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A few years ago a friend told me, that I had to keep the 5 Fisherfield Munros for a good day and that I was not allowed to rush them. It was advice which I was glad to follow! I had looked into different approach ways and knew from the start that I did not wanted to do the 5 from Sheneval. I wanted something different.
Looking at the map Lochan Fada took my fancy and playing around with routes, I decided to aim for a 15km walk in, to be able to set up basecamp at the end of the loch (maps are below)
Day 1
The start and car park at Incheril
With a rough plan in my head I set off during Wednesday morning and walked the first 4.5 km on the wide path which was currently used by construction works. Once I passed a ruin and a lovely new build house the path split and a simple sign indicated that the lochan was 8 km away (6.7 based from my map).
Looking back towards Beinn Eighe
The first 4.5km is an easy path
A great house and the place were the path splits. Turn left through the gate and up the hill
Changing path I walked through a gate and walked up the hillside. The countryside was lovely and I did not pass a single soul. 2.45 hours after setting off, I arrived at the lochan and the path stopped. The area was deserted and staying close to the lochan I walked on and crossed the massive area of heather bog which I would curse and love during the next few days. I continued for another 4 km which was hard going.
The path once you turned left
A good 10 km into the walk, the mountains come into view and the start of Lochan Fada
The whole Panorama
The walk along the loch, once the path stopped
The walk ahead. Heather bog and some lovely 'beaches' at Lochan Fada.
When I reached this area, I felt like the last person in the world, yet my campsite was still a good kilometer further ahead
I had originally planned to walk a bit further but once I found a suitable spot close to the loch and a burn I stopped and started putting my tent up. It was a beautiful day and knowing I had time I did not rush and had a late lunch and enjoyed being out in the mountains.
Home for the next 3 days and 2 nights
It was late in the afternoon when I set off towards A'Mhaighdean and Ruadh Stac Mor. This was the wild countryside I had been looking forward to, but my romantic thoughts did not last long. Heather, bog, steep ground and no path brought me back to reality. Remote wilderness is what I had wanted and what I got, paths were certainly no part of it!
The way towards A'Mhaighdean, looking back towards Lochan Fada
Close to the top
The climb towards A'Mhaighdean took nearly 2 hours and by the time I reached the top I saw a tent which I later found out belonged to belonged to Electricfly (Eric) a follow Walkhighlander and his 2 dogs. Taking some pictures Eric approached and we had a chat. Things got even better when he asked me if I fancied a pint of lager!
What a question
certainly and sitting down it felt slightly unreal having a pint on one of Britains remotest Munros. Thank you Eric that was perfect!!
Enjoying the pint and some good banter he then also joined me for the climb up Ruadh Stac Mor later on .
The views were simply stunning
Ahead to the west
North-west
Panoramic views
Towards An Teallach
Erics tent and Slioch in the distance
Me happy
The second Munro of the day was very steep and looser boulders made the climb treacherous. I was however surprised how well Alfie and Tarsuinn managed and our banter about hills, soon moved on towards dogs.
Looking over towards the 3 Munros I had planned to climb during the next day, I realized that my original planned route was pants.
Discussing the options with Eric, he reminded me about a bypass Spiderweb (Dave) had wrote about. I looked over towards Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair , but even with my camera I was not able to make out any paths? Mmmmm. Best to worry about that when I got there.
On the way towards Ruadh Stac Mor, looking over towards Bein Tarsuinn
Looking out towards the sea again
From left to right - Sgurr Ban- Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair and Beinn Tarsuinn. My target for the next day
Sooooo nice the views towards An Teallach
Alfie and Tarsuinn
Myself on Ruadh Stac Mor
Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair. Trying to find the bypass Spiderweb wrote about
...looks kind of steep gulp!
During the return it was getting rather late and since I wanted to be back before darkness, I said good bye and made my way back down to my tent which I finally reached at 9pm.
The return walk...where did I camped again?
A pretty late return even for my liking
Cooking pasta and meatballs for dinner, I watched the sky turning all shades of pink while birds sang their evening concert. I crawled into my sleeping bag just after 22:00 and hoped to fall asleep quickly. There was no such luck, as half an hour into my sleep I realized that my air mattress had a puncture and I had no repair kit with me. Argh!!!
How lovely it was waking up frequently throughout the night, having to blow up the bed each time.
