Confused in Coigach

[McMole]

Or – How I Went up a Marilyn but Came down a Graham

Beinn an Eoin – 9.8km, 580m, 3.5hrs

In mid-June a last minute change of plans saw me in Assynt with hillwalking gear, and without any carefully researched plan on what to do before the afternoon’s BBQ. Over the decades I’d climbed almost all the nearby peaks more than once, but for some reason one particular mountain had never attracted my attention. Perhaps tales in the past of interminable bog had discouraged me, but the weather was warm and sunny and watercourses were very low. Time to fill a hole in my portfolio, with the peak of Beinn an Eoin – all 1973 feet of it! Obviously this was a Marilyn that I had ignored for far too long; and there was another not far away to the northeast that had also been neglected during my Munro bagging years.

Clutching my old and tattered 20th century first edition Landranger I looked at a more recent 1:50,000 and was surprised to see that several square miles between it and Cul Beag were now covered by coniferous forest. That caught my attention because I’d never noticed ranks of conifers in recent drives past that area. Distracted by that I didn’t pay much attention to the contours of Beinn an Eoin. Forests may come (and go), but mountains remain unchanged. I did wonder if that new forest would mean a forest track to ease my way across the moor.

Later as I drove along the minor road beneath Cul Beag with no forest in evidence, I passed a good parking spot with a silver SUV already there. A few hundred metres past it two walkers, were striding along the road. I reached Loch Lurgainn without spotting any other reasonable parking so backtracked and parked alongside the SUV.

Plenty of parking space at NC 1452 0615 with Beinn an Eoin in the background

Once ready to go I saw a faint footpath heading from the parking area towards Beinn an Eoin so took that instead of the road. In the distance a pedestrian swing gate in the deer fence beckoned.

The 'forest' with fence and gate

I changed direction and headed for it. Under it were the shattered remains of a notice announcing a project to restore native woodland. This explained the forestry shown on recent maps. There was no path leading on beyond the gate. It was a case of striding through the heather and, as I quickly discovered, trying to avoid the heather-shrouded pits dug to provide mounds for planting saplings and pitfalls for passing walkers. I eventually happened upon an overgrown and disused ATV track that speeded progress – no pits in it!

I followed the ATV track for a while then headed through the sparse wood towards the Allt Claonaidh where I found a rutted footpath along its south bank. After about 0.5km I forded the stream to cross yet more pitted ground. Some exposed ribs of sandstone bedrock (also pitless) helped me reach the ridge running out to Cioch Beinn an Eoin. Once on the crest I saw two walkers not far ahead and looked forward to a chat at the summit.

Two unknown (at the time!) walkers on the skyline approaching the summit

As I approached it I realised that the OS map in my Garmin was announcing the height to be 619m and therefore I hadn’t been climbing a Marilyn after all, but a Graham. For some reason the OS gave the height of the more northern and lower top on all their old maps. It wasn’t from ignorance since a later inspection of the 1” map revealed a 2000’ contour around the southern and true summit.

On reaching the cairn I found it unoccupied with the other two already part-way to the lower northern top. With a real Marilyn awaiting me to the northeast and a BBQ back in Elphin, I decided there wasn't time to continue round to Sgorr Tuath. Instead I took a few photos of the surrounding peaks.

Looking back over Cioch Beinn an Eoin to my start point.

Stac Pollaidh

Suilven

Meall an Fheadain - a Marilyn 12km to the NW and the next objective.

I then retraced my route back to the car, but followed the ATV track all the way to the road. It passes the forest fence through a lift up and swing open type ‘gate’.

The forest gate leading to the ATV track

This would have been a better start point for the walk except that signs of the old ATV track only appear after a hundred metres, and you‘d need to know it existed before taking that route.

The ATV track only faintly visible 100m from the gate. Sgurr an Fhidhleir in the distance.

The route of the ATV track

As I walked through the bog cotton from there to the road the last noteworthy point of the day was the crunching of parched vegetation beneath my boots instead of the accustomed squelching!

One thing learned was how much I had missed the useful reports found on WalkHighlands. If I’d read rohan’s ‘Mind the Gap (and the bog and the holes)’ I’d have been forewarned of the native woodland scheme and its pits. I’d also have realised Beinn an Eoin’s true Graham status. Now having read it and also weaselmaster’s excellent report, ‘Forgiveness in Assynt’ I see that I must return to experience the rest of the ridge with its pinnacles and ‘The Gap’. The latter report also revealed that it was weaselmaster and Alison I saw walking on the road and later followed to the summit, since the date and time is right and the report mentions seeing me climbing the ridge behind them.

Meall an Fheadain – 2.2km, 150m, 0.8hrs

After a half hour drive a suitable parking spot presented itself at NB 9921 1040 and I was soon up and down this wee Marilyn. The one noteworthy point was finding the summit rocks and trig point covered by, assuming I’ve identified them correctly, hundreds of caterpillars of the Magpie Moth, Abraxas grossulariata.

A crowded trig point

Close up of the caterpillars

Sgorr Tuath and Beinn an Eoin

And to round off a great day the weather stayed fine for the BBQ with just enough breeze to discourage the midges. Not a combination that happens very often thereabouts.

[weaselmaster]

Ach, it's a small world - don't think I've ever seen my own car in someone else's report before
It was a fine day - do go back to Tuath in similar weather - worth the toil