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So this weekend, the weather looked best in the far north west in the end, a good opportunity to go back somewhere that had been on the bucket list for a loooooonnnng time - Applecross.
Picked up Dougie from work as usual and got straight on our way.. Wasn't the best journey until after Inverness, and we sailed the last bit up to Bealach Na Ba, to get there well before dark. There was a dance on at the campsite in the village, so we decided that the routes looked too good to miss, so we would camp in the Corrie to avoid distractions
Unfortunately, there wasn't much good camping ground to be had, but we found a semi-dry, semi-flat, semi-tussocky bit of stream bank to pitch up on after getting distracted playing on the slabs and in the waterfalls of the burn for a good while. If this was the camp spot, what were the scrambling going to be like!
A chilly night, led to a showery morning.. We waited for it to stop before heading off at around 10.30. We parked in the wrong place to begin with, but found the right spot after only minimal faff, and were on our way, after marvelling at the amount of fish were in the pond right next to the road - the water looked alive
So it was up the well constructed path for half an hour. The path climbed slowly, and the clouds dispersed nicely. It was looking like a really bonny day
We made it up to the bridge, and turned off, onto the wee path upstream. This was less of a path, and more of a boggy trench for the most part. Lots of side paths crossed the burn, and further up we did too, but this led to some tough going, so we crossed back over, but we never did find the path again
We could clearly see our target though
There was a waterfall at the entrance to the corrie, where we crossed over the burn and made a beeline for the A' chioch ridge on the right.
We got to the first crag - quite vegitated, but more of a challenge than it looked, if you stuck to the rocky parts
Then a heather bank took us up to a nice looking crag on the right - we had abandoned the route description already in favour of whatever looked good..
Unfortunately this crag wasn't as easy as it looked and we had to abort half way up. We could of gone up further I think, but the exposure and consequences of failure were too much
So we headed back down that crag, and took the narrow rib next to it. Substantially easier, and loads of fun
We went leftward onto a ledge, and up another short wall, then up more broken rock, to a flat shoulder. It was our first real glimpse into Coire Na Feola, and it looked fairly impressive
We were a bit confused by the instructions for the next bit, but we eventually saw that the photo in the book was of one of the spurs in front, so we headed up that one, quite easy angled that bit, with a tricky overhang to avoid near the top that took a while to figure out..
The scrambling just kept on coming, as difficult or as easy as you liked, it really was a joy
We were soon up at another flattening,which curved round to the final ascent up to the A Chioch summit
Quite a lot of the cliffy bit there looked a bit difficult, but we made progress up the left hand edge, getting more central a bit later on, as the angle eased a little and a choice of routes opened up.
Then it was an easy walk to the summit, which was remarkably flat.. Reminded me of the Tennis Court on Beinn Tarsuinn in Fisherfields
We got our first glimpses of the headwall in the distance.. I wasn't really sure about that bit
We carried on, another peak to go before we had to worry about it..
We headed down fun boulders, enjoying the stunning view down into Coire Na Poite - just amazing...
And there was a tricky wee gully to down climb to the coll.
There was a rib that went right the way up to almost the top. Nothing difficult really, just a bit tall, so best not to look down too much when doing that bit
We stopped for a break at the top, So much good scrambling, and so much still to go - this has to be one of my favourite routes thus far
We noticed a couple of other scramblers reach the top of A Chioch. They stopped for a break too, waving over at us in a friendly manner
The headwall was now looming ...
but first we had to get down. The book suggested that the direct route was difficult and loose - something we were getting used to by now, as many holds had proved to be loose thus far, but we headed down to our right as instructed. It was very very steep, and quite soggy, with quite a big drop off, so I found this to be the most terrifying part of the whole route
very slowly I got down to the coll, to face the headwall beyond.
Now I was here, it didn't look too bad at all - more foliage than rock, with a fairly well worn path sticking to the grassy bits. We started up.
Before we had got far at all, the lure of the rock took us off the path and up a couple of short walls that provided plenty interest. A couple of bits had us traversing back to the path but a lot was do-able and the rock kept luring us back. Didn't want to look down though - jings it was steep!
