back towards loch Coire nan Arr.
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- Lumpy bits in the clag, Sgurr a Chaorachain ridge.
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- Looking across to Skye, cloud starting to lift.
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- Brocken spectre
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- Coire Atadail.
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- Coire nan Arr (a glacier was here).
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- Pinnacled ridge, possibly A Chioch.
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- Looking back to the route in. Nice hanging valley.
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- Loch Kishorn.
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- The route.
Last edited by
al78 on Wed Aug 21, 2024 11:47 am, edited 1 time in total.