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A choice of walk inspired by reading recent walk reports from BlackPanther and Jonny Corbett, so a big
to them for the inspiration
On the day it was a real walk of two halves; cloud down and no views for Beinn Liath Mhor and then cloud high and great views for Sgorr Ruadh. Despite the clag and the fact I missed out on the Beinn Liath Mhor views this has to rank as one of the best walks I’ve done
Hopefully one to return to, but it’s easy to say that about so many of the hills in the Scottish Highlands
It certainly is an area for further exploration though, that’s for sure.
Parking up and I had time to get myself some breakfast ready before heading off up the track to Achnaschellach Station. Over the rail track and through the gate and I was off. A nice, pleasant, warm up along landrover track before the path veers off to the left and then follows by the side of the Allt an Leth-chreig and then the River Lair as it started to gain height. A good hill path picking its way through rock slabs, with water babbling all around me
- Start of the walk
- Low cloud in Coire Lair
On the way up I yo-yo’d with a group of three people. They seemed inflicted with the same disease as I have – “takeaphotoateveryopportunityitis”
, hence we crossed paths regularly. They had Sgorr Ruadh on their agenda for the day and we had a good little chat each time we passed each other, where they gave me pointers for my route, having done Beinn Liath Mhor already, Met them again later on as they were coming down SR and I was making my way up.
The wee Corbett Fuar Tholl dominates on the way up. I was minded as I headed up to add her to my route, and she sure looked tempting. She looks an impressive hill and as I’d discover looks even better coming down off Sgorr Ruadh
After a short climb the path levels off nicely as it heads onto the plateau then up into Coire Lair. I ignored the left offshoot (my return path) and soon after left the main path and headed to the right, toward Beinn Liath Mhor. This path then split a short distance ahead, where I took the left fork.
The path up onto Beinn Liath Mhor surely gives a whole new meaning to the word relentless. No longer just a brand of energy drink - offering no half measures apparently. No, this was a steep climb up the side of Beinn Liath Mhor’s south top offering no respite
I was told it eased off after passing a tree high up. Well, yes it did. It just became less steep for a short section before eventually easing off properly for a short while before steepening yet again for the final push on to the summit proper.
- Nice steep path up onto Beinn Liath Mhor
On the climb up though I had entered the clagfest
I’d hoped the cloud would lift off Beinn Liath Mhor as I plodded my way up onto the ridge. Sadly, even though the path was exceeding steep and did its best to slow me down the cloud remained low as the gradient finally relented and I donned my tutu for the “dance of the boulder hop” to the shelter cairn on Beinn Liath Mhor south top. It was turning into a popular hill by this point. As well as me there was a group of six, with a guide, two chaps who disappeared into the clag and were never seen again and a chap with his dog. He and I walked along together for a while, but he eventually headed off at his own pace. I avoided the larger group where I could, as they had their guide and I didn’t want to be accused of gate crashing their party
Eventually then it was just me and the clagfest
Sadly no views as I walked along Beinn Liath Mhor’s rocky ridge. And there were no views when I arrived at the summit either. A bit if a shame, as reports and photos suggest the views to Beinn Eighe and the other Torridon giants would have been superb from this hill. The large group and their guide were at the summit when I got there, so I didn’t stop but headed on down to pick up the route on to Sgorr Ruadh.
- Beinn Liath Mhor clagfest
As I descending off Beinn Liath Mhor clagfest finally gave way to joyfest
- Descending off Beinn Liath Mhor, as the clag starts to lift
As I was dropping off Beinn Liath Mhor down the cloud trapped by the Coire suddenly dissolved
Initially views were a bit patchy, but then everything became much clearer as blue sky appeared and the sun won the day
Great views across the slabby bealach and toward Sgorr Ruadh
Views back to Beinn Liath Mhor also opened up, although it was doing its best to retain the clag higher up (this did eventually dissolve too for a short while later on in the day before the cloud eventually returned).