It was at the top of one of these walls, I Found a loose block, but with a sturdy hold below. As I pulled at it, the upper rock fell and smashed my thumb. I managed to get it out, but it was really sore, so I was glad when just a few metres up we reached a heathery ledge to rest and lick my wounds
The intense pain didnie fade for a good long while - long enough for the guys behind to pass us after the usual chats
They had helmets, harnesses, and big backpacks that jingled
Eventually we headed off, up the steep heather bank to the fabled gully with the chokstone.
It looks very benign with its grassy entrance, but it gets more difficult and I thought it would be troublesome for a moment until I put my hand on that chokstone and felt what a good jug it was
I hauled myself up, to an airy platform, with good views back down the ridge
Then we were all of a sudden at the top, just a small grassy arete up to the plateau, which was such harsh contrast that it took me a couple of minutes to adjust
Just a short walk took us up to the summit
Looked like a grim day over in Skye, but nice up toward Torridon, and hazy toward Kintail.
After another long stop in the summit shelter, we headed back down the ridge, I stuck close to the corrie edge to get shots of our route.
The ridge was fine walking for the most part, but further down, it got a bit tougher going, flat boggy ledge, led to short cliffs, or really steep bits. I fell over a lot, and got quite a wet behind
Seemed to take ages to get down to the road, where a lady waited so we could chat. I mentioned Dougie's name and she immediately asked if I was Basscadet - Turned out to be none other than AnnieMcD
We had a bit of a laugh walking the remaining distance down the road to our cars. It was a bit odd, because I had thought of Annie in the journey over, as I suspected that she was from round these parts. I didn't think our paths would actually cross, but it was a pleasure
We headed back to the tent, my thumbs constant throbbing keeping me artificially subdued, but we knew that we had had quite a special day
The breeze dropped for a while back at the tent, so we had to zip ourselves away from the midges, for a hour, which made for a late dinner.
We were up early on Sunday, the forecast had been for rain later on, so best to be up early, despite our unambitious route for the day
No journey to the start of the walk - we were scrambling up the side of Corrie Na Ba, where we had been camped
We packed up the camping gear in the car, and I took a quick snap of the route
before heading across the corrie past where we had camped,
And up the other side to the start of the route. The wee crag at the bottom was surprisingly large and difficult, and by the time we were up that, we had our scrambling heads back on.
I hadn't slept that well due to throbby thumb, and it was a hindrance to have to keep it sticking out of the way all the time
After another short wall, the book detailed a fairly vegetated route to the right, but we went up the main face, as it didn't look too tricky..
Unfortunately a little higher up, it steepened considerably, and we were forced left to a gully which we used to go up to the wide ledge above, which gave us a route back over right to resume the route described in the book.
From there, there were so many routes, that we both ended up going off in different directions to climb in parallel.
I was forced over left as my rib ran out and our two routes came back together below a high steepening.
There was still quite a few options, and nothing tricky at all, but the fun was over all too quickly as we reached the plateau above..
Much to my delight, the fun wasn't over at all, and the ridge walk was interesting, with rocky little steps and slabs most of the way. One crag up to the 703 point on the ridge was especially good
It was still surprisingly far to the actual trig point, but maybe we were just mucking about too much
The views over to Skye were amazing, despite it being hazy. All the way from the bridge to the Quirang - mesmorising
We could see our final target away in the distance..
so we headed along the ridge toward Bealach Na Ba, the going getting far steeper than the map would suggest. really rocky there too, but Dougie found the path eventually which made for quicker progress.
Further down toward the road, fun slabs re-emerged. We crossed the bealach, and headed up beyond. It was a confusing jumble of boulders and rocky crests leading up to a large cairn marking the ridge out to Sgurr na Choreachain.
It was quite fun, lots of ups and downs with some rocky bits.
We were soon on the final climb up, which is fairly gentle
The views were great, An Teallach away in the distance..
We found a wee shelter a wee bit further out from the summit, but it had got quite cold, and it was a bit small for two
On the way back along the ridge, we took the byass, which was far more fun than going over - reminded me of collies ledge a bit, without the scary bits
We had scoped out a gully which looked to be safe descent, when we were on the other side of the corrie, so we located it and started on down.
It was very steep, but the ground was very firm and grippy, so it was quite enjoyable.
Soon we were out of the gully and approaching the road, still not a squelch from underfoot.
We got onto the road, but there was so much traffic that we felt like a bit of a nuisance for the few hundred yards back. Still another amazing day in Applecross, and back early to face the long drive home. Top weekend, canny believe it took me so long to get there
