Beinn Fhada Back to Front
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 11:19 am
Kintail is high on our list of favorite places and a traverse of Beinn Fhada is a walk we have been looking forward to for some time. The warm sunny weather continues, but there was a possibility of showers later so we decided to start the walk from Beinn Bhuide so we could complete the Hunters Gap scramble in the dry, we also though practice at scrambling down wouldn't go amiss.
At last we could look back and admire the views. and resume a more seemly pace on the steep walk up Beinn Bhuide. We followed the path, diverting to go up some although not all the minor tops, lots of up and down with short scrambley sections. At 10:15 we reached Sgurr a Choire Ghairbh and shortly after that the short scramble down to Hunters Gap. and then an easy finish on the left. An awkward down climb as there were no ideal handholds for lowering yourself and the the foot holds were muddy and slippery. It was much shorter than we had been expecting with very little exposure and looked as though it would be much easier to go up. We rewarded ourselves with a brew in the gap before starting on the ridge. Then along Glean Choinneachain. The cattle were all across the path at the base of Beinn Bhuide so we diverted around the farm buildings. I couldn't resist these cuties as we passed the Activity Centre and back to the campsite at 17:00.
The path passed over the River Croe and shortly after that there was signpost for walkers. The psychological crux of the day commenced as the start of the ascent up Beinn Bhuide was through a field with cattle. They were satisfyingly in the middle of the field and it looked as though we wouldn't have to go near them so we resisted the urge to run back to the campsite and followed the path to the next gate where our adrenaline levels rose further as we saw this sign. Unsure which field it related to we decided not to go through the gate but to ascend up the side of the fence. Not known for our uphill speed, we positively raced up Beinn Bhuide until we were safley across a broken gate acting as a makeshift cattle grid. I did wonder if the bull had charged the gate post when chasing a previous walker, but decided that was being overly paranoid. At last we could look back and admire the views. and resume a more seemly pace on the steep walk up Beinn Bhuide. We followed the path, diverting to go up some although not all the minor tops, lots of up and down with short scrambley sections. At 10:15 we reached Sgurr a Choire Ghairbh and shortly after that the short scramble down to Hunters Gap. and then an easy finish on the left. An awkward down climb as there were no ideal handholds for lowering yourself and the the foot holds were muddy and slippery. It was much shorter than we had been expecting with very little exposure and looked as though it would be much easier to go up. We rewarded ourselves with a brew in the gap before starting on the ridge. Then along Glean Choinneachain. The cattle were all across the path at the base of Beinn Bhuide so we diverted around the farm buildings. I couldn't resist these cuties as we passed the Activity Centre and back to the campsite at 17:00.