Meall Lighiche and Fraochaidh via Sgorr a'Choise

[rockhopper]

Corbetts: Meall Lighiche, Fraochaidh
Graham: Sgorr a'Choise
Distance: 32km approx
Ascent: 2,000m approx
Time: 11hrs approx (move 8hrs 40mins, stop 2hrs 20mins)
Attendees: me

Parked in the car park beside the visitor centre in Ballachulish, cycled back a few kilometres to Glencoe and locked the bike up in some trees at the roadside. Probably only saved about 1/2hr in the end though.



Set off down the Gleann-leac-na-muidhe road and took the detour at the sign to avoid going through the gardens of the houses. Back to the road then through a farmyard after which the road stopped and became a track. Think the ice axe was likely to be a bit superfluous today.



Reached the Allt na Muidhe which wasn’t difficult to cross.



Initially followed to the left a fence uphill before heading west and south to the side of a ridge. Was following a faint path before starting more steeply to gain the ridge. Went up a gully which looked doable but couldn’t quite make the last bit so had to drop down a bit then back up a little to the south. Success this time and got up on to the ridge.

Looking back



Ben Nevis and CMD, Stob Ban



Up over Creag Bhan looking towards Sgurr na h-Ulaidh - stopped for a while to have a look over and round it with the camera at full zoom but couldn’t see anyone



Westwards to the summit



Glen Creran



BEB - Stob Coire Raineach in the distance (I think)



Beinn a’ Bheithir on the left, Sgorr a'Choise mid right



Fraochaidh looking rather far away



Set off northwards following an old line of fence posts



Down past the trees then back uphill to Sgorr a'Choise



AE ridge



Looking upwards



Crossed a deer fence by a high stile then quite steeply up to the summit



Beinn a’ Bheithir



Zoomed





Ballachulish



Ben Nevis and Mamores



Stopped at the summit for an early lunch. Very nice and warm in the sun so lay back for a snooze – hadn’t intended to but must have dozed off for quite a while before waking up – spent a little too long up there and still had quite a way to go so got ready and set off.

Route to Fraochaidh



Straightforward, if a little steep at times, descent down to meet the path up from Ballachulish



Looking back





A lot of ups and downs en route to the summit – a bit harder going than expected



Creach Bheinn, Beinn Resipol and Garbh Bheinn



Final up and down before the summit



Quartzite band



Cairn



Could just see Ainshval, Askival and co in the hazy distance (click to enlarge)



Panoramas (click to enlarge)









Self portrait (absolutely no need for an ice axe today…….)



Loch Linnhe



A couple of zoomed shots





Reluctantly started back on the long return route – more ups and downs to get back to the track which then drops down into Gleann an Fhiodh and alongside the river.

Moon



Pap



Sgorr a'Choise



Back to the car park in Ballachulish. It had taken quite a bit longer than expected – lot of stops for photos and falling asleep after lunch probably didn’t help.

Ballachulish 14may2016 activelog.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

[BlackPanther]

That's hillwalking at it's best Who said Corbetts and Grahams are dull?

I'm tempted to do Fraochaidh from Ballachulish, too - will save us a bit of driving.

"Hula face" looks unbelievably steep, I can't believe we went up that way

[rockhopper]

I'm tempted to do Fraochaidh from Ballachulish, too - will save us a bit of driving.

yes - had a similar thought when looking at options - can also be approached from the west or south east but they involve getting through forestry and I think there has been some felling which can cause problems - cheers

[Gordie12]

A long but brilliant looking day RH - May has been a great month to be out in the hills.

[SecretSquirrel]

Nice route, that looked a cracking day. The bike might have only saved you half an hour, but I would much rather cycle the A82 than walk along tarmac.

You've given me some routes to consider now

[Collaciotach]

Nice one RH

[gaffr]

I too enjoyed these tops in from Kinlochleven and the contact with the surrounding hills visited in another lifetime...not in one trip though and of course being me I didn't know about the wee Elsie.
The long lens also gets you into more distant hill groups as an extra bonus.

[Jaxter]

Oooh lovely photos there

Laughed out loud at your wee snooze I've never found a rock that's comfy enough for that

[Graeme D]

This is a very fine piece of reporting RH!

[ancancha]

Camera worked well for you on this walk Rockhopper
As BP says; it don't need to be high to be a lot of fun

[malky_c]

Good route - I like the idea of linking Fraochaidh and Sgorr a' Choise like that. Both are must-do-again hills for me. And impossible to go wrong with the weather that weekend. Hope you didn't wake up with loads of sunburn