The Two Sgurrs and a Wire Bridge

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It was with great joy that I set a ridiculously early alarm for today. Seriously, who gets up just after 6 am on holiday? Yet again, we were being ruled by the weather. The forecast suggested the rain would be coming in late afternoon so we were keen to get home dry and hopefully catch a view along the way.

Waking early, I felt like I’d barely slept. Having eaten late last night it took me a while to settle. Meanwhile, Bruce had gone out like a light! I did initially ignore the alarm, but thought better of it and got up. Once on the go it wasn’t quite the hardship I’d perceived. Better get used to it as I’m back to work very soon!

Setting off from the Achnashellach Forest car park again, we knew the way. However, a number of extra miles in the legs meant that the way felt far from easy! There was a substantial amount of pushing for much of the way out, quads burning with any exertion. We discussed this on the return leg and my feeling is with a long walk ahead you don’t want to tire yourself too much, where on the home leg it’s easier to push through any pain as you know you’re getting to rest later.

We took our time and stopped to admire the views back regularly.

Before long, we’d reached the small cairn that indicated the drop off point for the bikes and the path to the Sgurrs.

The path led us down to the Allt a’Chonais burn with the wire bridge. This consists of two wires – top and bottom – the idea being that you somehow balance yourself as you work your way across. I was very happy that with Bruce’s excellent planning skills we’d postponed this walk until today to allow the waters to calm, as I don’t think there’s any way I’d have successfully crossed the burn. Having a go on the way back just for fun, I got so far before wobbling precariously and calling it a day. Good luck to anyone crossing if the burn is in spate! My advice would be to rig up something in your garden and practise ahead of time!

Once safely across with barely more than a toe dipped in, we began to follow a good stalkers path. After the bogs of the last few days this felt amazing! There was very little water lying and we made good time up the track as the condition improved and the path widened, reaching the first bealach quickly.

The path continued up to the second, higher bealach, again in good time. The legs were a little grumbly but in the grand scheme of things, bearing up okay. The beautiful blue skies with little cloud were also positively contributing towards my good feelings about the day.

The ridge from the distance looked good. There was nothing to suggest it was overly exposed and I was happy to see grassy slopes on one side – think rolling rather than bouncing if you slip!

The initial pull up the Streangan nan Aon Pacan-deug ridge, to give it’s proper title, was not too taxing. There were a couple of rockier sections but these were very brief with good foot placements available. The most challenging thing was that every time we appeared to be reaching the top, another bit would appear. The wind had picked up a little and we stopped to put gloves on, feeling a wee bit of a chill.

It felt like we were never going to reach the summit of the first munro, Sgurr Choinnich, although in reality it didn’t take long at all. Bruce was disappointed that the cloud closed in prior to us reaching the summit; me less so, my reasoning being that if you can’t see the drop it doesn’t exist!

Before I knew it, we’d summited and were heading sharply down the other side onto the continuing ridge. At this point I did wish the cloud would clear a little as aside from following the path it would have been good to know where we were going. The descent led us back into the ridge and we then followed the stony path up to the second munro of the day, Sgurr a’ Chaorachain. It wasn’t overly taxing, but again went up and up, then up some more, into the thicker clouds. The wind direction meant that we were sheltered by the hill for much of the time, occasionally getting a blast of chilly air. I decided to put my poles away, concerned I might need my hands free for rocks; in effect, I’d have been better hanging onto them as this challenge never came.

The cairn on Sgurr a’ Chaorachain was mighty impressive with a broken trig point in the middle. It provided us with good shelter to have a snack and a breather before tackling the descent.

Heading off the summit with the intention of heading north and going downhill across grass for 700 metres, we paused a couple of times to check our bearings. The cloud was thick and having seen crags earlier, the last thing we needed was to find ourselves precariously balanced or worse, walking off anything precipitous!

It was a long way down but we made it safely. Our pace was very similar to going uphill and we debated whether this was a positive or not. I felt it was positive given the terrain we were covering. Ultimately, we got there safely so that’s all that’s important.

Midway down the grassy slope we spotted a herd of deer grazing. They appeared not to notice us for a while, but moved away as we got closer. Unsure where they went, my money’s on them having run uphill by the stream, then watching us from above!

Reaching the flatter ground, we opted to head across towards the good path we’d taken on route up. This involved crossing an extra stream. It was my turn to dip a leg in, not quite managing the hop between stones.

Safely back across the main burn via the stones, we reached the bikes and congratulated ourselves on a job well done.

Wow, it felt great to be back on the bike! We motored along, relishing the downhill sections, any uphill short and grinded out in a lower gear. After reaching the gate it was a real fun blast back to the railway crossing, again enjoying the bounce and comfort of my Stumpjumper.

Us 1: Rain 0

Planned to perfection (thanks Bruce, I forgive you for making me get up early), we made it home ahead of the rain. As per the forecast from the Met Office, it pretty much starts bang on time!

A successful day out. Two summits in the bag and a lot of fun!