Bike Hike: Sgurr Innse and Cruach Innse
Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2017 6:54 pmIt's Good Friday and the luxury of a Friday off with longer daylight hours was not to be wasted. A friend and I decided to visit a couple of beautiful hills we had seen when walking from Corrour station to Spean Bridge earlier in the Winter: Sgurr Innse and Cruach Innse.
Having cycled the Burma road earlier this week I decided that I would try and get out on my bike a bit more. With this in mind, we parked up near Spean bridge and set off on a difficult but beautiful bike ride up the Lairig Leacach. We left a small donation for the wee Minister to aid a safe passage and support the excellent work done by the Lochaber Mountain Rescue team. Suffice it to say we were well warmed up by the time we were level with the mid point of the Bealach, which is where we decided to leave our bikes and set off on foot.
We were in between carrying on to the Bothy and then approach Sgurr Innse with a steep scramble but settled for the approach as suggested by Walkhighkands. There is a faint path that zig-zags to the summit but still requires a small dose of creativity in route selection. We enjoyed the view out to Stob Ban (white/blonde peak) and a couple of Ptarmigans displaying speckled feathers, preparing for their Summer look.
We dropped back to the Bealach and across to the top of Cruach Innse. On approaching this hill along the Lairig it appears fairly featureless but the final 200m or so of ascent is a lovely walk with rocky landscape providing a little bit of scrambling if seeked out. I thought I had packed well for the walk with my jetboil and tea bags at the ready, but I must admit my pal trumped this when he presented me with some Biltong (almost like beef jerky) from the Aviemore Butchers. We reflected on Pemmican (dried powdered meat mixed with fat) as a source of sustenance for the native peoples of North America.
We returned to the bikes and luckily no tired walkers had given in to the temptation to hop on and roll back down to Spean bridge after a day out on the hills.
In summary, a great day out visiting two beautiful hills and made all the more enjoyable with the approaching cycle in and the adrenaline filled journey back.
Having cycled the Burma road earlier this week I decided that I would try and get out on my bike a bit more. With this in mind, we parked up near Spean bridge and set off on a difficult but beautiful bike ride up the Lairig Leacach. We left a small donation for the wee Minister to aid a safe passage and support the excellent work done by the Lochaber Mountain Rescue team. Suffice it to say we were well warmed up by the time we were level with the mid point of the Bealach, which is where we decided to leave our bikes and set off on foot.
We were in between carrying on to the Bothy and then approach Sgurr Innse with a steep scramble but settled for the approach as suggested by Walkhighkands. There is a faint path that zig-zags to the summit but still requires a small dose of creativity in route selection. We enjoyed the view out to Stob Ban (white/blonde peak) and a couple of Ptarmigans displaying speckled feathers, preparing for their Summer look.
We dropped back to the Bealach and across to the top of Cruach Innse. On approaching this hill along the Lairig it appears fairly featureless but the final 200m or so of ascent is a lovely walk with rocky landscape providing a little bit of scrambling if seeked out. I thought I had packed well for the walk with my jetboil and tea bags at the ready, but I must admit my pal trumped this when he presented me with some Biltong (almost like beef jerky) from the Aviemore Butchers. We reflected on Pemmican (dried powdered meat mixed with fat) as a source of sustenance for the native peoples of North America.
We returned to the bikes and luckily no tired walkers had given in to the temptation to hop on and roll back down to Spean bridge after a day out on the hills.
In summary, a great day out visiting two beautiful hills and made all the more enjoyable with the approaching cycle in and the adrenaline filled journey back.