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The Duke and Eric Bana go for a walk on An Teallach

The Duke and Eric Bana go for a walk on An Teallach


Postby GueVargas » Wed Jun 11, 2014 11:41 am

Munros included on this walk: Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill (An Teallach), Sgùrr Fiona (An Teallach)

Date walked: 06/06/2014

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Here is a short video of our walk across An Teallach
http://youtu.be/Dvenin7N0ao


My buddy and I had planned years ago that An Teallach would be the last walk we would do prior to leaving the UK. The time had come last weekend to honor that promise. We arrived in Inverness on Thursday where we planned on staying two nights, maybe three if the weather was not cooperating. Our first night in Inverness was an amazing time...too good we thought the next morning. Being crowned the Duke of Inverness and my buddy being confused with the actor Eric Bana by some local scots we hooked up with at some bar, made that night an unforgettable one...but that is another story. We woke up the next morning a bit later than what we had expected. We had planned on leaving the hotel at 0400...it was 1030 when we finally rolled out of bed. Nursing our hangovers, we drove out to Ullapool. The weather was not looking good. The clouds were very low and with no wind, they were going nowhere. Finally made it out there and found a parking spot, where we discussed our options. I honestly don't like hiking in bad weather, but my friend reassured me that the MWIS said the weather was going to clear. We got ready and set off. The walk in was long and boggy. The closer we got to Sail Liath, the more I realized that the clouds were here to stay. I wasn't very pleased with all this so I didn't even take my camera out. The pull up to Sail Liath was grueling and unrelenting. We lost the path in the mist and eventually came to a boulder field. We got past the boulder field and I told my buddy Pink, I didnt think I could continue. He was also nursing some type of chest cold, so we reassessed, and decided to continue on a bit further before calling it quits. We lost the path again somewhere on or after Sail Liath and we ended peering out into nothing from a rocky butress.
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We regained the path and started up what we hoped was the path to the Corrag Bhuidhe Pinnacles. After walking for about 10 minutes the weather looked like it was going to clear...my spirits started to lift. We arrived at the first pinnacle and I couldn't believe it...the clouds had lifted. We looked back and finally got a good look at what we had accomplished up to that point.
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With the clouds gone we started looking for routes up the face of the first pinnacle.
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We tried going up but we couldn't find a good route. We decided to hook left around it, and saw that there was some rocky ledges that looked okay to get to the top.
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The scrambling up the side was great. A bit dodgy in places, but very solid grips.
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Got to the top and the clouds came in again. Not as thick as before, so we still had good vis to press on over the pinnacles. We got down from the first one and started to the second one.
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The second pinnacle was pretty straighforward. Up the face of it with only some minor tricky parts. At the top I snapped a pic of the first pinnacle which looked magnificent.
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Down the second one and onto the third one. Plenty of routes up this one so we ended up walking to the side of it and going up a gully that led all the way to the top.
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Down then up again to the last pinnacle before Lord Berkeley's seat.
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Here's a shot looking back.
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The scrambling up to Lord B's seat was a bit steep places, but as I said before, there are plenty of solid grips throughout.
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After Lord Berkeley, it's just a stroll up to Sgurr Fiona where the views are just awesome!
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Bidean a' Ghlas Thuill
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After stopping on the summit of Fiona for a bite to eat, we headed down to walk up to our last munro. I snapped this pic from the saddle between Fiona and Thuill.
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As fate would have it, on our way up to Thuill, the clouds rolled in again. This time around they were really thick, so by the time we got to the summit, it felt like if we were inside a ping pong ball. No matter though...I am just glad the munro gods were kind enough to let us enjoy the amazing scramble we just had in the sun. Overall, An Teallach has got to be one of my best days out. It truly is one of the most impressive in Britain. Hopefully I'll get a chance to re-visit it again.
Last edited by GueVargas on Thu Jun 12, 2014 8:29 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: The Duke and Eric Bana go for a walk on An Teallach

Postby Alteknacker » Wed Jun 11, 2014 11:59 am

Looks like some really first rate scrambling. Some great pix that give a powerful impression of what it's like up there.

Glad you were fortunate and the clouds did break. AT is still on my "to do" list, and only serves to strengthen my resolve - it's a long journey up there, though - 10 hours plus!!

I hope you did the Cuillin Ridge while you were here - that has some amazing scrambling too, as you can see from Weaselmaster's recent report.
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Re: The Duke and Eric Bana go for a walk on An Teallach

Postby Fife Flyer » Wed Jun 11, 2014 7:47 pm

Thanks for posting your report with some fantastic photo's :clap: :clap:

Looks like you had a great day, even the weather gods were kind :lol:
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Re: The Duke and Eric Bana go for a walk on An Teallach

Postby AnnieMacD » Wed Jun 11, 2014 9:09 pm

Great that the weather cleared up for you at the crucial points. Looks like you really enjoyed the hill and hope you'll be back for some more.

Good luck with your move.
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Re: The Duke and Eric Bana go for a walk on An Teallach

Postby GueVargas » Thu Jun 12, 2014 8:28 am

Thanks all for the kind comments. I'm gonna miss these hills. Take care all!
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Re: The Duke and Eric Bana go for a walk on An Teallach

Postby spiderwebb » Thu Jun 12, 2014 8:43 pm

Days that clear like this are the best !

I echo your closing sentiments :D
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