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I'm excited; at Southampton airport on Friday and the forecast for Scotland is awesome for the weekend. I've been out of action for a few weeks with an injured ankle and I'm fairly itching to get a hill fix... I'm decided on the Fisherfield Six; a substantial walk described wherever you read it as an 'expedition'...
- The Off...
For a while now I've had plans for this walk, and I want to avoid Shenavall, my plan has always been to camp on the summit of A' Mhaighdean widely regarded as the remotest munro of them all... It looks like a plateau on top so I'm thinking a perfect campsite and the forecast is for 10-20 mph winds.. No problem...
There's a couple of things to tidy up before the off... I'm going to be doing this on my own so in preference to the Hilleberg Nallo 3 I've decided it's time to buy the one man Akto as I want to be as light as possible. A shout out to Graham in Tiso, Stirling who is off to the Warehouse to pick one up for me in red as they've only got one in green and I prefer the red, plus it reflects heat better... So whilst I'm busy flying up to Edinburgh he's busy sorting out my house for the weekend... Thank you!
Saturday morning; an alarm that pierces the night; but one where I'm excited and I set off on the 200 mile route from Bridge of Allan to Dundonnell... In not very long I'm there and ready for the off... I know this is going to be a big walk and there's a couple of spots of steepness that give me a little nervous trepidation, but of a good kind...
The walk in past An Teallach is stunning; and after everyone else peels off to climb that beauty I carry straight on toward Beinn a'Chlaidheimh and from here on I'll not see more than two souls all weekend... Perfect... iPod on, and I loose myself in thoughts, and various herds of deer whom I disturb...
- Looking ahead to the ascent of the first Munro, Beinn a'Chlaidheimh
You earn Beinn a'Chlaidheimh; you'll have climbed over 1200 metres by the time you stand aloft it's summit after an easy walk in, a river crossing, and then a pathless ascent over increasingly steep terrain to the summit ridge. But it's beautiful. I can feel the weight of the pack and I'm thinking this could be a hard day...
- Looking back at An Teallach from near the summit of Beinn a'Chlaidheimh
The views are a little hazier than I'd like but stunning nonetheless, not the type of weather to be complaining about in March that's for sure.
- The summit ridge of Beinn a'Chlaidheimh looking toward the heart of the Fisherfield Forest...
- Looking back toward An Teallach from the Summit of Beinn a'Chlaidheimh
The hoof over to Sgur Ban is a decent one at 4 km or so and the terrain is pretty much like rubble; quartz like rock and difficult to get any kind of rhythm up so progress is slower than I'd like but not to worry. In a little over an hour I'm climbing the final slopes and arriving at the flat summit plateau... I can see A' Mhaighdean off to the West and it's looking like a good camp site.
- Looking across to A'Mhaighdean...
- Looking back on Beinn a'Chlaidheimh
In all directions there's nothing... Nothing man made that is, just miles upon miles of wilderness. No paths, just pure unspoiled remoteness... It's epic
- Looking across to Beinn Dearg Mor from the summit of Sgurr Ban
A rare sign of a path indicates a steep ascent of Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair but as it turns out it's nowhere near as steep as it looks and I'm not at all uncomfortable on the ascent despite the trepidation on the approach...
- Looking ahead to the ascent of Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair
- Views from the summit of Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair
From there it's a long steep descent pretty much due South and I choose to bypass the lower top of Meall Garbh via a good path to the North West flank before ascending Beinn Tarsuinn... I'm at the top in a wee while though definitely feeling the weight of the pack now...
- Looking back from the slopes of Beinn Tarsuinn...
- The view from the summit of Beinn Tarsuinn
From there it's a short trip along an easy ridge before a steep but not uncomfortable descent to the boggy beallach. I take a tumble and bust one of my walking poles which irritates me a) because they're new and b) because they were taking some weight off the ankle which by now with the rough terrain I can feel a bit... Nevermind.
I'm also thirsty; there's no rivers to top up the water bottle on route and I didn't fancy the mountain lochans offerings. A quick check of the map and I can see rivers will permit some water take on in the beallach to follow. That'll sort me for dinner as there'll not be anything on the summit camp site!
The ascent up A' Mhaighdean is a slow one; my shoulders are killing now from the pack though the legs themselves are okay... Still, in not too long I'm there and it's only 18:00.. I enjoy the view for a while, before setting of to make camp slightly to the north on the plateau like lower top...
- The summit view from A'Mhaighdean; the remotest Munro of them all...
I find a good spot, the terrain is mossy, and in no time the Akto is pitched for the first time... Near the edge of a cliff... A check of the stats after I've pitched the tent and I see I've climbed over 2,500 metres today, so not surprising I'm feeling it a little bit with the roughness of the terrain thrown in for good measure...
- A cosy night ahead...
- The Pitch...
Time for some dinner, I'll do another shout out for the Mountain House Spaghetti Bolognaise, it's my staple diet when camping on the hills... Trust me it's good after a long day, and with a touch of Applewood Cheese to add some flavour coupled with a small bottle of wine courtesy of my welcome gift at the Marriott Hotel I'm thinking life is good as I gaze out towards An Teallach...
- The view out of my house to An Teallach :)
Reception is good and I exchange some messages with my lovely lady telling her I'm well and sharing some pictures of the pitch, and then things start to get noisy... As a peg blows out and one corner of the tent collapses I ask hr to check the forecast for me, and typically we're now at 45 mph winds, typical I think... I'm not bothered about the tent, these Hilleberg's are awesome things, but I am worried about the pegs, so torch on I head off to the summit to grab a handful of boulders from the summit cairn to weight them down. A good decision I think, aside from the worry of will the tent be there when I get back - fortunately it is...
Despite the noise I sleep well and the Rab Alpine 600 Goose Down Bag keeps me toasty warm all night... I have no condensation issues in the tent widely reported in the reviews, though in this wind I'd have surprised to get any in any case...
So before I know it it's morning, and I'm greeted with a pretty but hazy sunrise... I pack up pretty much straight away with the only casualty being the Hilleberg Tent Bag which gets blown off to nowhere off the cliff... I decide not to dive on after it... Irritating, but could be worse!
- Good Morning Scotland.... :)
The walk over to Ruadh Stac Mor is straightforward, as is the climb, only a light spot of scrambling required and nothing particularly unnerving... Is it a munro, yes no, we'll see, either way I'm now six summits in to the Fisherfield Six and to me it'll always be six... That's 100 left then, we're getting there!
- The summit of Ruadh Stac Mor...
- Looking back to A'Mhaighdean form Ruadh Stac Mor...
- Just Gorgeous... :)
Still it's a long walk out though, but a beautiful one that remains remote all the way back to An Teallach. There's a fabulous path that takes you back to Larachantivore before two river crossings and some very boggy terrain sees you arrive at Shenavall...
- Looking back towards Shenavall and Beinn Dearg Mor
From there, it's a hop skip and a jump up the hill, and back down the path to the car... I'm pleased to see it; it's been a tiring trip but I'm there for midday and back in Bridge of Allan with a cold pint at the pub for 15:00...
Overall, some of the remotest scenery Scotland has to offer, and a stunning place to spend the weekend... The summit views from A' Mhaighdean are certainly not bad, though personally I think those from Sgurr na Ciche on the edge of Knoydart are better...
However you look at it, my wilderness fix is complete...
See y'all in Kintail this weekend... I'll have the Monters in tow; seems young Megan fancies a music competition with Monty, as Mum has just found out she plays the Violin!
- The Stats...