- View back from the bealach between the hills
Having made pretty good time to the summit of Beinn Liath Mhor I decided to drop my pace from now on. I made my way across the slabs of the bealach and then the pleasant scrambly drop down via point 769 and to the small lochan. I wasn’t tired and I wasn’t struggling either. The guided group had caught me up and passed me by now and I was keen to let them get a bit of a gap between us. But more importantly, with views opening up and the weather seemingly improving all the time, I just wanted to make the most of the great views on offer. And when they are as good as there were here, why rush
- View back to the 769 point
So now I was on a relaxed mountain stravaig
And that’s how it stayed for the rest of the day
No rushing or tearing about, just a slow, steady pace and plenty of time to enjoy the walking and the views
- Sgorr Ruadh from the bealach
- Liathach
The grassy rake up onto Sgorr Ruadh was a tad boggy, but once on the ridge it was all fun, fun, fun
I had to don the tutu again for another “dance of the boulder hop” lower down, but eventually a path takes over and it’s a straightforward walk to the summit. It’s a great little path up the side of Sgorr Ruadh and I looked to keep as close to the cliff edge as I could. I was having fun as I made ever such slow progress to the summit. If speed is your game, then it shouldn’t take long. It took me an hour
And I loved every moment of it
The views all round were just stunning, even with the cloud obscuring the summits of Liathach and Beinn Eighe for the most part.
Beinn Alligin just looked awesome
- Beinn Alligin
Beinn Liath Mhor didn't look too bad now
- Beinn Liath Mhor
And Maol Chean-dearg didn’t look too shabby either
- Maol Chean-dearg
Nor Ben Damph
- Ben Damph
Sgorr Ruadh looked good
- Sgorr Ruadh
So did the view out to sea
- Loch Torridon and beyond
Oh, and let’s not forget Loch Carron
- Loch Carron
In his report on the Five Sisters Graeme D wrote about a Church not made of Hands. Standing on the side of Sgorr Ruadh soaking up one great view on top of another and I could appreciate that sentiment here too. I was totally overwhelmed by it all. Easy to have a little “moment” as I stood there in total awe of what I was part of. Made me feel very small and inconsequential I stood amongst these great rock giants.
- Back out to sea again
- Sgorr Ruadh again
- Maol Chean-dearg catching the tail end of some whispy clag
- View out toward Ben Damph
- Maol Chean-dearg
Eventually my hour was up, and I was finally on the top of Sgorr Ruadh. A couple were already there, having climbed up from the saddle with Fuar Tholl. They had a couple of fine dogs with them. Sadly my knowledge of such matters is wafer thin.........they were dogs, that’s about all I knew. If they weren’t huskies, then they were like huskies. Anyhow, I sat and chatted to the couple for a short while as I checked in with MrsR.
Then it was time to head down. Did I add on Fuar Tholl to the route? Or did I leave her for another day. Got to say she did tempt me as she was stretched out seductively there in front of me. But I wasn’t one for giving into temptation on this trip. A wise decision as it turned out, as a nice band of rain was heading in from the east and I was directly in line for a bit of a soaking. I did promise her though that, if she were to cover herself in a nice layer of snow then I’d definitely be back in the winter. That way I could give her my full attention
- Fuar Tholl
The saddle between Sgorr Ruadh and Fuar Tholl was interesting and complex, with lots of rocky knolls and plenty of small lochans.............and little in the way of a path I could see. So I was having fun picking my way across it heading for the stalkers path I needed to pick up for the route back. I’m not sure it would have been so much fun had the weather been pants and cloud down
Easily a place to get lost in bad conditions!!!
- View toward Moruisg and friends
Eventually I was on the stalkers path, which makes its way easily past the Mainreachan Buttress of Fuar Tholl.
- Mainreachan Buttress of Fuar Tholl
All easy walking until an unexpected river crossing (well, only unexpected because I hadn’t done my homework properly). It wasn’t in spate, but there was sufficient volume of water to leave me in no doubt there was a chance I’d be getting wet
A brief moment of faffing about ensued, as I tried to find a suitable crossing point that would limit the wetness
Eventually decided on a double crossing over a small island (later discovering this was the suggested solution where the water was high
). First section was easy, as the water level was pretty shallow. The reason for that appeared to be that all the water was travelling on the other side of the island
Oh well, nothing for it other than to dip my toe in
My usual approach to river crossing is simply to “go for it”, rather than pussyfoot over stepping stones with the risk of slipping in. So......I went for it. With the water just shy of knee high at its highest wet feet were guaranteed
- River Lair
Once on the other side all that was left was a squelchy walk back to the car, which was achieved without further incident
But I had had such a great day that to be honest I wasn’t at all concerned by wet feet.
So many photies on this walk I decided to try my hand at putting together a little video montage from the day
Hopefully I’ll get better with practice. I thought I’d ease you in gently on the music front..........but things could get “interesting” further down the line