Walkhighlands

Booked train tickets ahead and fingers crossed for good weather. Change of plan away from the usual waiting to the last minute, deciding where to go then heading off in the car. On the plus side it allows for a relaxing journey in the train and the ability to go from point to point. On the downside it takes a lot longer to travel to/from destinations and lack of flexibility when the weather forecast is poor. That said, forecast looked pretty good for most of Scotland albeit better in the east. Unfortunately didn’t quite turn out as planned in Moidart where it stayed cloudy, claggy and windy much of the time.



Friday 27 September

Alighted at Lochailort train station at 1709hrs. Then set off down the road – got to the hotel, realised I’d passed the end of the road I wanted so went back a short way then down the road which heads toward the lodge. Followed the new hydro track which winds its way gradually uphill. Unfortunately about an hour from the station, the rain started – not too heavy but enough to need waterproofs.

Got to the end of the track where the new hydro is sited



Then continued southwards just up from the Allt a’Bhuiridh looking for somewhere to set up the tent. Most of the ground was fairly boggy and wet so started uphill and eventually found a drier flatter area just SE of Seann Chruach.

Set up the tent, cooked up some dinner and listened to the stags roaring in the distance. Wind had dropped and a few midges had appeared.



Saturday 28 September

No more rain but the cloud was very low also affecting the light levels. Packed up and set off southwards up An Stac.



Even with the cloud there were some reasonable views of the adjacent hills and out to sea







Over An Stac then down the other side – looking back



Then up via the bealach towards Rois-Bheinn



Got to the main summit then walked over to the west 878m point to have a look





Retraced my steps back to the main summit then down to the bealach – looking back to Rois-Bheinn



Then on to Sgurr na Ba Glaise



Straightforward walk to the summit



Before heading eastwards towards An t-Slat-bheinn and the lochan









From here I picked my way along the ridge to the south of Coire Reidh. Found this slow going – had originally thought about Croit Bheinn en route but decided to leave it off as the walk was taking a bit longer than planned.



Looking down into Coir Reidh towards Beinn Mhic Cedidh



Dropped down northwards into the coire aiming for the bealach below Beinn Mhic Cedidh



Quite a lot of height loss before crossing the Allt a’Choire Reidh – through ferns and some clumpy ground on the other side before rising up to the bealach.









Replenished my water supplies in the Allt Dubh Easain along with 2l for camping as I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pick any up on the ascent later. Extra weight slowed me down even more – even worse when I then followed a stream for much of the way up Beinn Mhic Cedidh.

Got to the summit and had a look for a decent camping spot. Best area was just beside the summit cairn.



Needless to say the wind had been strengthening up to now but was still OK. Problem was having erected the tent and got inside to cook dinner, the wind changed direction slightly and was hitting the tent more to the side. It also got very strong – not the best of nights having to check the tent frequently for any problems. Didn’t rain though.

The sky cleared briefly during the night and I had high hopes for a decent sunrise………..



Sunday 29 September

No such luck. The clag was well down when I got up and stayed that way despite the strong wind. Couldn’t even get a clear view of the cairn just a few yards away. The banshee 200 held its own though.

Packed up and set off eastwards down to the bealach before the walk up to Beinn Odhar Bheag.



Fleeting glimpses of the sun as the clag came and went









Final part of the walk then – north to Beinn Odhar Mhor before the long and rather boggy drop back down to the road.

















Useful numbers on the sign beside the bridge just before the road



Then walked along the road to Glenfinnan train station arriving at about 1pm.







Had nearly four hours before the train to Glasgow so walked down to the monument and joined one of the guided parties to the top – despite being an NTS member, hadn’t been up the monument before.







After that, I walked up to the viewpoint then back down and spent some time in the historic exhibition in the centre.





Then back up to the station past the church



Had plenty of time for a wander round the station and a visit to the museum









Relaxing journey back to Glasgow then home. Granted the weather hadn’t been as good as was hoped but other than the Friday night, the rain had stayed off.

Really enjoyed that, rockhopper. Pity the weather wasn't a wee bit better (had similar on Skye that weekend) but, could have been worse. Nice way to combine a couple of great, established routes. I'll be up this way again week after next but hill time likely to be limited, those two on the Glenfinnan end are on the radar though.

Cheers

Nice one RH. Nice to see you in a picture

Still a few corbetts to do up there. Found 2 of those that you climbed bloody hard going last year. I might have been better camping on it too

That weather seemed similar to your corrour trek. At least it never snowed! I've never taken public transport to do a walk, may give it a go one day. As you point out, has its pros and cons. Think I'll hit these Corbetts in Winter. Glad your tent held up, can't imagine the carnage if it collapsed !

At least you got enough views to take some decent pictures. I'm currently reading Craig Caldwell's book Climb Every Mountain and recently read the bit about the Corbetts in this area. It seems he got much worse weather in 1985.

Taking the train to the mountains is a nice way to do it when it works out.

This looks like a good area for some nice corbetts. I will keep it in mind for when I have finished the munros. Shame about the weather, but at least it was not completely clagged over.
I find the wind often sounds much worse when you’re in the tent. But so far I haven’t managed to not get up to check the tent.

Ah Moidart, still to set foot on those hills and your report has really wetted the appetite
Cheers

Mò Dùthaich ... a good route on some of my locals RH and a fine set they are ,pity you did not get finer weather

What a great weekend RH, not sure about the hoolie blowing when on top of a mountain in a wee tent but glad it stood up to the onslaught.

Great shots given the conditions too and a rare appearance from your good self...brilliant

Cracking outing there Neil with some great photos around Glen Finnan too.

Looks like a brilliant area - lots of characterful hills. Hadn't been on my radar at all.

Loved the report, and, to say the weather wasn't perfect, you still got some great pics. Even an effete southerner could live with that kind of weather!

Great route in a beautiful area.

nice report and pictures rockhopper, i had this walk planned a few years ago with my mate, we had to cut it to the first 3 as we lost my mates dog for 4 hours on An Stac !!

Great post. This route is essentialy the Rois-bheinn traverse as described by Richard Gilbert in "The big Walks". He rates it very highly as one of the best medium difficulty walks in Britain! I looked on the WH site last Summer and noticed that nobody had posted on it. I thought of it as a suitable June walk with a bivouac for this year, but you've beaten me to it . No reason why I can't repeat it though