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A road less travelled and a whole cheesecake all to myself

A road less travelled and a whole cheesecake all to myself


Postby Sunny Speyside » Wed Jun 21, 2017 3:46 pm

Munros included on this walk: Bidein a' Choire Sheasgaich, Lurg Mhòr

Corbetts included on this walk: Beinn Tharsuinn

Date walked: 20/06/2017

Time taken: 12.5 hours

Distance: 32.3 km

Ascent: 2349m

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The hydro construction works and looong walk in from Attadale would have left me weeping so another route to these remote Munros had to be found and having spied BCS from Sgurr a Chaorachain last year an approach from this side looked do-able. Of course the Corbett Beinn Tharsuinn stands in the way but it’s a nice hill and not a whole lot of extra ascent once the Bealach Bhearnais is reached, that was the theory behind my route choice. However from the Corbett summit BCS up close looks very sharp and pointy and guarded by 3 very distinct layers of crags – oh heck how can I climb that? I realise now this is why not many ‘baggers’ approach from this direction. As I descended from BT the near vertical rise of BCS is formidable and I did consider the wisdom of continuing as I couldn't see a clear route up, I couldn't see any route at all but I had walked all this way so I had to give it a go.

C8805414-AF3A-4C65-AEA9-49FFC69BA911.jpeg


The first section of crag was horribly steep, very wet and slimy in places, I did find a bit of a track that lead to two vertical gullies, the right hand one flowing like a burn and the left just seeping glaur, I have no doubt competent scramblers would have raced up either of these but as a feartie I decided to check out ANY alternative route and back tracked down the track and made my way along to the left and picked up a faint track that was virtually hands on from the start with only one difficult step requiring the use of a knee … just the one knee!

The next level of crag is a bit less steep so reasonably straightforward to pick a way through with a beautiful little lochan nestling in the rock, a great place to sit,draw breath and thank whoever is watching over me for getting me this far! The final section is again very steep but a little dryer under foot so not so many heart in mouth moments, it is a little disconcerting that the only tracks I had seen on the climb so far were animal, just an occasional boot print would have been so reassuring!

The final approach to the summit is indeed airy and I still hadn't seen a soul, this is indeed remote...well until you look down and there below the hydro construction is in full swing and the bulldozed track a scar on the landscape that just goes on and on and on, save for that however the views are amazing and it’s all mine!!

The descent to the bealach and climb of Lurg Mhor were straightforward, in context of the whole walk this is the easy stretch and before long I was at the top of the second Munro where I met a number of folk 3 groups in total and all had cycled in from Attadale- they were enjoying the views but not the journey (a lot of ascent and lorries thundering past creating clouds of dust) and so had little sense of the remoteness. Note to self: do not ever be tempted to approach these two from Attadale, the highway to hell awaits !!

My return route although pathless looked easy enough on the map but there was yet another tricky crag to down scramble, the sun was really intense by this time and so with sun hat on, wet towel round my neck and weary legs it took a lot longer than anticipated to pick a way through the very boggy and uneven ground back up to Bealach Bhearnais where with some relief I was back on the stalkers path with only another 8km to go…time for the emergency Kit Kat and anything else that is edible in the pack.

The most challenging solo route I have undertaken so far and I shall probably suffer night terrors for weeks to come!!!


LurgMhor&Co.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts



GPS ran out on return but route continues to Bealach and then follows up the outward route back to Craig.
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Sunny Speyside
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Posts: 369
Munros:253   Corbetts:62
Fionas:34   Donalds:1
Sub 2000:17   
Joined: Aug 13, 2012

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