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This little outing was plan B, the original plan was to drive down to Girvan and meet up with Pete R and jump on a wee boat to Ailsa Craig. Unfortunately on Friday evening Pete got in touch with me to tell me the visit to Ailsa had been cancelled due to the forecast. Pete told me that was his 3rd cancellation so it looks like we will need to be patient to get across the Clyde. So I had to come up with something just as interesting and exciting and the Munros that Parminder still needs to visit are becoming further away, not ideal as the days are getting shorter. I suggested a visit to Glencoe to my chums and they seemed fairly happy with the selection. George bagged Ulaidh in the very early days of his walking career and remembers absolutely nothing about it, my previous visit was 24 years ago and I remembered even less. So Friday evening was spent researching on what we could expect, I was surprised to find there are no walk reports since 2018 and only 48 reports in total. The research also revealed that the majority of walkers don't bother with the Corbett Meall Lighiche. Two reports stood out and were very useful so thanks to Blackpanther & gman.
George had offered to drive and we agreed to meet at our usual place at 6.30am which was much earlier than our original plan of 9.15am.
To give us a wee boost we called in at the Green Welly for our bacon roll and coffee and then it was a matter of finding the parking area. We arrived in Glencoe area just before 8am and the parking areas were starting to fill up, however the opposite was happening in our small layby, there were a couple of campervans and that was it.
George making sure Parminder has his camera
Roadside walk for about 100m, wasn't like this on our return
The way ahead, good track - initially
Looking down Glencoe, AE on the left coming into view
Looking back
The burn we would struggle to cross further up
We went too far along the track and ended up walking through plenty of mush
Our improvised route round the fenced off house
The sign at the other end of the fenced off house, there is a post on the way in but no sign!!
Our first target Meall Lighiche
Looking back Aonach Eagach looking rather good
Now the fun begins, where is a suitable crossing spot
ML from a bit closer, just the Allt na Muidhe to get across
Path on the right, we still haven't crossed yet
At about this point I noticed a couple of figures in the distance and presumed they were tackling Ulaidh on it's own, however when we got back to the car park at 4pm ish there were a couple enjoying a coffee at the rear of their campervan. A brief chat with them confirmed they were ahead of us and had planned to tackle Meall Lighiche after Ulaidh but the descent off the latter was a proper struggle and deterred them from tackling the Corbett. The Walk Highlands advice of if you plan on tackling the pair of hills the 'safest' way is to them anti clockwise.
This was our first effort - failed so we are returning to dry land
George was in charge of the 'action' shots
Hope you don't mind me borrowing your video's George?
Final one
We made it, this shot is looking back down the river - doesn't look like a problem at all to cross
Smiles of relief, photo borrowed from George
Right off we go uphill
Now the trudge uphill begins, after our struggles we were about 1km further upstream than we had intended, so we had to traverse round a crag to our planned route
We were heading just to the right of the trees on the left
Kind of demonstrates the terrain
Looking back down the glen, AE again
Big lump in the way, we opted to go right rather than up and over
Parminder loving the uphill trudge
Looking back from a bit higher up
Loch Leven in the distance
Similar shot this time with my two chums in the photo
Not far now, the summit of Meall Lighiche is the high point on the ridge
Summit cairn with a blurry Sgor na h-Ulaidh in the background
The Ballachulish Munro's
George and Parminder looking across to the next target and it looked like it was going to be a challenge
The descent route down the shoulder off Meall Lighiche
Descending down to the bealach between the two hills, wet grass and rocks not a good combination, both George & I slipped on our backsides
Sgor na h-Ulaidh, no obvious path so we tried to follow our planned route, that was easier said than done
The fence posts were a good guide for the descent route, only trouble is they stop at the bottom of the other side
As we got nearer Ulaidh looked a bit more doable
Glen Creran
Looking back across to Meall Lighiche
Looking north towards the Pap of Glencoe, also shows the angle of ascent
George taking in the views whilst Parminder soldiers on
Looking across to the Corbett with the Blethers in the background
This kind of shows how steep it is, not sure what Parminder is doing
George striding uphill
Glen Creran looking spectacular
Meall Lighiche
Looking SW
The final lump to negotiate before we reached the summit
Beinn Fhionnlaidh with Loch Etive behind
Summit of Ulaidh looking across to Meall Mor and Loch Leven
The shoulder that would be the descent route and a path
Loch Leven zoomed on my camera
Looking west out to sea, zoomed
Loch Etive zoomed
Pretty steep gully
Descending off Ulaidh
Shortly after starting our descent we came across a couple who were planning Ulaidh only and shortly after a lone female who was doing the same. On the approach towards Stob an Fhuarain I came across an OS map in a plastic folder lying next to the path, as it was breezy I picked it up and hung it by the cord round a metal fence post, in the hope that one of the aforementioned walkers would be reunited with their map.
Just when you think all the going up bits are done and dusted, there is a wee sting ahead
Weather changing, low cloud and a bit of wet stuff but we weren't caring as we had our views
Looking across to the bealach between the hills whilst descending the lower grassy slopes of Ulaidh
Descending the long grassy slope down to the river
Looking back up to Ulaidh now the cloud is away
A pause before we set off along the path that follows the river
Another cracking day out which turned out to be much tougher than we were expecting. If anyone is thinking of tackling the pair of hills they have to be done anti clockwise, that will ensure you can see the crags on Ulaidh above you rather than below. Another thing to bear in mind is the river crossing, if like us you tackle them after a spell of rain be prepared to be patient and find a safe crossing point unless you fancy a paddle.
