"The Great Wilderness" had always been in the back of my mind after first hearing the phrase from another walker back in May 2016 while descending off Stob Binnein. I had a keen eye on the weather in the run up to the weekend and with 3 days of gorgeous sun guaranteed, it was a no brainer!
My good friend Colin and I left Greenock at 8am on Saturday morning with the excitement of the Northwest Highlands beckoning us. The drive was ok considering I would be stuck in one position for ~5hrs. Once past Inverness I was now in uncharted territory. The furthest north I'd been was Beauly up until that point and I was eager to see just what made this part of Scotland so special. Once past Garve, the landscape started to open out and the scenery was just amazing. When An Teallach first came into view it was truely breathtaking.
Managed to get a parking space in the layby luckily as someone was just leaving. The entire length of the road almost was lined with cars. Looked like we wouldnt be alone in the "Great Wilderness".
Leaving the car about 1pm we set off with our large rucksacks aiming to reach a wildcamping spot below the summit of Ruadh Stac Mor by 8pm.
The walk begins with a track through a small forest before opening into a nice valley with views of An Teallach on the right.
DSC_0011 by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr"An Teallach is a real page 3 of a Munro" - Muriel Gray. 100% fact.
DSC_0031 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrCairn marking the high point of the walk in to Shenavall bothy. All downhill until we get to the bothy.
DSC_0033 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrDescending down the small gorge towards Shenavall. The Corbett Beinn Dearg Mor in the background is a real stunner.
DSC_0037 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrShenavall bothy comes into sight.
DSC_0043 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrBeautiful setting for a bothy.
DSC_0047 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrQuite a large and well maintained building.
DSC_0048 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrI couldn't get the Wifi to work for some reason.
DSC_0049 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrWe spend about 20 mins looking around the bothy and found a lot of people had laid out sleeping bags in preparation for returning late at night.
DSC_0050 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrWe left the bothy around 4pm to continue on until reaching a suitable wildcamping spot. The terrain between Shenavall and the Munros is a boggy mess and requires a good bit of care to navigate without losing a foot. Colin wasnt so fortunate.
DSC_0059 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrLooking back in the direction of Shenavall gives you a great view of the back of An Teallach.
DSC_0068 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrRiver crossing required and if you wander along the side far enough you'll find a decent bit to get across without having to take your boots off. Beinn Tarsuinn able to be seen in the distance at the end of the glen.
DSC_0070 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrLoch Beinn Dearg at 7pm as we climbed up towards our wild camping spot.
DSC_0077 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrLooking back down the glen.
DSC_0078 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrThe summit of Ruadh Stac Mor finally in sight. Our camping spot was between two small lochans just below the summit.
DSC_0082 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrReached our wild camp spot for 8pm and were set up cooking our dinner by 9pm.
DSC_0098 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrSunset that evening was surreal and lasted for hours.
DSC_0089 by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
DSC_0091 by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
DSC_0090 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrIt was still very bright up until midnight when we finally succumbed to sleep. It had been a heatwave for the last few days and that night it was very mild. A gentle breeze kept the midges away.
The next morning we arose at 8am raring to go. We had breakfast and packed up for 9am and began heading to the top of Ruadh Stac Mor. As we climbed we got a brilliant view of our camping spot between the two lochans in relation to the remote landscape we were now in.
DSC_0106 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrThe summit of Ruadh Stac Mor was reached by 10am and marked Munro number 141/282. Making it the half way point in my Munro bagging career.
DSC_0113 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrThis area of Scotland is truly stunning and the 360 degree views were mesmerizing.
DSC_0125 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrFrom the summit of Ruadh Stac Mor you get a good view of arguably Scotland's most remote Munro, A' Mhaighdean.
DSC_0118 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrQuite a steep down climb from Ruadh Stac Mor required to continue our journey.
DSC_0132 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrLooking back at Ruadh Stac Mor as we made our way up A' Mhaighdean.
DSC_0133 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrSummit of A' Mhaighdean reached for midday.
DSC_0154 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrI'd seen many photos from other walkhighlands reports of people standing in this same location and I can completely see why. The scenery was phenomenal.
DSC_0156 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrFrom here it was a long descent of 400m before having to reclaim a similar height at the summit of Beinn Tarsuinn. Once reaching the Beinn Tarsuinn ridge you get a good view of the two Munros we'd just completed.
DSC_0168 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrBeinn Tarsuinn in sight.
DSC_0166 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrThe ridge has a few nice scrambling sections if you stick to the crest. Brilliant views and good fun, would have been easier without the big packs though haha.
DSC_0181 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrThis incredible platform on the ridge made us wish we'd selected it for our wild camping spot instead.
DSC_0183 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrSummit of Beinn Tarsuinn at 3:30pm. I can't stress enough how good this landscape is and I'm running out of vocabulary to convey its beauty.
DSC_0186 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrThe descent from Beinn Tarsuinn was quick enough but unfortunately the highest Munro in the circuit was now ahead of us. 300m of ascent to reach the top.
DSC_0199 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrIt was a bit of a slog to the top of Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair. Made it to the summit for 5pm.
DSC_0205 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrThe descent of Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair was pretty awful due to the scree. The boulder field up to the last Munro, Sgurr Ban was extremely tiring and the day's exploits had finally caught up with us. The heavy rucksacks had been digging into our shoulders for 2 days and the weight making every step an absolutely chore.
DSC_0201 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrWe reached the summit of Sgurr Ban at 6pm and was too exhausted to take anymore photos until the late evening sunset. We'd completed the Munros and the additional Corbett just seemed too much to include and we were running very low on water so we decided to find a stream to fill up. We descended down to Loch a' Bhrisidh and reached a decent stream to replenish our supply of water. We followed the stream to the bottom of the glen and then found our way back to Shenavall just as the sun was setting around 10pm.
DSC_0210 by Matthew Thorburn, on FlickrThe bothy was silent but absolutely rammed with people sleeping so it was another night in the tents for us. This was a unforgettable trip to a fantastic area of Scotland. Extremely demanding and tough but well worth it!
