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I wouldn't be myself if I was deaf to the call of the hills, especially on bank holiday weekend. After an enjoyable coastal walk on Saturday, we took an opportunity to visit Torridon on Sunday.
It's only been a couple of months since my winter adventure on Beinn Eighe, my favourite ever Scottish mountain. My "The Ben". Since then I conquered a few other hills all over the Highlands, but The Ben always acts like a magnet - and so do all the other torridonian peaks. Among my photo collections there is one album called "Beinn Eighe seen from different angles"
Am I on the edge of obsession???
Hopefully not.
The week before we climbed Fionn Bheinn and I was again gob smacked by the Torridon panorama. The Ben took central stage, its complicated ridge giving it a look of one big, white starfish. To the left, Liathach presented its massive bulk. My attention was drawn to a lower hill on the right hand side - I remembered there were two adjacent Corbetts near Beinn Eighe, so I guessed it must be one of them. I thought - what a viewpoint it has to be, so close to my favourite hill! And that's how Meall a'Ghiubhais moved to the very top of my "must-do" mountains.
Meall a'Ghiubhais (right), Beinn Eighe (middle) and Liathach (left) from Fionn Bheinn:
Luckily, weather gods favoured us and I didn't have to wait too long to execute my plans. On Sunday Torridon was probably the best area to climb, with very little wind and clear skies most of the time. Though we drove through one snow shower on the way up to Loch Maree, I kept my fingers crossed for good conditions. And my prayers were answered
Meall a'Ghiubhais route:
There are two possible ways up Meall a'Ghiubhais from the banks of Loch Maree. One starts from the Visitors Centre car park and goes up a pony track. This one is more convenient fo a longer route, if one wants to combine Meall a'Ghiubhais and the other Corbett, Ruadh-stac Beag. Kevin suggested the other approach (and the one recommended by WH
), beginning from the Coille na Glas Leitre Trails car park. He has once walked the Mountain Trail path and told me, with his "oh-I'm-so-experienced-a-climber" look, that it was worth adding to our trip. OK, hands up, Mr know-it-all was right.
The car park was deserted when we arrived (it was still early but I expected more people to have a taste for a Torridon walk):
It must have snowed quite heavily on the summits the previous night. Slioch put on a white hat:
We quickly got ready and started up the southern branch of the Mountain Trail. I must sincerely and wholeheartedly (
is my spelling correct???) recommend this circular trail to all hikers and walkers, it's steep and scramble-ish on higher levels, but what an adventure! Even if you don't feel up to climbing the Corbett itself and stay on the path, it's still a trip to remember!
I think I'll let photos speak now...
The initial stage of the Mountain Trail goes through lovely woodland:
Caledonia pines... and the steep slopes behind. We'll be scrambling up them in next to no time (the slopes, not the trees
)!
Higher up - superb views down to Loch Maree and Slioch:
Along the loch:
The trail is steep most of the time, but about half-way up the real fun begins. NOT a path for the faint-hearted:
Ath nan Ceann, the delta of Kinlochewe River:
By the Trumpet Rock:
A tourist path???
The trail continues... up this wall!
After some great fun on steep slopes, we emerged on more even ground, just to be overwhelmed again by the views...
Fionn Bheinn:
Looking south to Loch Monar hills:
The Fannichs to the east:
Ben Wyvis:
At last we saw our target hill:
Five more minutes of walking - and we arrived by the Conservation Cairn, marking the highest point of the Mountain Trail. It's a SUPERB viewpoint. WOAAAAAAW!!!! Beinn Eighe looks so close... An unusual angle to admire this mountain:
Me by the cairn:
I couldn't get enough photies of Beinn Eighe ridge...
...and Kevin couldn't resist striking a macho-pose with The Ben in the background
The final push to the summit of Meall a' Ghiubhais may look scary but it presents no technical challenge apart from being steep. Steepness is something one has to put up with when climbing in Torridon
The route up looks something like this:
To start with, we walked a short distance along the Mountain Trail, past the little Lunar Loch. Another weird angle to admire the summits of Beinn Eighe:
Lunar Loch and our target hill:
No time to meow too much...
...though it was hard not to meow, when I looked over my shoulder:
Creag Dhubh, the eastern end of Beinn Eighe ridge:
The second Corbett, Ruadh-stac Beag:
A couple of showers appeared on the horizon - the heaviest of them, a big, dark cloud, passed behind Slioch. We were so lucky, none of these wintry spells reached us!
The summit of Meall a' Ghiubhais:
We visited the lower top first, where we met two other walkers and had a nice chat. It was getting a bit darker and I noticed one more nasty cloud, this time over Beinn Alligin:
The one over Slioch was still there, too:
But between them, Loch Maree looked bright and blue... Strange weather behaviour!
Hello, can you see me? An Teallach peeking out from behind Slioch:
Bad clouds virtually circled our mountain but never passed above us. And with views like that I felt like the happiest Panther in the entire universe. Meowwwwwwwwwwww!
Walking to the main summit cairn was now a formality. We discovered that when sitting inside the shelter, we were completely off the wind. In the shining sun, with a hot cuppa and with Beinn Eighe in the background, I could sit there for ages...
Beinn Dearg and Beinn Alligin - the bad cloud now gone:
Beinn Eighe again. I loved the way its ridge "embraces" Ruadh-stac Beag in the middle:
Another distant shower:
Ruadh-stac Mor, the highest peak of Beinn Eighe:
All right, too much is too much... But I can't resist!!!
Kevin was all jolly-happy too...
Two climbers on the summit of Ruadh-stac Beag (zoomed):
Liathach is almost entirely hidden from view by Beinn Eighe, but one of its summits just about shows up. I zoomed it as much as could - just to notice there were people on this one, too! Can you see them, standing just to the left of the summit cairn?
We spent almost an entire hour on the top of Meall a' Ghiubhais. Weather was improving and I simply enjoyed the moment...
One day I'm going back there... And I'll walk this ridge once again!
The northern Torridon hills, especially Beinn Dearg, are another future target...
One last look at this spectacular landscape... before we leave...
I was tempted by Ruadh-stac Beag, it was still early and we could easily add it to our trip, but Kevin said, let's leave it for another day, we'll have a good excuse to come back to this side of Beinn Eighe
The second thing, I didn't want to miss Rocket Ronnie's fourth World Cup final, beginning at 2:30 pm. The second Corbett has to wait then. But no worries - I'll drag my husband out there as soon as I have a chance
The return route is straightforward. We simply descended from Meall a' Ghiubhais down to the Mountain Trail path and stayed on it all the way back to the car park. The day was still nice, from below we could admire the north face of Meall a' Ghiubhais:
I noticed there was something odd about Slioch, couldn't put my finger on it... Then I realised, all the snow on the mountain was gone!
What a day it was, I must say, one of the best trips so far this year. Maybe not the most difficult and certainly not the longest, but it's so worth scrambling up there!
Torridon is an unbelievable place indeed. No more left to say... Just the traditional meow!
