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10.10am on June 30 was an important milestone for my brother John and I. We were setting off with 10 friends to complete our round of Scotland's 221 Corbetts. We chose Sgurr Coire Choinnichean which sits above Inverie in Knoydart as it gives an opportunity to combine the hill with a weekend of other memorable experiences including a boat trip to/from Mallaig, B&B with a hot-tub, and the excellent ambience and food in the Old Forge Inn, mainland Britain's remotest pub.
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- Loading the boat at Mallaig
Added to this, and most importantly, the hill potentially has some of the best all-round views to be had anywhere with Skye, Eigg, Rum to the west and the Rough Bounds, Torridon, Applecross and Glenfinnan hills all visible.
The forecast for the weekend wasn't great and the best we were hoping for was light drizzle for most of the day so our expectations of the views were not high.
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- The ascent party pose for a picture
The ascent of the hill starts in Inverie and follows the forest path north west to a gate, after which you climb 300 metres due east on open hillside with traces of a path. The hill levels out for a short distance, where we reached the top of the surprisingly deep and impressive ravine of Slochd a' Mhogha with a view down to Inverie's Long Beach area. The path rises SE onto the ridge where it became slightly windier,but still dry. We now climbed on to the south east ridge of Sgurr Coire Choinnichean and started our ascent of this fantastic ridge along a well-defined path for the remainder of the walk. Views along the ridge were enhanced by mist hanging in the corries below giving an ethereal feel to the walk.
The group duly arrived at the summit, enlivened by a superb walk, in completely dry weather with decent views of the surrounding area. For some, this was virtually their first hill experience and they loved it!
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- At last! At the top of our final Corbett, John & Michael
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- A happy gathering at the summit!
Champagne, Mars Bars, Snickers, Sandwiches, Strawberries (it is the midway through Wimbledon and one of the group had been watching Nadal on Centre Court the day before travelling to Knoydart after all!) tea and coffee all dispatched, photos taken, it was time to go.
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- Celebrating below the summit...out of the wind!
As there were some weary legs in the group, coupled with some ominous looking clouds coming in our direction, we returned by the outward route. Still dry overhead though! On arrival at Inverie, we had a coffee in the Old Forge where everyone agreed that the hill was ideal for a mixed group."Challenging but do-able!" as one commented.
We then had a wonderful cake, modelled in the shape of the hill, contour lines and all, and a champagne celebration in the B&B ( the Gathering..highly recommended).
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- The celebration cake in the shape of Sgurr Coire Choinnichean
Great day, good weather, great crowd. Loved the last Corbett and the other 220 as much as we loved the Munros.
We have walked, scrambled, climbed,run, cycled and canoed... stayed in tents, bothies, bunk houses, cars, campervan, B&Bs, guest houses and hotels on our journey....what a fantastic experience!
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- Reward for a hard day on the hill!
We're looking forward to doing some more hills in Scotland, we've only scratched the surface after all... and the Furths over the coming years.
