Claggy and difficult to navigate Seana Braigh.
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 3:46 pm
Normally i wouldn't have went near this hill in the conditions i encountered but having driven up the night before due to the favourable forecast i had little option but to give it a go, as i hope to compleat in Torridon in July. When i arrived the cloud was low with no sign of it lifting, so i decided to sit in the car hoping it would clear up, checking the forecast in the meantime. The forecast was white cloud, with rain at 12 and sunny spells in the afternoon. Two other walkers then arrived to walk the Beinn Dearg group and they also confirmed it was to life as the day went on. I then decided to set off on the bike at 09.15, taking the bike as far as Glensguaib. It was an easy 7km walk in along the path, before the path ended and the problems began. I continued east with the aid of some small marker cairns but headed north to soon and then had to return. This happened on three occassions and on each one i was for heading back but each time i could see faint footprints in the mud and was sure i was heading the right way and just had to go east for a bit further. I decided to give it one last go by heading further east before heading north and soon i saw a path heading up north to Seana Bhraigh. This path however disappeared or i lost it as it climbed so i decided to just climb and i eventually reached the 906m top, initially thinking it was the summit, more hoping rather than thinking as i knew the cairn wasn't like the one i was on. I checked the map to find the summit was still a further 1km away and for me the easiest way to get there was to head for the craggy north west slopes and follow it to the summit. This is what i did and was soon on the summit of Seana Bhraigh, with nothing to see. All that was left now was to get myself back down so i headed south from the summit to follow the crag line down to the open ground. The cloud had now lifted and i made my way to landmarks i passed on the way up and then onto the path for the long walk out which wasn't near as easy as the walk in. Glad to have summited but not happy with the drizzly rain and clag, so my advice would be avoid unless good clear weather or you're confident in navigating over remote open terrain.