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Friday 5th April 2019 – the road over the BaThe Friday of the meet – traditionally the best weather of the weekend, and this time looked to be no exception. However with 2 weeks off ahead and an exhausting 3 months behind me I didn’t manage to get away particularly early
I met up with Malcy en route and we headed over the bealach together – driving over made me wonder how on earth I’d cycled over during the summer, but I got this time what I’d missed out on last time – some utterly spectacular views.
Sgurr a’ Chaorachain on the left and Beinn Bhan on the right
Loch Carron and the Skye hills in the distance
Maol-chean Dearg
Malcy trying to look epic
Looking back down – a lot of snow on the distant hills
Incredible Bealach na Ba
It was super windy but the views were incredible – seemed it was a good day for a roadtrip
Reaching the top we could see across to Skye
Me doing my thing
Finally down the other side we checked into the hostel – Malcy was supposedly in charge so figured he should pop in
Beach cycle21.96km
206m ascent
1 hour 45 mins
Malcy said there was a beach 2 miles down the road – I must have cycled past it in the summer but it seemed worth another look, and an excuse to take the bikes out on a beautiful evening
The beach actually turned out to be more like 10km away and there were hills; I ought to know by now that 90% of Malcy’s chat is pulled out of his backside
But it was worth it
A wonderful view of Skye and Raasay from the beach
A less wonderful view
Back up the hill the views were just as stunning
As we rounded the bay it turned out that Malcy wasn’t actually joking about a pint in the Applecross Inn…
Worth it for the views though – time for a quickie before heading back to the Hostel
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Saturday 6th April 2019 – avoiding the rain – exploring Toscaig24.31km
258m ascent
2 hours 15 mins
It was a very wet start to the day – most of the group were up early and headed off up Beinn Bhan in the rain. Not wanting to bust myself at the start of the holiday when it was raining anyway decided to potter around over a leisurely cup of tea in my pajamas before taking the bike for a spin – I’d been to Toscaig when I stayed in Uags bothy in October so we decided to take the bikes down there. There was an added bonus of passing the shop (closed before we got there
) but at least we had avoided the rain
We stopped in the Applecross Inn for lunch on the way out
Heading down the road towards Toscaig
Stunning even in the gloom
Toscaig pier
Malcy is an incredibly sad person and insisted on cycling the last uncycled bit of road on the peninsula – out to Aird dhubh. It was pretty and gave some opportunities for daft photos
Back at the Hostel we’d certainly had a drier day than most of the others – we settled in for a great quiz by Black Panther and Kevin
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Sunday 7th April – The Ba (easy way)24.30km
701m ascent
3 hours
I’d been so excited about having another crack at Bealach na Ba on the bike, however the Never Ending Injury seemed to have put the dampners on that plan. However, I felt good after the easy cycles the previous days so decided that I could hardly pass up a go at it – the easy way, slowly.
It was windy when we left the hostel after saying our goodbyes to everyone else who were all heading home. It was windy, it was tough and I had to stop and push the steep sections to avoid straining muscles which was frustrating. But I did it – absolutely over the moon
Thirsty work
Doing a Graham Slater
It was overcast and hazy but there was some nice light
It was a freewheel all the way down so despite cooking all the way up we got back to the hostel absolutely freezing
Still, a shower and some dinner later we felt much better and awaited the arrival of Malcy’s very hungover friend David
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Monday 8th April – Sgurr a’ Chaorachain15.38km
889m ascent
6 hours 20 mins
By the time we were all up and ready to go it wasn’t a very early start at all….not really a problem with a whole day of good weather and plenty of daylight. We decided the best route would be to climb up Coire a’ Chaorachain, so we drove all the way back over the Ba and left the car just past the track up to Loch Coire nan Arr.
We followed the track along to the loch which turned out to be a reservoir. Here David and I tried to stay away while Malcy told us all about the Reservoir Act of 1975
At least I know who to phone if I ever have trouble sleeping
Past the lochan there were smatterings of path which Malcy did his best to lose as we slowly gained height. Mindful of the steepness, I was going slowly to avoid aggravating my injury and was glad of an excuse to look back
Looking across the lochan to Beinn Bhan
More height gained, even better views
David trying to attract a mate by pretending to have antlers
And contemplating his failure…
A’ Cioch – Alteknacker had attempted a route up here the day before but it was difficult to work out how
Looking into Coire a’ Chaorachain
We were pretty sure this was a golden eagle although it looks a bit pathetic in the photo!
Now properly into the corrie the rocks above us looked amazing
We picked our route – a diagonal traverse and as we climbed we could see the wee lochans in the corrie
The radio mast just peeking out the top right
Looking back to A’ Cioch with Beinn Bhan behind
The rising traverse seemed to be working well but eventually we hit slopes where we could just head straight up – it was steep but do-able but I was starting to feel a bit of a twinge which was worrying
Finally, we were on the ridge!
Looking back across the corrie to the radio mast
Happy to have solid ground underfoot we started along the ridge which gave us great views back the way
There had been a small amount of snowballing on the route up, but now on the ridge with better ground conditions and more access to bits of snow this turned into a full on snowball fight….
A small victory for Malcy here….