On the plus sight my new selfmade camping pillow, which I had made from a ‘normal’ pillow was perfect and for the first time ever, I was able to sleep well without walking up with a stiff neck!
Day 2I woke up at 8am and peeking out of my tent, the sun was shining brightly. I had a wash and made some porridge while watching the world ehm absolutely nothing go by
Looking up towards Beinn Tarsuinn I decided on a direct ‘up the gully’ approach.
The direct 'up the gully' approach
Packing some food and water I set off and was walking through the heather bog once more. The climb was steep and further up grass was more dominant which made the climb a little easier. The views across Slioch were lovely and I took many breaks to simply enjoy the Fisherfields. Sitting down at an outcrop I suddenly became aware that 2 other walkers approach the mountain. They seemed to have spotted me, as they followed the same route I had taken.
View back towards A'Mhaighdean and Ruadh Stac Mor
View towards Lochan Fada and Slioch
At the top, which was still quite a distance away from the summit
The ridge walk ahead
Looking back and the amazing views
On the way
Looking back along the ridge and the 'tennis court' *(the square area on the left on top of the mountain)
Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair and Sgurr Ban
Moving on I reached the top and lovely views stretched out around me. From the top the ridge of Being Tarsuinn reminded me about the Liathach and I had great fun scrambling over the rocks . By the time I reached the summit the 2 walkers I had seen in the distance had caught up with me. Sitting down they joined me for lunch which then resulted in me gate crashing their party and joining them on the next 2 Munros. Chatting away I found out that one of the two (age 67) would be finishing the Munros on Saturday .
Chatting away the time was flying and we met another girl from Walkhighlands with her partner/friend. Hello if you read this
The most surprising thing was how different the 3 Munros were from each other. Beinn Tarsuinn a Torridon look alike with a great ridge walk. Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair with the awful scree slope which would have fitted perfectly in the Glen Nevis area and last Sgurr Ban with the flat top which would not have looked out of place in the southern Cairmgorms region.
Meall Garch the wee hill on the right, which you don't need to climb - a bypass can be used and Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair
Towards the east
The side of Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair
The walk towards Sgurr Ban
Myself on Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair
The top of Sgurr Ban with heavy rain clouds looming above
Once I stood on the flat top of Sgurr Ban I said my good byes and walked down the mountain. The scree on the way down Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair had been awful and once I reached the point between the 2 Munros I looked for Spiderwebs path and found it.
To name it path would be too generous, its more a faint track which disappeared frequently, but I followed it. It certainly was better than climbing the Munro again, but the bypass is long and since it started raining! rather slippery at times. Towards the end it was winding around rocks and a few times I lost it and I had to take some rather dodgy climb down rocks, which could have been prevented, if I would have not lost the path. I was glad when I finally reached the normal path again which bypassed around Meall Garch on a proper bypass.
The start of the bypass around Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair- easy to see at the start
The much better bypass around Meall Garch
Around Bealach Odbar
Back 'home'
The rain which had lingered for a good hour stopped when I reached the Bealach Odbar. To avoid and bog I skirted around the mountain and staying high I slowly made my way back down the heather bog towards my tent. I had slightly more time than the previous day and tuna pasta was on the menu. My pocket knife had a ‘can opener’ on it, but to open the stupid can was another issue.
Haha. I must have punched around 20 holes around the lid, without having any luck to open the stupid thing. At the end I somehow forced open a small opening in order to get the tuna out of the tin. I don’t think tuna will be on the menu in the future.
Settling down in the tent I was reading my book, while like the night before had to blow up the bed again frequently.
Day 3Once I had packed up my tent during the next morning I changed my approach to walk back. Instead of sticking to the lochan I walked up the hill a bit, as I had found a rather great deer track the day before hand. Following the track, it certainly led me to the greatest grazing grounds,
but also bypassed all the peat hags and boggy areas I had to walk through on my approach.
Yet I was more than happy when I reached the good track which leads away from the loch. The walk back was long, but once I walked through the gate and approached the wide path again, one of the construction workers stopped and asked if I wanted a lift.
More than happy I agreed and saved the last 4km along the rather boring part of the track.
The deer track
Looking back towards the area which had been home
One look back towards the lochan before it was time to head home
The walk in and walk out. 15km each way
The walk towards A'Mhaighdean and Ruadh Stac Mor from my campsite. A 10km return journey
The walk towards Beinn Tarsuinn, Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair and Sgurr Ban. A 10 km return journey
