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It's been two weeks since I last set my feet on the hills and my previous walking experience was rather unpleasant, due to a nasty stomach bug. It took me a week to recover and after spending days on dry toast and crackers, I felt week, squeezed out of energy. I wasn't sure how my body would cope with hard exercise. I've definitely lost weight and most of it was probably muscle. So when the forecast for the first weekend of October was good, I started looking for something nice but not too overambitious, preferably a hill with good views and paths to the summit. And then The Red Baldie came to help
We had already Maol Chean-dearg (in 2011) but though we enjoyed it, we missed summit views due to lingering cloud. Now, it was a good chance to revisit this Munro with perfect panos almost guaranteed. I find Torridon hard to resist on a sunny autumn day...
Nothing adventurous this time, we kept to the traditional route from Coulags. I remembered that the car park at the start of the walk is not very big, so just to make sure we got there early enough, I dragged Kevin out of bed at 6 am sharp, deaf to his moaning "let me sleeep"
We were the first visitors to arrive and took the best place - rightly so, when we returned the parking area was packed full.
Just a few words of warning for other walkers. One, during the week this route is used by stalkers, although the main access path is a right of way and should be OK. The little bothy up the glen, Coire Fionnaraich, is closed till the end of October.
Two, the glen is currently undergoing a major invasion of bulldozers, diggers and other weird equipment, due to a hydro scheme under construction. No restrictions on access to the main path, but as the board at the start of the walk says:
"The walking path will remain open at all times, however during the upgrading works there will be a construction footprint measuring approximately 20m-30m, including one excavator. If the excavator is working please wait until the driver or banksman has acknowledged you and signaled that it is safe to pass before doing so. This work is anticipated to take approximately 3 months to complete"So the initial stages of the path have been turned into A9
On our way back we had a closer look at this equipment (without touching it of course). Diggers and excavators. On a working day, this site would be helluva noisy
Further on, the new bulldozed track has been made alongside the original path. At the moment, it ends about 300m before the path crosses the wee footbridge. More diggers on the way:
At least, once we crossed the bridge, it was all back to normal, an undisturbed glen, blue sky and lovely views around:
Coire Fionnaraich bothy:
The Stone of Fingal's Dog - Kevin said it reminded him of a certain rude hand gesture
The path has suffered from "overuse" in places and there are a few boggy areas where tuft-jumping abilities are required
but walking in the shadow of magnificent cliffs should make up for the inconveniences of wet underfoot:
The path dried out once we started to climb to Bealach a Choire Garbh, it was getting surprisingly warm and luckily, we could refill our bottles from the wee stream running alongside the path. Higher up, the majestic steep slopes of Meal Chean-dearg dominated the view:
Closer to the bealach, the path is a bit eroded and in wet weather could be slippery. I've been up this way twice before (once for the Munro, once for An Ruadh-stac) and I'm always amazed by the pure white of the quartzite rock:
An Ruadh-stac - no comment needed. One of the best Corbetts, I think. The two can be combined if one's fit enough, but we were only aiming for the Munro today.
I was feeling good, no trace of stomach bug left. We were not pushing it, indeed somebody overtook us about half way up, but we didn't care. On a day like that, better do it slowly and enjoy for longer
What you can see behind me is the least pleasant part of the ascent, about 100m of steep ascent on a very tumbly, eroded path (actually, there are a few different paths, all just as badly eroded). It's bearable on the way up and an absolute nightmare on descent
From the top of that steep slope, its now only a short climb to the summit. I was happy to see great blue sky - no cloud to obstruct the views this time!
The Cuillin ridge emerging on the horizon:
Of course, as we tackled the final 100m of ascent on large boulders, I twisted my leg and my knee bumped into the rock exactly in the place of the scar tissue from my recent injury
I couldn't stop wailing for a few second, mainly two words "ouuuuch" and sh*****t"
It hurt, but luck was on my side - I only ended up with a nasty bruise. I was more worried what other walkers would think of me (there were a few of them following us)...
Looking back at the ascent/descent ridge from near the summit:
All the pain and shame was quickly forgotten, as we emerged on the summit plateau. The top of Maol is surprisingly flat, with a big summit cairn close to the northern flanks. We dumped our rucksacks and started a lengthy photo-session. Those views!
The best panos are of course to the north, towards the other Torridon mountains. Liathach can be seen face on, proudly presenting its long ridge and pinnacles. Also Beinn Alligin is seen from the best angle, Beinn Dearg popping up in the gap between the two Munros. To the right, the white tops of Beinn Eighe add to the flavour. The whole set looks like one very long mountain ridge. And in the foreground, slightly to the left, the shapely bulk of Beinn Damph and slightly smaller, rounder lump of Beinn na h-Eaglaise, a Graham:
If this is not one of the best panos in Scotland, I don't know what is...
We ended up with over 300 photos
I picked a few for this report...
I hope this is not considered too "mountainphornographic" to be displayed
Beinn Damph, another hill we climbed twice already and I'm happy to do it again!
Zoom to Alligin, the Horns to the right:
The eastern pano, from Beinn Eighe to Fuar Tholl:
I'm in my element!
The western view, from An Ruadh-stac to Beinn Damph:
Zoomed Cuillin ridge:
Loch Carron and the hills of south Skye. To the left in the foreground another wee Torridon Graham, Sgurr a'Gharaidh:
Another pano to the north - simply couldn't take my eyes off it!
The Achnashellach hills, and the Fannichs on the horizon:
Our last two unclimbed Corbetts in this area (Sgurr Dubh and Sgorr an Lochain Uaine), probably will have to wait till next year but no hurry needed here. Another route worth keeping for a sunny day:
Fuar Tholl and the Strathcarron hills behind:
At some point, I was disturbed by somebody stubbornly trying to get into the picture... Lucy, bad girl!
The family photo
We spent an hour or so on the summit. Other walkers came and went, we didn't see a reason to leave too quickly on such a splendid day. Eventually, we packed up and at a lazy pace, began the bouldery descent:
An Ruadh-stac panorama:
Looking south-east from the 757m top:
We suffered the hellish 100m of descent on the eroded quartzite, shuffling down the white scree... Here, this section seen from above:
...but it was a small price to pay for all the delights of the day!
Kevin caught in the act with An Ruadh-stac behind him:
We manged to get down to the bealach without any incidents on the steep section, and the rest of the walk was a pleasant formality
I don't really care that this was a repeat, I'm happy to repeat Torridon hills all over as long as weather's good enough!
