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Had a trip over to Achnashellach to try and get my 25th Munro. I was actually hoping to get 2 in the day Beinn Liath Mhor and Sgorr Ruadh, but as things turned out it didn’t quite work out that way.
Set off from Achnashellach and soon ran into some forestry work, which had closed a section of trail and had a diversion signposted. I followed the signposts, this was a mistake as it wasn’t the path I wanted that was closed, and was soon climbing out through the forest and got a nice view over Loch Dughaill.
As I was climbing I noticed that I was going more east than north but didn’t really bother as I was still following the diversion sign. However when I cleared the forest I realised I was now on the Coulin Pass track and probably a fair bit off my intended course. A quick check of the map showed that if I followed the track I would reach a bridge over the River Coulin and if I turned left there I would be able to follow a path back to the east end of Beinn Liath Mhor.
Now as I am a kayaker, when I see new rivers I usually have a look to check out the possibilities of running it and the Easan Dorcha certainly looks like it would be very interesting with a bit more water in it, although access would be a bit of an issue. This meant I was probably dawdling a bit more than I should have been up towards Beinn Liath Mhor. On the way up I stopped to grab a bite to eat and took a couple of snaps of Fuar Tholl.
I continued up and decided to walk up into Coire Lair as my access route instead of climbing up Beinn Liath Mhor. Up to this stage the weather had been tremendous and as I walked up the coire I used the streams to cool my head and face off. The forecast thunderstorms didn’t look likely at this stage. I soon reached the top of Coire Lair, where I had great views over to Liathach and down to Upper Loch Torridon.
- Looking up Coire Lair
- At the top of Coire Lair
I climbed up through the sandstone blocks, and met these two little creatures just before I tackled the steepest part of the ascent.
I stopped to take some more pictures on the way up and finally at the summit cairn. I had views from Beinn Eighe all the way round to Fuar Tholl, stunning.
My plan at the head of the coire had been to climb Beinn Laith Mhor then come back down to the corie, go up Sgorr Ruadh and then walk down into the entrance of the coire. However from the summit it was obvious that the weather was beginning to change, and sure enough off in the distance were some heavy dark clouds. Then a few heavy rumbles of thunder. I decided to just walk the ridge I was on and head down the east end of it.
I started out and, the clouds were obviously getting heavier and darker and to the SW of me the rain was starting to tip down. I was still in the clear and Beinn Eighe was still bathed in sunshine, but it was obvious it was getting closer. Then there were a couple of lightning strikes a few hills over, eek. And then the first spots of rain hit me. I got my jacket on but before I could get the waterproof trousers on I was soaked through.
I headed along the ridge, descended the steep path and followed the path back down towards Achnashellach. It was at his stage I realised I had no need to follow the diversion at the start of my walk. However the rain and stopped and it was once again warm and calm. I strolled down through the forest and back to the car by the road. A great day out and my 25tyh Munro in the bag.