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I`ve not done a proper trip report for ages and was saving this to submit with fotos - as it was excellent and a route not too often taken ? - well I had difficulty in finding many - if any TR`s covering this route .
But our home PC is playing up , has been for a while now - so unfortunately I`m putting it on via work PC without any fotos . I did put some on at the time via TH on FB. The route map attatched is pretty accurate to the one I took with Viewranger.
I hoped for an early finish but didn`t get one - pah ! So after work I picked up Oskar at home and arrived at Coulags at 9.30pm after a quick change we were off away , I spoke to some Dutch /German guys who had just finished putting their tents up near the park area -they knew that Coire Fionnaraich Bothy existed but thought it was much further up the glen - I said that's where we were bound for , they thought about continuing on to the bothy but decided instead to stay in their tents , cheerios said me and Oskar moved on. It was a lovely night for the 1 hour walk up the glen and still very light when I got to the bothy at 22.44 . It was empty , clean and in very good order - I opted for the downstairs L/H side room - unpacked my stuff , had a can of cider , put my curry supper on the gas - lit my dozen or so wee tea light candles and enjoyed a remote and quiet night at the bothy . I was up very early on Saturday morning after a decent but shortish sleep - I don`t use a roll mat - I could sleep on barbed wire
I wanted to enjoy a full day out.
After coffee it was time to hit the trail - I was under way at 05.10 , I stopped along a wee bit at the stone obelisk "Clach nan Con-fionn" and took fotos as Oskar posed proudly on this fictional / historic piece of folk lore. The route on up to Bealach Choire Ghairbh was easier than some of the descriptions of it that ive read ! Moving on up to Maol Chean-Dearg itself the views were fabulous - An Ruadh-Stac being very impressive - as if it were made back in time by layers of toffee solidifying to vast plates of rock - lovely to gaze on quite different to other hills !!!! Coffee time again on top of M.C.D. & a well earned break here .
I wasn`t sure until I topped out as to the exact route I`d take down to Bealach na Lice - I`d saw a route (Scoob`s ? ) down to Loch an Eion - but I didn`t like the look of it in real life
So instead I took the route shown on my attatched map. It led to a very strange stone circle arrangement where the 4 stalkers paths converge at the bealach below Meall Dearg . It was now quite hot , I pressed on , gaining ground leading to Bealach Ban - here a cairn marks where to turn right at wee lochans , then bears continually right on a decent path leading to Coire Grannda - it is stunningly beautiful with awesome views over to Torridon / Liathach /Beinn Eighe & Upper loch Torridon -simply amazing - you`d need to see it yourself !!
I had a quick break here before continuing up towards the rocky face below the 769M spot height , it is quite rough in places here , the track below leading to Loch Coire Laie being clearly visible. Once over here another lochan appears before you , then a short steep gully / chute which needs a tiny bit of scrambling to get over - then huge
stone plates which dip a wee bit , leading onto a series of zig zags climbing through bright (quartz?) stone boulder fields to the summit of Beinn Liath Mhor. I didn`t stay too long at the top just a foto or 2 then off again , I`d left my rucksack at the bottom of the gully/ chute beside the lochan & was looking forward to a drink. From the bealach it was a short steepish climb towards the 785M point and the ridge up to Sgorr Ruadh . I had to put my berghaus on mow as drizzle came through with low cloud & 2 rainbows , the ridge had 2 ( I think ?) false summits as I moved up in the clag - reaching the top was a blessing as I needed a rest. The hardest part of the walk now lay in front of me - the walk out down towards Loch a` Bhealaich Mhoir was often over very rough broken ground with a frequently disappearing track , it was hard work despite being mostly downwards & took a fair bit of time. I struck straight down to Clach nan Con-fionn rejoining the track there to the bothy. Someone had been in there as the darts in the board were in different beds.......... I picked up my gas stove , sleeping bag & bits n bobs I`d left during the walk & headed out , stopping to chat to 2 young ( i`m getting older ) mountain bikers who were heading to Torridon & their camper van . From the bothy it took me longer to walk out than the 1 hour I took to walk in -it had been a big day , but I`d thoroughly enjoyed it ! Sorry no fotos just now .............. but this is an excellent route !!!
