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We have been waiting for the perfect weather window to arrive for this set of remote hill and with that looking likely Monday / Tuesday last week we set off for Dùn Donnell on Sunday night with the two hour walk into Sean a'bhaile .....no much of a path to the bothy a slippery affair and no one i'd want to take in the dark .
Only one lady in the Bothy so we took the back room and had a good cràic with Jill from Edinburgh, who was off to do A'Mhaighean and Ruadha Stac Mor the following day.
I hummed and hawed overnight whether to complete this round in the day with light pack and return to Bothan late evening.
In the end i opted for the hard carry and summit camp on A'Mhaighean ,which turned out to be the best decision
We set off from Sheann a' bhaile around 7.30am a misty morning but i had the feeling this was going to be a classic day
- Air an rathad
The idea was to pursue the good track running up the river and approach Beinn a' Cheamhaidh from the East which with the 19K rucksack and gear was a haul and a half ! . It is a steep and hard won climb , never ending .
Summited four hours after leaving the Bothan and boy what a vista awaited us ......definetly a classic day ahead .
The cloud was settled at around 200m in the Glean and Coirean with wisps floating around everywhere and bright Alpine like conditions throughout ...... abair àite !
- An Teallach - The anvil
- Air a mhullach A' Chlaidheamh - Summit A' Chlaidheamh
- Air am druim -On the ridge
- An rathad againnsa - The road ahead
The views and atmosphere were absolutely breathtaking even an cù seemed to in awe looking at the thick cloud inversions below , ahead and all around us with An Teallach looking mighty impressive and the route ahead , all the way out to A'Mhaigheann stunning ! .
The ahead route was the usual ,a drop down to Loch a Brìsteadh and up onto Sgurr Ban. We descended into the mist and opted to keep left of the Loch then picked up the path to the summit of Sgurr ban ,another slog but again out into the Alpine sun and spectacular views .
- Sgurr Ban
I was feeling the pace at this point with a dodgy knee and sore shoulder , still enough of a day to make me forget the ailments and not focus to much on distant A'Mhaighean poking out above the cloud in the far distance.
The sumit is broad and lacks the depth of the other hills so we dropped down and over onto Coire a'Mhullach Mhic Fearchair and took a rest there at the càrn .
- MCMF agus cèo - Cloud and hill
- An Cù - The boy
Then off over to Tarsuinn via the by pass to Bealach Odhar the pull up onto the summit was easy and i could now see our target for camp getting that bit closer
- A'Mhullach Beinn Tarsuinn - Summit Beinn Tarsuinn
A grand ridge between this beauty and its neighbour to the West and we scratched about this on our way to the Bealach which was steep and very wet with some belting hags to negotiate.
Once through these the summit was one mighty , mighty slog and we topped at 6pm to an absolutely stunning sight. The inversion over the West was incredible ........
- Sgòth os coinn Maree - Cloud above Loch Maree
- Dhia !
The cloud was settling now at around 200m a full 600m below us as it streamed into the Coirean and Glen floor leaving me in stunned awe at the beauty of this experience . I quickly set up camp with a favourable light breeze and facing the route i had covered today ....
- An Campa - The camp
Then it was over to the càrn while dinner was cooking , a seat with a dram and a can of cider .... what more could a man ask for ?
The sun was lowering fairly fast and boy was i in for a treat , it was hard to decide what to photograph such was the choice of eye watering sites
- An Iar - The West
- Slioch os choinn an sgòth - Slioch above the cloud
- A' dol fos na grèine`- Sundown
- A' ribhist - Again
We then took a wander over to the plateaux between A'Mhaighdean and Rudha Stac Mor to get the different angles and see the route over for the morning ...light changing constantly
- An Tuath - The North
- Eileanan - Islands in the cloud
- Eileanan a ribhist
- Àlainn - Bonnie
Ca' bheil mo faclair ? ..... lost for words i wandered around the summit for ages , in another world high above the clouds
- An stac - Sun downer
By this stage we were back to the càrn to catch the last of the light .... fading fast over the West with lighthouses blinking under the cloud !
- A' dol fos na greine - sunset song
A good nights sleep followed and great expanses of starry skys to look at in the light , cool breeze as i lay in the tent with the outer doors open ,saw a comet and plenty shooting stars before drifting off to tir nam bruachdair .
We were up for sunrise which was also pretty cool and left A'Mhaighdean at 7.30am for the hop over to Rudha Stac Mor was a dawdle and we breakfasted at the càrn the inversion still far below us.
- Rudha Stac Mor
We took the route out via Gleann na Mhuic Bhig which dropped us quickly into misty , grey conditions all the long way out to Seann a' bhaile and the route back to Coire Haille which i confess was hard going and seemed to go on for ever.
Sometimes you just catch it right , we were privileged to capture one of those moments that lives with you forever , on possibly the most iconic hill that the Gàidhealtachd has to offer .
Mol an latha mu oidhche .... Praise the good day at its close .
- Oidhche Mhath
Cheerie an drasda
