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Few would argue that Beinn Alligin is special, but to return here having been driven off by awful weather 14 years ago made this walk even more special. So too did the fact that we'd 'stollen' this day very opportunistically when we saw the MWIS forecast, despite the brilliant weather this summer we have managed very few days on the hills. Yes this walk would be sweet indeed.
We'd spent the previous night at the Torridon Youth Hostel (where I'd been at a Tai Chi festival for the previous week) so were on the hill by 10:00am without a 2 hour drive – (I know that's late given the proximity of the start – but hey we were being relaxed about this!) The weather was glorious, clear skies and enough of a cool breeze to prevent overheating, and the autumn colours were just stunning. And the route – well you cross the road from the car park and start going up, sometimes up steeply, sometimes up even more steeply, but always up until you get to the top of Tom na Gruagaich. There are no long walks in
Heading up to the Coir nan Laogh.
with views of Eag Dubh, Sgurr Mhor and the horns on the way up.
Beinn Eighe looking like a whole mountain range.
Looking back over the eastern end of Loch Torridon.
On our last hillwalk our young dog Bertie hadn't been well, so we shortened the walk and brought him home. He turned out to have acute pancreatitis and was very ill for about 10 days. We'd gradually been building his strength up, so today was something of a test and one we knew we might have to abandon if he showed any signs of weakness. If anything he seemed to be happier to be out in the hills on a good day than we were
.
aided by the fact that there are plenty of watering points on the route
In 2 hours we'd almost reached Tom na Gruagaich, and had a stunning view south.
It's a gentle stroll from here to the summit, and yes the white streak is snow – the tops had a covering on Thursday morning, but then the weather improved.
Once at the top – well what can I say, the photos say it all!!
Sgurr Mhor and the horns.
The horns, Beinn Dearg, Beinn Eighe and beyond
Looking south across Loch Torridon.
Looking west, with the Western Isles on the horizon. Great weather for the Harris Walking Festival
Over the sea to Skye... Trotternish peninsular (part of)
… and the Cuillins.
One happy hiker …
Looking south, perhaps someone could tell me what the hills on the far horizon are, is it the north side of Glen Sheil?
After taking even more photos, oh and having a well earned lunch break, we headed off for Sgurr Mhor. Coming off Tom na Gruagaich was the only tricky bit we faced all day, we missed the path and started a precarious scramble down
. However, when the dogs refused to follow we back tracked, found the path and proceeded onto the ridge without any further problems. It did confirm what we'd already decided though, that we would not try the horns with the dogs, but would come back this way. (I guess they would have been fine - its the humans who would have caused the problems
)
The dramatic Eag Dubh ...
… and lots of views from the summit of Sgurr Mhor.
Torridon big beasts …
The mighty Laithach
Slioch and Loch Maree
Cloud rolling in from the east.
Gairloch
Roger, Biggles and Bertie – more interested in food than views I think. (Well a second lunch was called for here!)
And there were plenty of others enjoying the view and a well earned lunch
The ridge walk back to Tom na Gruagaich.
The return walk was fine, and we found a path that bypassed Tom na Gruagaich and left us with a straight descent! I couldn't help looking back, and around and taking yet more photos as the light changed the view of the mountains.
I must own up to going slower and slower on this descent, I was even wondering if my knees would make it to the car
The dogs weren't quite as energetic as they had been on the way up, but Bertie showed no signs of his illness. I was glad when we finally got to a point were we could see the trees surrounding the car park
and making it off the mountain 7 hours after we'd started. Yes this is a perfect place and we were here on a perfect day. The cloud that we'd spotted to the east hadn't troubled us, but passing Beinn Eighe on the way home we saw it had been crowned
A couple of hours later we were home and a minor miracle had occurred – those knees which were so sore when we left Beinn Alligin car park were fine, no pain and I could walk properly … must be an effect of a week of Tai Chi
