Stay at home

[kevsbald]

My 2nd day in the North-West - plan A had been to go for Liathach but the vagaries of Scottish weather meant that with snow forecast (it's May FFS!), I didn't fancy doing Liathach on anything except a clear day. I therefore chose Beinn Alligin - how glad was I? It turned out to be a stunning day in the hills and I was simply blown away by the magnificence of this mountain. From the atmospheric, silent amphitheatre of being in the corrie below Tom na Gruagaich to the beautifully poised summit cairn, with the plunging cliffs of Toll a Mhadaidh, to the quite stunning Sgurr Mor. Then there is the chasm of the Eag Dubh. I won't bother going on anymore (though I am) except to say that by the time I was on Sgurr Mor, the snow was fairly dinging it doon. All views were obliterated and I had a made a good decision to leave Liathach for another day - on the occasion I did see it, it was quite a wonderful set of peaks and jagged edges to look at - Sabatier would have been proud. I had really looked forward to going over the Horns of Alligin and worried slightly when a party of three passed me on the opposite route saying they had given them a miss, opting to take the path below the Horns - could it really be that bad? I decided to go over them and was glad to have done so. The airy, scramble really is the way to go and just added to the experience that I was having possibly one of my best days on the hill. Also, the fluctuating cloud/snow conditions afforded some magnificent views over the Horns. Then, there is the views across to Beinn Dearg - what a majestic Corbett it is - very impressive. Unfortunately, it all ended too soon and I was descending quite steep ground back to the glen. No need to further expand on this day, just look at the photos. Astounded on Alligin.

A cloudy start to the day....it gets better

Getting ready to head into the amphitheatre

Looking back to Loch Torridon

Beinn Damh and Maol Chean Dearg in the distance

The Horns of Alligin with Beinn Dearg behind

A close-up of Beinn Dearg

Sexy Sgurr Mor

Looking back to Tom na Gruagaich - stunning

The Eag Dubh

The top of the Eag Dubh

Feeling a little Horny in the snow

Wow - the 1st horn looms out of the cloud

The last Horn - more please!

[mountain coward]

Great report Kev - thanks for the close-ups of the horns routes - think I'll still probably be going on the bypass path myself though. I'm sure if I'm with Richard he'll do the horns as he likes that kind of thing...

[monty]

Excellent stuff Kev. I was at the country side centre last year but the weather was too bad so I headed up north instead. You must be crazy doing the horns in the snow I am waiting for a good weather hopefully in July to go back up there Great pictures. Well done.

P.S. Dougz just wrote a report on Maoille Lunndaidh and its neighbours about 10 miles south off you.

[kevsbald]

MC - there is a path which skirts below the difficulties - it's vertically below the horns so just be careful of people above moving rocks etc.
I saw Doogz car at the Ledgowan hotel - woke up after a late arrival, opened my curtains and there was his car - he must have stayed in the Bunkhouse!

[mountain coward]

Yeah I was planning to take the opt-out path really...

How do you know Doogz's car? Were you in the bunkhouse or the gorgeous hotel? I love the hotel but can rarely afford to stay there. The bunkhouse is nice though... last time I was there, five stags came past my window

[doogz]

Yeah I was planning to take the opt-out path really...

How do you know Doogz's car? D

opt out Path is more .......whatever ....dangerous ...scary....exposed....cant get a word to fit the description than the horns

as if you walk over the horns the ground is below you/under your feet ...no real sense of a drop........ if you are on the opt out path i imagine all to your left or right whichever way you do the walk would be NOTHINGNESS therefore more exposed to a slip a trip eg

think kev may have noticed from prev trip reports


cheers


great hill isnt it Kev ...found it really a haunting place ...we went to see it on monday night was steeped in snow and hail .....absolutely freezing on Monday night....-4

good report my friend

[soulminer]

If Carlsberg did Munros, then this one is............you know the rest
IMHO this is my favourite so far, it has all the qualities of a classic - walking, scambling and the views
Cheers for posting

[mountain coward]

I think it's merely steep on one side on the by-pass path from the pics I've seen... on the other hand, it's steep on both sides of the horns! I don't think it's anything like the Liathach Am Fasarinen bypass path which I believe is very exposed and dangerous with a real danger of a slip - that's why I'm going to have to do Liathach in 2 halves - and I'm still not looking forward to re-descending the steep eastern end

[HighlandSC]

Fantastic, Kev

This one's high up on the hitlist for Michelle and I in the next couple of weeks. Can't wait

[LeithySuburbs]

I loved the Horns and, if I remember correctly, they looked no worse than the bypass. The stark contrast between the N and S slopes in your photos is a strange sight.

[kinley]

Brilliant Possibly my favourite hill

Agree with LeithyS - that 2-faced horn is a striking shot

I don't think it's anything like the Liathach Am Fasarinen bypass path which I believe is very exposed and dangerous with a real danger of a slip

Don't really agree with this. Having done it twice in September (no snow) - it's a nice wee path. Exposed yes - you're perched on the south face a long way up. But dangerous with a real danger of a slip - no, not unless your own issues render you unstable.

My wife liked it - and she hates heights and exposure.

[Paul Webster]

Great report Kev.

Am Fasarinen path = for me a necessary way of avoiding the ridge! (which is just too tricky). The path is exposed but basically agree with Kinley.

Bypass path on Horns of Alligin = for my money, much better to go over the horns. The path cuts across very very steep grass slopes and is pretty horrible going and probably more dangerous than the horns themselves.

[mountain coward]

There's some pics on You-Tube of the Am Fasarinen bypass path (Muriel Gray's Munro Show) which shows some pretty eroded bits - I would have thought they were quite dangerous - they were going round the head of a gully in one place...

Sounds like I'll just have to miss the Horns end out altogether on Beinn Alligin and just do the 2 Munros and go back the same way if the bypass is that bad

[kinley]

There's some pics on You-Tube of the Am Fasarinen bypass path (Muriel Gray's Munro Show) which shows some pretty eroded bits - I would have thought they were quite dangerous - they were going round the head of a gully in one place...

Sounds like I'll just have to miss the Horns end out altogether on Beinn Alligin and just do the 2 Munros and go back the same way if the bypass is that bad

I think if you wish to be wound up there's lots of material which will accentuate/exaggerate the hazards of any hill-walk. Can only say that the Liathach bypass did not seem at all hazardous even to Hazel who has a low threshold for such things.

In terms of Alligin - you may consider looping round the nice track between Alligin and Beinn Dearg and climbing the nice grassy slopes of the west side. You can then ascend Sgurr mor, cross to Tom na Gruagaich and descend the path from there. We climbed Sgurr Mor that way long before we were hillwalkers.

Apologies for the hijack Kev

Alligin.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

[kevsbald]

No need to apologise for hijack Kinley et al. As I was traversing the Horns, I did think of MC and whether she could do this. I think these threads are good for that kind of discussion. My own views of the path below me were that it looked relatively straightforward but that a slip would be fatal - if that makes sense. The 'path'/scramble over the Horns felt safer - four limbs on contact are better than two! Definitely my favourite hill so far.