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After two fantastic outings on Sunday and Thursday, doing the Corrour munros, then the Monadhliath, I'd been somewhat of a jammy sod and enjoyed almost perfect weather and great views on both days, another few checks of the forecast showed a potentially clear-ish weekend. Saturday was out as my legs were still sore from the seemingly endless Monadhliath walk, however Sunday would be OK.
I'd initially intended to do Broad Cairn from Bachnagairn with Anne, however she wasn't for walking so with a free pass, I checked the forecast, and for some unknown reason decided that I wanted to get up at 4am to drive 145 miles to Loch Quoich to tackle Gleouriach and Spidean Mialach. I'd been saving them for a good day, and anticipating some glorious views of snow-capped Kintail and Knoydart peaks, this seemed to be the right choice.
Of course getting up at 4am and driving for nearly 5 hours is far easier in theory than practice, and I got to a layby just shy of Roy Bridge before I had to stop and catch a few mins of shut eye. I worried that with little sleep and a long drive, this was going to be a tough day. However if there's one thing I enjoy about heading North west, it's the drive once you get passed that annoyingly long Dalwhinnie to Spean Bridge stretch. I got to the parking spot a few miles beyond the Quoich Dam at about 9am, and quickly got ready, as it was absolutely bloody freezing.
After a bit of thought (and an unnofficial survey on TH) I decided to tackle the route anti-clockwise as the descent off Gleouraich looked almost enjoyable and the steep section to the 1006m point looked potentially better in ascent rather than descent, and also because I didn't know what snow conditions would be like up on the ridge. Having parked up I walked a couple of hundred yards down the road, and started up the stalkers path, marked with a tiny cairn and a pole. Feeling surprisingly fresh, I made good initial progress and soon had sight of my first target.
Spidean Mialach with a cloudy hat
After the initial ascent to around 430m, there's a fairly flat section, with a couple of easy river crossings before the push uphill begins again. Luckily much of the boggy stuff was frozen and/or easily avoided. As I started to push up the steeper ascent, the views back were absolutely glorious.
Loch Quoich and the Rough Bounds
Across to Gairich
The path appeared and disappeared regularly in the snowy/grassy slopes, but there is pretty much a path all the way to the summit. As I gained height I got above Loch Fearna, which I somehow forgot to take a photo of, and made steady progress steeply towards the summit, which looked to be clagged in. Slightly irritating when you've got up at 4am and driven 145 miles for a view
However upon summiting I was quite surprised to discover I was literally a few metres below the top of an inversion, with the added bonus of a fogbow:
Fogbow on Spidean's summit
And then a Brocken Spectre:
Fogbow + Brocken Spectre
The clouds threatened to drop enough to get above the inversion once or twice, but it just wasn't happening. Shortly afterwards another walker appeared, who would later catch me up on the second summit. Getting a bit cold, I decided to make tracks along the ridge, and an excellent ridge it is too. There are fine sections of path with plenty of interest along the way.
On, or just after the low point on the ridge, the clag cleared and I got great views across to the South Glen Shiel Ridge.
South Glen Shiel Ridge
This also meant, unfortunately, I got a good view of my ascent to Creag Coire na Fiar Bhealaich:
I'm not typing that out again - route to CCnFB
Though fairly steep, I knocked the ascent off pleasingly quickly, stopping a couple of times to take in the fabulous views. The cloud was now pretty much gone and the surrounding landscape was absolutely stunning.
Spidean and Loch Fearna
Ahead to Gleouraich
The view ahead was just as good, with the hills of Kintail, Knoydart and of course the summit of Gleouraich looking superb. It's a wonderful summit to mostly terminate a superbly enjoyable ridge. There are even some short sections of optional scrambling should you wish.
I dropped off the 1006 top and ascended the short remaining section to Gleouraich, the day's second, and superior munro summit. What a viewpoint! Glorious views across to Kintail and beyond, down Loch Quoich into Knowdart, and over to Glencoe where it seemed only Nevis and CMD had escaped the clutches of cloud. I met three others who'd come the opposite route here, their dogs taking a passing interest in my cheese & jam roll, and doritos
Such was my enjoyment of the scenery (and the food) I almost forgot to touch the cairn and take some photos
Glen Quoich
Along the ridge to Spidean MialachEventually, after a quick chat with the lad from the first summit (who was considering staying up there to take sunset photos) it was time to head down. The much-discussed Stalkers path is indeed fantastic and loses height without too much discomfort. The views help as well. A superb end to what is truly a fabulous ridgewalk.
A look back up at the ridge
This was a great way to end what's been a superb week, 7 munros & a corbett in mostly superb winter conditions, and all the while my knee troubles along with my fitness seem to be improving. On the flipside, I've probably used up my "good hill day" quota until about June 2017
