Fine day on Sgritheall - Corbetts and a Top

[weaselmaster]

After weekends of high winds, rain and general miserableness we finally had a glorious sunny weekend in prospect - at least in the North West. I had seen too many rounded grassy mountains over the last few weekends to last me quite a while - I wanted some west coast ruggedness. Where to go? Well it was also Mother's Day on Sunday which meant having an early finish to permit a visit to the aged parents...I formulated a plan to climb the 2 Corbetts next to Beinn Sgritheall, include Sgritheall for its NW top then have a quick hill on Sunday morning in the form of Sgurr an Airgid. I was quite excited at the prospect of climbing Sgritheall again as first time round it had been enveloped in clag and I'd seen neither mountain or view - a shame on a reputedly fine hill. This second round business has its advantages

Managed to get a half day on Friday and drove away from Greenock just gone 1pm into a sunny windless afternoon. Roads were quiet and we motored comfortably up to Kintail, stopping every now and then for a "wow" or "look at that" at the hills en route. As all the campsites in the area still seem to be shut for winter I'd decided that we'd pitch on Bernera beach, I hadn't been before but a trawl on the net suggested it was OK for wild camping. Arriving just gone 5pm we found plenty of space to set up home, as well as plenty of evidence of previous campers - numerous fire pits and some rubbish - tut, tut. It was quite stony under the grass, so the titanium spikes came in handy. Had tea sitting gazing at the sun sinking over the Sound of Sleat, an orange tinged sky predicted a fine day ahead. We watched the stars come out, wrapped in our jackets - and as it got colder - a sleeping bag before retiring to drift off to sleep with the gentle sound of the waves lapping on the shore. The words of Van Morrison's "So quiet in here" which had been playing in the car on the way into Glenelg came to mind ....this must be what paradise is like

Some shots on the road up...

P1060189 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1060195 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1060196 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Bernera Beach
P1060201 by 23weasels, on Flickr

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sgr+2cor.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Up early in the morning and off to Arnisdale by 7.30, warm pink glow in the sky, some puffy clouds sitting over the hills. As we drove into Arnisdale the immense sight of Sgritheall dominates the view- all this had escaped us last time around. Over to the right was Ladhar Bheinn, Beinn na Callich and the hills of Knoydart. We parked to the Ceilidh Centre with its first class toilets and prepared to set off. The route follows a track along into Glen Arnisdale (starting altitude 5m) and continues on into a cleft in the hills loosely following the Allt Utha. We passed a group of young stags loitering in a field as if they were cattle, not in the least concerned by our presence. It felt so good to be out walking in the sunshine in this particularly lovely part of the world. Ascent was steady, we passed a waterfall and shortly after left the track to follow a faint footpath up the side of Beinn nan Caorach. To our left curled the peaky Beinn na h-Eaglais, with the 906 top of Sgritheall behind it. Delights to come. Nothing particularly challenging about Caorach, haze limiting the extent of the views we achieved from the top. Followed the fence line north then curving across a vast plain - bealach dhruim nam Bo. Excellent place to pitch a tent or several hundred! Some deer were startled by our intrusion and headed off.

Sgritheall & Beinn na h-eaglaise
P1060227 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1060234 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1060238 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Ladhar Bheinn
P1060240 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Eaglaise & Sgritheall
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P1060252 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Summit Caorach
P1060254 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Walk to Eaglaise
P1060259 by 23weasels, on Flickr

We wandered over to the base of Beinn na h-Eaglaise, enjoying its pointed triangularness. It's about 200m of steady climbing, no difficulties here, to reach the narrow summit crest. Great views over into Coire Min on Sgritheall, still holding a fair bit of snow. The next challenge was the descent to Bealach Arnisdail - this had looked steep on the map, although I just planned to follow the fence line. We came to a cleft in the mountain, took the north side of this. It was becoming unpleasantly steep on wet grass and what concerned me most was what appeared to be an overhang below us - I couldn't see how to get the last 50m or so. Not wanting to find that we were poised over a bluff I decided to head further north onto scree slopes where I could at least make out the full descent route. This proved straightforward and we contoured back to the centre point of the bealach to have lunch. Looking back up at the descent route it was indeed a steep wee slope.

Pyramid of Eaglaise
P1060261 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Caorach
P1060263 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1060264 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Summit Eaglaise
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P1060271 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Descent
P1060273 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Quite a steep wee descent too!
P1060278 by 23weasels, on Flickr


Last time we'd gone up this slope of Sgritheall we were soaked through and moving in dense clag - it was a case of just keep going upwards and surely it'll stop sometime. This time we could enjoy the 300m ascent, some on snow, some on scree. Up to the cairn then a trek across the summit ridge to the shattered trig point marking the Munro. We enjoyed the hazy view up Loch Hourn then dropped our packs and set off on the ten minute walk to the 928m Top. Another one visited - yay! Rather than take the usual descent route off Sgritheall I'd decided that we'd head back to the Bealach Arnidail and descend by the WH ascent route- this would avoid a lengthy road walk in winter boots. Proved to be a sensible enough option apart from me slipping several times on wet grass to the extent that I vaguely considered whether if I put my crampons on I'd have a better chance of staying upright. Eventually we made it down to the village and enjoyed a pleasant sunny walk back to the car, eyes fixed on Knoydart - oh to be over there for a few days in weather like this... Car told me it was 18 degrees when we got back - not bad for mid March! Stopped off at the Glenelg Inn for a lovely pint of Guinness on the return to the tent, then a tent Thai Red Curry.

