Up Am Faochagach without a paddle

[bootsandpaddles]

AM FAOCHAGACH

Call me a wimp if you like but river crossings entailing the removal boots, socks and trousers are above and beyond the call of duty in the winter (well, early May – same difference). We wanted to do Am Faochagach as it would complete the set of the Ullapool hills so we devised a route avoiding the notorious river crossing. Ok, it is a bit further but we thought it was a good walk and we did keep our feet dry. We parked at the dam on Loch Glarscarnoch and walked across it to the other side (the dam not the loch - not perfected the walking on water yet!). After walking along the track for about 1/2km we turned up the hillside heading for the bealach between Meall an Torcain and Meall an Tuim Bhain.

Head for these hills

There were bogs but you could weave your way between them. We contoured round Meall an Tuim Bhain and gained the ridge where there is a track (not shown on the map). We followed the track over Meall Coire nan Laogh, Tom Ban Mor, Creag Rainich and Sron Liath before turning north towards Am Faochagach.

Am Faochagach in the distance

As we descended from Sron Liath we started to encounter people who had come up by the orthodox route. There were spectacular views across to Beinn Dearg, Cona Mheall

Beinn Dearg and Cona Mheall

and even Seana Bhraigh.

Seana Bhraigh

Still a bit of a way to go

We ascended the snowy slopes of Am Faochagach

Towards the summit

and reached the cairn in about three and half hours.

Summit

As we retraced out footsteps there was a constant stream of people coming up. I hadn’t seen so many people on a hill in weeks! On the way back we paused to look across at our target for the following day – Beinn a Chaisteil.

Beinn a Chaisteil

Back at the car we were tempted to go along to the Aultguish Inn for a cold drink. 2.30pm Bank Holiday weekend, we are the only people in there. A couple came in looking to get some lunch – they weren’t doing lunch. About all you could get was a packet of crisps.

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[simon-b]

A good choice of route, bootsandpaddles. I wouldn't have fancied the river crossing in winter either. So I did it this summer (well, March - same difference).

The longer route you took along the ridge looks interesting, I imagine you'd have had some good views from there?
Beinn Dearg and Cona' Mheall look impressive in your photos.

[bootsandpaddles]

Yes, you get good views of Ben Wyvis, the Fannichs, An Teallach and a lot more hills further away, too.
The seasons are definitely out of order!

[monty]

We done the standard cross the bogs and river route up and down. Your route looks far more sensible Nice photos.

[davetherave]

So thats what the summit of Am Faochagach looks like. On our trip a fortnight ago we cut around the foot of Meallan Ban... We just ran out of time on the day. After 2 tough days we were glad to give it a miss, was a tough decision on the day as we were soooooo close. Haha.

Ta again.

[bootsandpaddles]

We were very lucky with the weather. The clouds rolled in just after we left the summit.