From the summit we were able to see down to Loch Carron – super hazy but still amazing
A’ Cioch and Beinn Bhan
Sgurr a’ Chaorachain summit
I was chuffed to bits to be on a big hill and was just loving being out there
We headed slowly back along the ridge…
The boys resume their snowballing…
Looking down to the Bealach na Ba road
We had a couple of wee bumps to climb over – looking back to the summit
Looking across Loch Carron to Plockton
Amazing lumpy ridge
Bealach na Ba and Loch Kishorn
Looking down Coire a’ Chaorachain from near the radio mast
Then this happened….
Looking back along the ridge around Coire a’ Chaorachain
Radio Mast
At this point I decided that I wasn’t going to manage Beinn Bhan today. The boys realised that they would be pushing it too….several plans were tossed around from hitching back to Applecross and picking Malcy’s car up tomorrow, to dropping down into the corrie. Then I had another idea – I would walk down to the Ba then head down the road – the boys were going to go back over Sgurr a’ Chaorachain, pick up the car and pick me up en route….what could go wrong
Beinn Bhan
The tension got a bit too much….
We parted ways and I headed off down the track before off-roading a bit for some better photos
Looking back to Beinn Bhan
Skye should be there in the haze
Looking back to the radio mast
Beinn Bhan and the radio mast of Sgurr a’ Chaorachain
The Ba road towards Applecross
Chilling
The Skye hills peeking out of the haze
It was easy walking but long and hot….I was able to short cut some sections of the road without falling in bog
Once a Weegie…
The bridge where we stopped on our cycle the other day
Beinn a’ Chlachain – the hostel in sight at last!
I started dropping down towards Applecross – I’d just heard from the boys that they were on the way
We shot home for some food before popping out to the Applecross Inn for a pint for the boys and the sunset – yet another magnificent evening
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Tuesday 9th April – Beinn Bhan13.95km
974m ascent
7 hours 45 mins
I felt good despite my wee twinge the previous afternoon so operation Beinn Bhan was on (to be fair the boys would have gone without me anyway
) so we drove 2 cars over the Ba (David would be heading south from here) and parked near Tournapress. We were impressed with our early start – it was 11.45 and we hadn’t even left the day before
The Beinn Bhan ridge ahead
It was a straight up sort of thing – gained us views fast though
It was unbelievably hot, the ascent was unrelenting and we were all cursing whoever’s idea this was
But soon (by soon I mean there are no photos of the couple hours it took us
) we reached the ridge, and the views were worth it
The road, Loch Carron and towards Skye
Maol-chean Dearg and friends with the Mullardoch hills in the far distance
It was a bit hazy for really good photos but it was still stunning
We pushed ourselves (slowly) up the ridge – at least with it being so hot I wasn’t tempted to go too fast. And it gave us an opportunity for some interesting chat – who’d have thought going on a honeymoon with piles wouldn’t be fun?! The things you learn on the hills
Suddenly we walked over another bump and came upon an impressive sight – at first I thought the heat was making me hallucinate but apparently I really was looking at surely one of the best corries
There was a unanimous, almost unspoken, agreement to stop and sunbathe. Jackets were laid down and chocolate appeared (it would just melt if we didn’t eat it afterall
) While we enjoyed the warmth we were pretty sure we were watched over by another golden eagle
Ahoy there!
Sgurr a’ Chaorachain
Eventually someone suggested moving. They were ignored
But eventually we did get moving, following the edge of the very impressive corrie
The boys trying to work out which way to go
As we continued up the corrie and the sheer size of the rock continued to impress us
Looking back
Maol-chean Dearg looking more distant now
Looking down to Loch coire nan Arr
David contemplates life
Looking down a’ Chioch
That’s some ridge
Finally we were at the summit! A few folk were here when we arrived but we soon scared them off
Hello Torridon
Who’s this numpty?!
It was so hazy in the distance that Skye, despite being something like 15 miles as the crow flies, was barely visible
We could barely stop looking at the amazing ridges – this one is a’ phoit and people actually climb up it
Towards Coire an Fhamair – our route down
David taking the road less travelled
There was a bit of snow on our descent route so we skirted around it heading down a steeper section which looked awful but wasn’t actually too bad.
Malcy was initially group leader and managed to lead us into some slippery rocky grassy sections which was unfortunate for David who was wearing his slippery boots
So Malcy was removed as group leader….
Looking back up – cliffs!!
Look at the size of that
Looking down our route
The boys getting cosy while I stopped for a pee
Down the base of the corrie the walking became easier and evening light was starting to come in
We debated for around half an hour which side of the lochan we were going – in the end I took over as group leader and we ended up on the right, by accident more than design
A last glimpse of Torridon….
Although we had lost the light the corries still looked spectacular from below
Refections on Lochan Coire na Poite
Coire na poite
StaggyMcStagFace
We ended up cutting a diagonal line towards the car and were very relieved to hit the track just before it – it had felt an awfully long day despite spending a lot of it sitting around in the sun
We said our goodbyes to David who was heading to Edinburgh and headed back over the Ba, stopping for a wee sunset from the top
Our last night at the hostel – we had become lazy but hey, on holiday! The weather was looking good and
we were heading for Skye….
