Two from Achnashellach

[Gavin99]

Participants - Frigate, Morecambe Monkey , Pigeon and Gavin99

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Following an evening in the Kinlochewe hotel sipping ( ) beer and chatting to other early arrivals for the WH meet we managed to get ourselves organised at a reasonable hour and set of for the drive over to Craig .

Setting out on the long walk in

On the stalkers path up to Bealach Bhernais

The walk in is fairly long but on a good track ,along the way we passed a few tents set up on the riverbank in the wide glen , this looks a fine place to camp . Eventually we reached a suitable spot to cross the river , this posed no problems , thankfully we didn’t have to use the shoogly looking wire bridge contraption ,we did miss the start of the stalkers path (my fault ) but after a bit of heather bashing we soon found it and followed it up to the Bealach Bhernais.

Kev ,Pat and Pigeon at the bealach , the ex-Munro Sgurr nan Ceannaichean in the distance

After a rest and a quick bite to eat we set off towards the west ridge of Sgurr Choinnich , this looked quite steep from below but was fairly easy going apart from a couple of short rocky scrambles .These wouldn’t cause any worries in summer but the snow and ice made them a little bit more interesting , we soon passed them with a bit of care .

Our ascent route up the west ridge of Sgurr Choinnich

Bidein a'Choire Sheasgaich, we will visit you soon !

Morecambe Monkey negotiating some steep snow

As we climbed the views opened up , looking south to the Monar and Mullardoch hills , all new territory for me .The star of the show was Bidein a ‘Choire Sheasgaich , showing as a jagged pyramid, definitely high on the to do list now .

Bidein , what a stunning looking hill !

Pat and Kev making progress

Kev tackling one of the trickier wee sections

Above the rocky sections the gradient eased and we soon found ourselves on the level summit ridge .The snow had been soft enough to kick steps so far but a narrow and icy section of ridge had us stopping to put on crampons for the final approach to the summit and its ramshackle cairn.

Along the summit ridge

Munro number one and a well earned rest

After a few minutes spent lying in the snow eating and admiring the views the cold started to bite so we set off down to the bealach leading to our next target. This was steep at first but soon eased and before long we were at the low point at 866m with only 180m or so to climb to reach Munro number two .

The way ahead to Sgurr a'Chaorachain

A steep descent to the bealach

A look back at the great cliffs above Coire Choinnich

We stopped to take off our crampons before setting off uphill , a mixture of short grass, rock and soft snow making things easy underfoot . Once on the summit we were treated to great views down to Loch Monar and the great sweep of hills to the south . It was a busy little summit with a few walkers lounging around in the sun , one of them was kind enough to take our photo (minus some of our feet )

Four happy campers on Munro number two

My first ever view of Loch Monar , beautiful

After more lying around eating and enjoying the sun it was time to head off down . We had taken a close look at the recommended NW descent on the walk in earlier and didn’t like the look of it , we had a chat with three English lads who confirmed that the northern slopes were very icy so it was on with the hardware again and off down the longer and more gentle NE ridge . This was the best part of the day for me , wandering downwards over rock hard snow in the sunshine , surrounded by Scotland’s finest scenery , magic .

A lovely descent north from Sgurr a' Chaorachain on ice and hard snow .

Our descent route down Sron na Frianich

Eventually the snow ended and we headed off down steep heathery slopes to pick up the track near Glenuaig Lodge , all that was left was the 8km walk back to Craig . This was a bit of a grind in winter boots but the thought of meeting the gang ( and drinking more beer ) back at Kinlochewe eased the pain a bit , we were definitely glad to reach the car park .

Nearly back to the road , a grand view back to Sgurr nan Ceannaichean

Thanks to Kev ,Pat and Pigeon for the company , a great day out , and thanks to all at the WH meet for an ace weekend

[pigeon]

Great stuff Gavin,what a magic week That cheesecake looks tasty don't it Will look out some pics and get them on later

[PeteR]

Very nice Gavin Looks like you all had a great time.

These two were my introduction to this area. Did them last winter in fairly deep snow I seem to recall. Turned out to be quite a topugh day in the end. Didn't quite have your weather, as the clag and snow rolled in eventually on #2 but all in all two great hills

[gammy leg walker]

Cracing TR Gavin,pics are braw.

[malky_c]

Nice one - great winter hills these - not too tricky but a couple of spectacular narrow bits

[rockhopper]

Cracking photos and some great walking conditions - looks like you all enjoyed yourselves ! Have had a plan for an overnighter up here for a while but not got to fruition yet - cheers

[Scotjamie]

Excellent stuff Gavin. Great TR and pics

the thought of meeting the gang ( and drinking more beer ) back at Kinlochewe eased the pain a bit

and I can vouch that your pain was well eased

[scoob999]

my favorate sounding hills these, look even better with snow on

[Frigate]

A grand day out with magic views, could see what we missed from Ben Eighe in Feb.
The track out blew my feet up (literally), could not get my boots back on.

A happy man

North to Liathach

Still not worked out what you are doing

[The Rodmiester]

Looks a fabulous day with superb views what a start to the weekend! I bet your thinking of the bike for Maoile Lunndaidh though!

[kevsbald]

Looks a brilliant day out. Good to see you again, Gav et al.

[BlackPanther]

Fantastic day, guys I had a good look at these two Munors on Easter Sunday from Moruisg - they looked interesting enough from the distance but even better now

[pigeon]

Some of my pics from the day

Kev and Pat at start

Choinnich left and Chaorachain right

Gavin with the Corbett Sgurr nan Ceannaichean behind

climb to first munro

Sheasgaich

Liathach

M.M

Sgurr Choinnich with the Torridon hills behind

great hill,rubbish cairn

more wee scrambles

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summit pic

Loch Monar

starting the descent

last picnic of a fine fine day

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[Gavin99]

Cheers Pigeon , great pics of a magic day

Thanks Pete , that would be a long day with deep snow , we were lucky to get perfect conditions

Cheers GLW , a braw day it was

Fine hills indeed Malky , nice to meet you again , maybe see at the next meet wherever that'll be

Rockhopper , plenty of lovely spots for a tent along the glen , hope you get to put your plan in action soon

Cheers Scotjamie , there certainly was a lot of easing going on back at the hotel

Cheers Scoob , looking forward to the next meet already

Hope your feet have recovered Frigate , and no I have no idea what I was doing in that photo

Hi Rod , it certainly looks a long walk into Maoile Lunndaidh , a bike would be handy but I can feel a wee camping expedition coming on

Cheers Kev , nice to meet you again too

BP , we spent a bit of time ourselves looking over at the hills you were on and making plans , so much to do, so little time Hope you enjoy these when you get around to them , it's a grand walk

[Johnny Corbett]

Great stuff. This is a superb walk and if you get a day like this on Cheesecake, it'll be a cracker.