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Another week, another relapse…
I’d spent most of the previous week doing nothing, but with a nice day on Friday, followed by a rubbish weekend, I decided I needed to try something. Malky was suggesting Ben More Coigach, but that would have been pushing at what I could manage on a good day, let alone today. So we headed for Ullapool with a couple of ideas.
We parked up at the end of the road at Auchlunachan – it was warm but windy.
We wandered back down the road a short distance until we reached the footpath which was diverted around the houses. Unfortunately this dropped us down a little further, giving us even more ascent
From here, the path took us across a field and through another gate. A quick hop across a burn and we were on the track.
It was steep to begin with. I wasn’t feeling good at all, and our pace was slow.
But it felt so good to be out
The views were already great – Beinn Enaiglair and Meall Doire Faid, hills normally hidden from view, were prominent
It was surprisingly windy – the wind was being funnelled down the glen.
We climbed steadily upwards, the track making for easy walking. Soon the Coffin Road path peeled off to the right and we took the less obvious left fork, across a fence and up the glen.
As we gained more height, Beinn Dearg became more prominent, as did a track on the other side of the glen which we had thought might work as a descent route
Our path became less obvious but got us through the bracken easily
We came to a ravine – we could see bits of path dropping down and then out of it, but decided against the extra ascent as there were also bits of paths headed straight uphill – possible steeper but less ascent in total
The impressive point of Sgurr Mor in the Fannaichs poked out
At the top of the ravine there was a waterfall
And above the waterfall a big slab of mini-waterfalls!
We managed to cross here – Malky waits (im)patiently while I try to take more photos of waterfalls
Safely across the burn, and with more than half of the ascent behind us, we had a very welcome lunch stop. I was struggling and needed a break before tackling the rest of the hill. And Malky was hungry
Carrying on, we found a few animal tracks which made the ascent up the steeper section a bit easier
As we climbed towards the summit we could see down to Badcaul, and the arm of An Teallach that rises above Dundonnell
Ben More Assynt & Conival peeking out
Stac Pollaidh peeking out behind Ben More Coiagach ridge, with Cul Beag & Cul Mor to the right
Cul Beag & Cul Mor
The final section took us across some flattish ground as we traversed around the side of an extra lump, before having to climb towards the final summit. I was pretty knackered by now so Malky dug out some goodies that managed to fuel me to the top.
As we popped out onto the summit and saw the incredible views towards An Teallach and the Fisherfield, I decided it was definitely worth it
A wee bit of sun hitting the Coigach ridge
Ben More Assynt
The Fisherfield hills
The Fannaichs
Beinn Dearg ridge
The impressive Beinn Dearg Mor, sadly in the shadow but none the less awesome
We grabbed a seat out of the wind – I needed a breather and there was a bit of tea left
And some ok-ish views
Although it was a bit disappointingly shady on the hills, the views were still incredible. Might make a decent summit camp….
Beinn Ghoblach
Jaxtering on the summit of Meall Glac Tigh-fail
A last glimpse of An Teallach – we thought of waiting a while to see if the sun came out more, but it was cold and was going to take me a while to get down anyway…
As we dropped south east towards the top of the glen, we could see the Fannaichs with a bit more light on them
And also the Beinn Dearg hills
We scared a herd of deer off…
Beinn Dearg, Beinn Enaiglair & Meall Doire Faid
Sunny fannies
Malky looking happy
Almost as if we planned it, we dropped onto the track just before it crossed the burn
This made for nice easy walking for the whole descent – so we were able to enjoy the waterfalls
Trees lining the gorge that we had followed on the way up for a while
We could see Colonel Mustard waiting for us
Sadly although the distance was short, we didn’t seem to be getting any closer
The final section took us through several gates and along a section of grassy track where someone had been hacking down a lot of spiky stuff! As we passed by the houses out onto the road we saw a sign asking walkers to divert round the other side – oh well, they ought to have signposted it from above!
We were very glad to get back to the car, and I was even more glad that Malky could drive home (because I couldn’t
) It was a spectacular sunset as we drove home – almost wanted to stop and enjoy it but we were supposed to heading to a pal’s garden for cake and firepit. It was worth missing out on the sunset for
malteasar cheesecake!
