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I had two days left of unused holidays to take at work and I selected Monday and Tuesday in the last week of May in the hope for some dry weather. I was sitting pretty on 140 Munros and i really wanted to pass the half way point with a really memorable outing. I knew i wanted to go further north than I had previously been and I wanted to make a real adventure of it, possibly a bothy night or a wildcamp. I was doing a lot of research on walkhighlands in the week before the trip and I finally settled on something really special. How about possibly the most remote Munros in Scotland?
"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.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Cairn marking the high point of the walk in to Shenavall bothy. All downhill until we get to the bothy.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Descending down the small gorge towards Shenavall. The Corbett Beinn Dearg Mor in the background is a real stunner.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Shenavall bothy comes into sight.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Beautiful setting for a bothy.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Quite a large and well maintained building.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
I couldn't get the Wifi to work for some reason.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
We 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.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
We 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.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Looking back in the direction of Shenavall gives you a great view of the back of An Teallach.
DSC_0068 by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
River 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 Flickr
Loch Beinn Dearg at 7pm as we climbed up towards our wild camping spot.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Looking back down the glen.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
The summit of Ruadh Stac Mor finally in sight. Our camping spot was between two small lochans just below the summit.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Reached our wild camp spot for 8pm and were set up cooking our dinner by 9pm.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Sunset that evening was surreal and lasted for hours.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
It 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 Flickr
The 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.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
This area of Scotland is truly stunning and the 360 degree views were mesmerizing.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
From the summit of Ruadh Stac Mor you get a good view of arguably Scotland's most remote Munro, A' Mhaighdean.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Quite a steep down climb from Ruadh Stac Mor required to continue our journey.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Looking back at Ruadh Stac Mor as we made our way up A' Mhaighdean.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Summit of A' Mhaighdean reached for midday.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
I'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.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
From 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 Flickr
Beinn Tarsuinn in sight.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
The 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.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
This incredible platform on the ridge made us wish we'd selected it for our wild camping spot instead.
DSC_0183 by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Summit 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 Flickr
The 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 Flickr
It 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 Flickr
The 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.
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Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
We 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 Flickr
The 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!