Looking back on Eaglaise
P1060281 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Scree
P1060283 by 23weasels, on Flickr

View from the 906 top
P1060284 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Coire Min
P1060288 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Sgritheall summit
P1060290 by 23weasels, on Flickr

928 Top
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P1060300 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Towards Knoydart
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Lunnidhe Bheinn
P1060321 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1060324 by 23weasels, on Flickr


A cold night - ice on the tent and frost on the grass on Sunday morning. Clear blue sky, another very fine day. Lovely drive over Mam Ratagan and over to Morvich. Airgid looked to be a straightforward up and down hill but placed in splendid location for viewing the hills all around - the 5 Sisters, the Saddle and up to the North - Applecross and the empty lands around Attadale. Again there;s a good track, boggy in the early stages, that leads you gently upwards, zigzagging easily til Mam na Duhbaraiche is gained. Hunter's Ridge on Beinn Fhada looked particularly interesting from here. Some peat hags then the final section of Airgid is reached - still a fair bit of snow here with an icy sublayer but easily avoidable. Another shattered trig point - what have the poor trigs of Kintail done to deserve such destruction?? Looking north to Sguman Coinntich I'm reminded that the trig on it too was destroyed, reduced to a skeleton.
After a coffee at the summit we walked over to Sgurr na Seamraig, views to Loch Duich and Loch Alsh and the Skye Bridge hampered by haze but still lovely. Retraced our steps, bumsliding on the longish icy section and back at the car in under 4 hours. A fantastic weekend - oh for more days like these to enjoy the splendours of the North West

Frosty morn
P1060329 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Another fine day
P1060332 by 23weasels, on Flickr

View south
P1060337 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Hunter's Ridge
P1060338 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Sgritheall (zoomed)
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Hunter's ridge
P1060349 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Airgid - still some snow
P1060351 by 23weasels, on Flickr

View back along ascent route
P1060354 by 23weasels, on Flickr

5 Sisters
P1060356 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Sguman Coinntich
P1060359 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Summit Airgid
P1060362 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1060364 by 23weasels, on Flickr

View to the Skye Bridge
P1060367 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1060369 by 23weasels, on Flickr

Bit of fun
P1060371 by 23weasels, on Flickr

P1060374 by 23weasels, on Flickr

[PeteR]

Superb

And what a "campsite" you had there

That descent off the second Corbett on day 1 looked steep My legs still aren't talking to me after coming off Streap on Saturday, so I better wait a few weeks before I head back to Arnisdale to tackle those two. Surely one of the most spectacular places on the planet in my view

[Fife Flyer]

A nice relaxing weekend for our intrepid explorers

Great stuff Al & Allison, we don't get many weekends like that (weather wise), some fantastic photo's

[ere1]

Excellent stuff Weaselmaster!

[litljortindan]

Looks an excellent weekend. Plenty fond memories of Glenelg.

[rockhopper]

superb - weekends like that don't come often not that I'm jealous in the slightest......... have been too busy of late to get anywhere near a hill - cheers

[weaselmaster]

superb - weekends like that don't come often not that I'm jealous in the slightest......... have been too busy of late to get anywhere near a hill - cheers

It was one of those weekends that you could have climbed anything - oh for the Fisherfields, orto hear yo've Knoydart, or the Ben or...... so many mountains would have been in a state of perfection.
Sorry you've been too busy to get out - hope u get back to the hills soon
Al

[scoob999]

Second round I'm no counting the Munro's
Great weekend for the hills though

[Beaner001]

Another of your routes I'd like to copy Al, smashing
Cheers

[weaselmaster]

Another of your routes I'd like to copy Al, smashing
Cheers

I think it's a good way to do Sgritheall - makes a good day of it and improves the views of Sgritheall before you climb it
But one for good weather!

[Huff_n_Puff]

Stunning photos and an interesting route - been pondering Beinn Sgritheall for a while, thanks for the ideas

[AnnieMacD]

Fantastic report with all the amazing views that some of us only dream about!

Funny about the Arigid trig point as it was complete when I was up there on 27th November last year. I wonder if it was hit by lightning?

[weaselmaster]

Funny about the Arigid trig point as it was complete when I was up there on 27th November last year. I wonder if it was hit by lightning?

I suspect so - unless there's a band of trig trashing brigands at large in Kintail