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The introduction and opening of this walk is in Part 1, available here:
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=125852 . To catch you up, it was a beautiful mid-May day, so Pete and I had taken the opportunity to climb Ladhar Bheinn ifrom Inverie n clear weather. Our route deviated from the standard route, because we wanted to do the (excellent) scramble up An Diollaid, before rejoining the path to the summit of Ladhar Bheinn. It also differed from the standard route in that we intended to descend via the Corbett above Inverie: Sgùrr Coire Choinnichean. The scramble is described in detail in Part 1. So you're all caught up. From the top of An Diollaid, it was time for one of the best walks in Scotland.
Ladhar Bheinn Part 2: the walkThere is a fairly decent path up the west side of Ladhar Bheinn from the An Diollaid spur. Although we were a bit drained from the scramble, the the walk to summit was fairly straightforward. If one wanted to do an easy walk to the top of Ladhar Bheinn, on a clear path, avoiding too much steepness and any undulating ridges, an out and back from Inverie via the west flank of the mountain would be the way to go. It would probably take about 6 hours in total (5 for those fitter than me, 7 for those wanting to savour the trip).
However, it is certainly worth stopping from time to time on the ascent up Ladhar Bheinn's summit cone. The views that open up behind you towards Skye are breathtaking, as are the views that appear ahead of the north side of the mountain.
- An Diollaid in front of Beinn na Caillich, with Skye behind
- Ladhar Bheinn's northern face comes into view.
- Then Loch Hourn and the Stob A' Choire Odhair spur appears.
Then we were on top of the summit ridge, with its three peaks. This has to be one of the top five summit viewpoints in Scotland. It's hard to decide where to turn. The view over Loch Hourn to Beinn Sgritheall probably takes top billing, but the sea to the west and south, and the layers of mountains to the east, including Knoydart's other Munros, all take some beating. We stopped for a long lunch, although I wish it could have been longer.
- Beinn Sgritheall over Loch Hourn
- The spur towards Barrisdale Bay.
- Hints of the ridge to come, and the layers of the highlands.
- South over Sgùrr Coire Choinnichean to Sgurr Coire nan Gobhar.
- West to Skye
The drama of the huge eastern ridge of Ladhar Bheinn is not fully revealed until you reach the third summit. But then it is quite a sight. The way down to to the ridge on the east of the mountain is not a scramble, but it is quite steep and eroded. But the sharpness of the descent and the narrowness of the mountain mean that the views north and south are maintained.
- The awesome eastern ridge.
- Oh, I think I'll look to the left now.
- And to the right.
- And maybe left again.
At the beginning of the ridge, the north face of the mountain just drops away, vertically, 1000 feet to the valley below. The path passes close to the lip. It's not a place to be in thick fog. You'd have plenty of time to consider your mistake after taking a wrong step. There are bigger rock faces on some mountains, but I can't recall one that is so vertical for so long. Anyway, Pete caught a photo of me contemplating the quick route down.
- Where's the safety rail?
I was expecting the east ridge to be hard going; the ups and downs add quite a bit to the day's climb. But in the event it went by fairly easily. The progress was made easier by the constantly changing views. (The really tiring bit of the day was the many ups and downs on the long south-west ridge from Aonach Sgoilte.)
- Rocky ridge.
- More rocky ridge
- Looking back to Ladhar Bheinn
There is a final steep pull up Aonach Sgoilte. We stopped for a rest, then started the long south-west ridge. The undulations along the way to Sgùrr Coire Choinnichean are tough going and this route misses the views of the mountain from Barrisdale Bay. But the south-east side of Ladhar Bheinn is surprisingly rugged, and we enjoyed looking over at the Luinne Bheinn to Meall Buidhe ridge (which ended up being the 16 May walk) and the sea beyond Inverie.
- Rum above Sgùrr Coire Choinnichean.
- The remarkable rock formations on Meall Buidhe.
- Ladhar Bheinn from the south
- Skye from the bealach.
The peaty bealach before the ascent to Sgùrr Coire Choinnichean is not overly boggy and quickly passed. Then the ascent of the Corbett is pathless, but not especially steep and quite easy terrain. We plodded up, fairly tired after the traverse of Ladhar Bheinn. Part way up, on the shoulder, is an unusual narrow fissure, about five meters deep -- another surprise to lurk in the mist.
- The ascent of Sgùrr Coire Choinnichean.
- The fissure.
- Looking back to Ladhar Bheinn.
Sgùrr Coire Choinnichean has excellent views out to sea over Inverie. It would be well worth an evening climb in own right.
- The Inner Hebrides
- Zoomed.
It seemed a long descent to Inverie. There is a path down to the grassy plateau to the west, then it becomes indistinct for a little bit. The footpath then did not seem to follow the route shown on the OS map. It seemed to run down a bit closer to the gorge formed by the Allt Slochd A' Mhogha (which is also worth a look -- more unusual rock formations, similar to Meall Buidhe). The path is clear and eventually intersects with the logging roads near Inverie. We tried to follow a few small footpaths shown on the OS map, but that was a mistake: they no longer exist. Stick to the logging roads. And enjoy the bespoke warning signs.
- Inverie far below.
- The gorge.
- Don't do this.
- Watch out for this.
Of course, having completed a walk like this, we deserved a suitable reward.
- Remember kids: always drink to excess.
- Everything a growing boy needs, if growing horizontally.
Final thoughts:
- You don't need this report to tell you that this is an excellent walk. But save it for a good day.
- Given it is only a single Munro, Ladhar Bheinn is surprisingly tiring. (Harder than Luinne Bheinn and Meall Buidhe, although I made tough going of the ascent having done Ladhar Bheinn the previous day.)
- I don't think the distance suggested on the Walkhighlands guide is quite right. My phone suggested it was further.
- Watch out for ticks. They were having a bumper year in Knoydart in 2024. I found five small ones attached to various appendages a few days later.
