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Corbetts: An Ruadh-stac.
Date: 28/05/2018.
Distance: 17 km.
Ascent: 1060 m.
Time: 6 hours.
Weather: Hot, sunny, hazy.
Monday looked to have good weather again. It wasn't a bank holiday in Inverness, but it was for just about everyone I was working with down south, so I decided to have a day off anyway. No car available, so I hopped on the train to Strathcarron. This is always a good bet as there are a large number of walks that can be done from either Achnashellach or Strathcarron. One of my requirements was some rocky mountains of some sort, so on the way over I decided to head up An Ruadh-stac again, and possibly Sgurr a' Gharaidh as well.
Loch Garve 
Where I’m going from the train The flattish, lochan studded moorland to the south of An Ruadh-stac seems to be ignored by most people. I hadn't paid it much attention myself until a couple of winters ago, when I had hurried across it in failing light, keen to make the last train home. Back then I noticed that it had some lovely lochans nestled between quartzite crags. On a day like today it seemed like an obvious way up as I could have a dip in one or two of them.
Off the train at Strathcarron, and it appeared that there was a pretty substantial wildfire burning on the hillside above Achintee. The air was fairly thick with smoke and the visibility was much poorer than a couple of miles up the road. From down here, it was hard to work out the extent of the burning area.
Strathcarron Station 
Hard to work out what’s going on from ground level A quick 20 minutes took me along the busy roadside to the Lochcarron junction, where I climbed over the fence and went straight up the hill. Aside from a short boggy section on the floodplain, the going up here was even easy back when I had descended it in winter; today it was even drier and easier.
Loch Carron 
Up Strathcarron As I gained height, it became clearer what was on fire. The views to the impressive Sgurr a' Gharaidh opened up too - on my first visits to this part of the world, I dismissed it as not being a proper Torridon-style hill, but a winter ascent 7 years ago confirmed it as being just as worthy as the surrounding, more popular summits.
Fire above Achintee 
Sgurr a' Gharaidh 
Sgurr Ruadh After an hour or so, my main target was ahead, as were some of the lochans. I was going to wait until later on for a dip, but I ended up getting straight into my first find - Lochan Dubh. It was deep enough to swim in properly, and I swam around the little peninsula which sticks out into it, before sunbathing to dry off. Already I could see my second hill dropping off the agenda
. The only problem with swimming in this area is that the pointy quartzite rocks are rather sharp underfoot in the shallower water. Lovely anyway - probably the first time I've had a proper swim in a mountain loch since Loch nan Eun under Lochnagar about 5 years ago. Last year's tentative paddle into Loch Etchachan doesn't really count!
An Ruadh-stac from Coire na Cuile 
Sgurr a' Gharaidh from Lochan Dubh 
Lochan Dubh. I swam around the promontory 
Lochan Dubh, Loch a’ Mhuilinn and Sgurr a’ Gharaidh Dressed and suncreamed up again, it was time to get up An Ruadh-stac. Easy walking let to what looked like a horrendous scree slope onto Ruadh-stac Bheag. However this turned out to be reasonable-sized boulders, and although care needed to be taken as some were loose, it provided a good staircase most of the way up, with only a short scrabbly section towards the top. The haze/smoke had ratcheted up a level now, so the coastal views were almost non-existent.
A bit of sandstone in amongst the quartzite 
A-R-S 
Boulder field looks worse than it is 
Purple Saxifrage or Moss Campion? 
Sgurr a' Gharaidh There was another bouldery ascent up the final cone to the summit cairn, where I encountered...no-one. While I hadn't expected to meet anyone on my approach, I thought the usual route might attract a few people on a day like this.
Final cone of A-R-S 
Was up there recently - Beinn Damh 
Sgorr Ruadh and Fuar Tholl 
Sgorr Ruadh Worthy of a long sit followed by a wander round to look off the various edges - I barely need to say how great this hill is, as even most people with Munro blinkers fitted know that it is better than the adjacent Maol Chean-dearg
. Not that that looked bad from here either.
Loch Coire an Ruadh-staic and Maol Chean-dearg Slightly to the west of my final summit ridge is a nice grassy rake which provides a much better alternative. As I had to head back in a similar direction, I used this instead. Soon I was down by a section of drystone dyke and another lochan - Lochain a' Mhullaich. This had a nice bluey tinge to it, so I decided would be perfect for a second dip.
Beinn Damh and Beinn Alligin 
Looking back to An Ruadh-stac 
Northern corrie of Ruadh-stac Beag 
Lochain a’ Mhullaich 
Lochain a’ Mhullaich and An Ruadh-stac This lochan was shallower and so harder to swim in - I only managed a few strokes. Time to attempt to get some swimming photos - a bit difficult on my own and with just a phone camera, not to mention the water being a bit shallow. Being a pasty Highlands-dweller unused to temperatures over 12 degrees, I think the 3 consecutive days of sun and heat went to my head a bit
.
Awkward to get swimming photos when you’re on your own 
Drying off afterwards - A-R-S and arse Enough messing around - although I had dropped Sgurr a' Gharaidh from my route, there was still some distance to cover. The broad ridge SW of An Ruadh-stac is a maze of boulders and overlapping slabs, and not quick to walk over. It is impressive and little-visited though.
Hills south of Strathcarron 
Looking back to An Ruadh-stac 
Liathach 
Carn Cadh an Eididh 
Poor zoom of a stag standing in a lochan 
Loch Cadh an Eididh and Sgurr a' Gharaidh 
Loch Cadh an Eididh 
Beinn Damh The quartz slabs have quite a distinct boundary and suddenly you are on grass and heather again heading for Sgurr a' Gharaidh. This looks quite fearsome from directly below, although I am sure a route could be found up through the crags. Instead I dropped down the corrie, following the faint path and line of power lines. This path isn't built up in the manner of most stalker's paths in this area, and is quite hard to spot at times.
Fire again 
Creag na h-Iolaire 
Following the Abhainn Bhuachaig I eventually left the path and crossed the river to join a new unmarked hydro track. I had a feeling this would cut off a corner and make the going a bit faster. It brought me out at the salmon hatchery at Tulloch.
Creag na h-Iolaire of Glas Bheinn 
Sgurr Ruadh and Fuar Tholl There was a straightforward track to follow back towards Strathcarron in order to avoid most of the road walking, but I messed it up, clambering over fences and bashing through gorse on the banks of the Carron. Clearly this river bank isn't used that much for fishing, even though there is an overgrown gate and set of steps back up to the road bridge.
River Carron I had seen quite a few helicopters flying containers of water to the fires, and it did seem to be more under control now. Hard to tell - maybe it had just migrated up the hill further. A large blackened area was evident though, so it had damaged a fairly extensive area.
I was hoping for food in the 45 minutes I had to spare before the train, but the hotel wasn't serving any. Despite the busy roads, the bar was quiet, but I enjoyed a couple of pints of a local beer they had on.
Actually a pint from the local Lochcarron brewery rather than McEwans 
Fire seems to have died back a bit Then time to doze on the train home, before the sting-in-the-tail 3 mile uphill cycle home from the station. A fine return to the Highlands
Train home