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This hill has always intrigued me after I saw it in Cameron McNeishs' book several years ago and having seen it from various angles from other hills I spontaneously decided to drive up to Corriemulzie and hopefully see it for myself. Last summer I climbed Suilven, Canisp and Cul mor and the view to Seana Bhraigh is awesome, certainly viewed through binoculars.
So. after driving up to Inveroykll I headed west along a forest track to Corriemulzie lodge. My plan was to wil camp at the foot of the hill but when reaching the lodge the midges were mental so I opted to sleep in the car that night and set off early morning. 6am...still midge hell so grab my bike and made a quick dash past the lodge cottages and in the early morning sun Seana Bhraigh looked inviting. I crossed the river a couple of times and headed on up towards the bothy and once about halfway there ditched the bike and crossed the river coming from the loch and headed up to the obvious col where the outflow from the Luchd Choire lochans comes down.
From here I ascended the western ridge, zig zagging my way up the hill at a leisurely pace and once up onto the plateau the views towards Coigach, Cul Mor, Suilven etc opened out before me.
A word of warning...as I was climbing up here I decided to keep to the ridge edge and became complacent and as I was walking my walking pole disaapeared into a hole below. Investigating this I was shocked to discover that I had walked over a boulder field where looking into this hole must have been a good 12foot square and much the same in height so would not like to fall in there. This area is moss covered and I realised then that there were a few gaps like this so be careful if walking here in winter. The area is the last steep part as you climb up towards the lochan on this plateau.
Once at the lochan the summit is a fairly easy climb and when I reached there I had good 360 views. The view to An Teallach and also the view back down the glen to Corriemulzie lodge captivated me. The Luchd Coire below was mesmerizing sitting right on the edge with steep cliffs dropping straight away below me. As the weather was holding out I decided to climb Creag an Duine so with an easy stroll around the rim I was soon climbing up and finally onto this very prominant peak. Again the views all around were immense and I was glad that after several years of swooning over the pictures of this hill that I was blessed with good weather and clear views. I have a plan to walk into this hill through Glen Alladale up onto Carn Ban so it was good to see the distance involved to come in from that direction and the lie of the land to study before I do.
Sitting on this peak with sheer drops was exhilarating and I had lunch, glass of vino and a siesta before descending down the steep path leading down to the col where I had walked up in the morning. From here I headed over to where I had ditched the bike and it was an easy cycle back to Corriemulzie lodge.
In hindsight I realised that I should've crossed the burn and kept to the right hand side to head up on to the western end of the hill and this would've taken me up to the lochan but in a more gradual ascent. All in all...an excellent days walking 12hrs in all...but I took plenty of 10 minute stops for photos and just to soak up the atmosphere of the place as I knew how long I had been waiting to do this hill. I'll climb any hills and some of my favourites I return and do 2 or 3 times to experience them throughout the seasons. As this is my first walk report I have put the photos at the end until I suss out how to put them where I want them in the txt.
