Beinn Alligin, Oct 2016
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 1:28 amGetting through my backlog of reports slowly but surely, in no particular order I'm afraid - I'm starting with the ones with the best photos. This was an amazing, very straightforward day on Beinn Alligin. I was back in Glasgow for five days to do a concert, and the day before rehearsals started the weather forecast looked amazing, and it was the weekend. My dad and I used to go hillwalking most weekends when I was growing up, and he hadn't been out in the hills for ages - maybe not even since I left home, about five years ago at that point. So we drove up to Torridon on what I think was the Saturday, arriving late at night, with the intention of camping in the village campsite before doing a traverse of either Liathach or Beinn Alligin depending on how we felt. Well, it just happened that on that random Saturday night in October some lads from Glasgow had decided to bring the pleasures of the Garage to sleepy Torridon, booming loud music and dancing until at least 1am. Sounded like fun but not what we were in the mood for, so after putting up with it for a bit we packed up and drove on a bit to Inveralligin, where we found a nice wild camping spot in the woods just opposite the Beinn Alligin car park. Well that helped in our decision on what mountain to climb - especially because, now very tired and grumpy, my dad was keen not to have to drive back in the dark the next day.
We woke up early to perfect conditions and set off into the Coire an Laoigh, reaching Tom na Gruagaich fairly quickly. I was so busy snapping gorgeous Loch Torridon and the view beyond that I had to be prodded by my dad to turn around at this first summit to take in the truly awesome view of the ridge ahead of us, curving round to enormous-looking Sgùrr Mòr then snaking steeply over the Horns. Encircled by this great mountain-wall is the debris from the cataclysmic rockfall that left Sgùrr Mòr riven by the Eag Dùbh. Seen from this angle Alligin steals the show even from the great Gothic cathedral of Liathach or the massive grey bulk of Beinn Eighe; this is mountain architecture at its finest. Out west, the view took in Blà Bheinn and the Cuillin as well as the Trotternish ridge; to the south I had a clear view of the outline of Ladhar Bheinn.
We went on along the ridge towards the higher summit and were awestruck by the sheer massiveness of Tom na Gruagaich viewed from this side, rising ziggurat-like from the valley in tier upon sandstone tier; unfortunately this was not photographable (with my low skill-level) on this occasion as the sun was in the south all day and it was therefore backlit. But upon reaching the summit of Sgùrr Mòr we were more than compensated with probably the most photogenic mountain view in Scotland (and far more awesome in the flesh). I'll let the photos do the talking. Then a pleasant scramble over the horns, fun and exposed but never challenging and over far too quickly. We got back down about an hour before dark, packed up our tent and set off just in time to see a spectacular fiery sunset behind Liathach on the drive back.
We woke up early to perfect conditions and set off into the Coire an Laoigh, reaching Tom na Gruagaich fairly quickly. I was so busy snapping gorgeous Loch Torridon and the view beyond that I had to be prodded by my dad to turn around at this first summit to take in the truly awesome view of the ridge ahead of us, curving round to enormous-looking Sgùrr Mòr then snaking steeply over the Horns. Encircled by this great mountain-wall is the debris from the cataclysmic rockfall that left Sgùrr Mòr riven by the Eag Dùbh. Seen from this angle Alligin steals the show even from the great Gothic cathedral of Liathach or the massive grey bulk of Beinn Eighe; this is mountain architecture at its finest. Out west, the view took in Blà Bheinn and the Cuillin as well as the Trotternish ridge; to the south I had a clear view of the outline of Ladhar Bheinn.
We went on along the ridge towards the higher summit and were awestruck by the sheer massiveness of Tom na Gruagaich viewed from this side, rising ziggurat-like from the valley in tier upon sandstone tier; unfortunately this was not photographable (with my low skill-level) on this occasion as the sun was in the south all day and it was therefore backlit. But upon reaching the summit of Sgùrr Mòr we were more than compensated with probably the most photogenic mountain view in Scotland (and far more awesome in the flesh). I'll let the photos do the talking. Then a pleasant scramble over the horns, fun and exposed but never challenging and over far too quickly. We got back down about an hour before dark, packed up our tent and set off just in time to see a spectacular fiery sunset behind Liathach on the drive back.
