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The Fannichs: I drove past them so many times. But so far my only achievement in this area was one Corbett (done in winter conditions with very wet feet). The time came therefore to change it! After rainy Saturday, Sunday looked a bit better - a few showers and clouds here and there, but surely a tempting day for a longer outing.
Sgurr Breac and A'Chailleach were our choice then. The obvious way to climb them is from the north (a small car park on the side of A832, SW of Braemore junction). Even from the parking as we were getting ready, what we saw around us predicted a fantastic day.
An Teallach saying Hello!
We started by walking a short distance along the track leading to Loch a Bhraoin:
A wet place it must be...
Recently, a new path has been made through the forest plantation and the old wooden bridge was replaced by a new one:
It was nice to stop for a moment on the bridge and admire the lovely scenery around, including Loch a Bhraoin and a ruined dwelling and boathouse:
The fastest route up the ridge leading to the two Munros is a steep climb up Leitir Fhearna, that's the slope behind me:
But we opted for a slightly longer approach along the stream Allt Breabaig:
This option has the advantage of passing through some wonderful landscape with plenty of waterfalls (and water in its more boggy version as well
):
Time for a movie called "By the rivers of Scotland"...
...Or maybe "A million rivers and one stone"?
As I've just mentioned, the ground was wet but it didn't discourage us - thank heavens for Gore-tex boots
On the right-hand side (north-west) the rocky outcrops of Druim Reidh:
Looking back north - An Teallach now hidden from our view:
For about 2 km we stayed on the western side of the stream and only when the faint path there disappeared and we encountered some deep peat hags, we crossed the burn to the other side and joined the old stalkers path, which took us all the way up to the bealach between Sgurr nan Clach Beala and Sgurr Breac. On the way we passed some more waterfalls:
On the beallach we left the path behind and charged the steep-looking slopes of our first Munro of the day:
While climbing, we could at last see what was hiding on the other side of the ridge - the far end of Loch Fannich:
On the slopes of Sgurr Breac. It might look an easy walk but this part is steep (at least it felt steep for me) and in a couple of places we encountered some big boulders to climb over. Not a real scrambling though, just another obstacle to pass
Behind us, the shapely curves of Sgurr a'Chadha Dheirg:
And the bulk of Sgurr nan Clach Beala:
Assynt hills to the north:
Getting ready to utter my meow of joy
More and more clouds were now coming and the blue sky was covered with gray fluff... Dark shadows lurked around when we faced the great An Teallach again:
The final bit to the Munro summit was straightforward:
One more glance back at the long ridge of Sgurr nan Clach Beala - we will come back to conquer this one soon:
Me and The Forge:
Can you see the showers coming?...
It looks like we are now surrounded by rain!
The summit cairn of Sgurr Breac is very small and there is nowhere to shelter in bad weather
But luckily for us, the showers we saw appearing all around us never reached our mountain
We stayed in a dry spot and as wind wasn't too bad we could take a well deserved snack break and enjoy the scenery. Believe me, there was so much to sink in...
The cairn:
No comment, just look and love it!
Another shower just showing to the right of An Teallach...
The unusual shape of Slioch:
From Sgurr Breac we carried on along the ridge, a short steep descent and another short climb to Toman Coinnich (935m). All along the way we were accompanied by the distant panorama of Torridon:
Beinn Eighe:
And An Teallach, of course:
More hills in the distance:
Slioch:
Loch Fannich:
The summit cairn of Toman Coinnich:
Looking back to Sgurr Breac:
Fluffy cloud attacking An Teallach!
Just another meow! and we could carry on through another bealach to the summit of our second Munro of the day:
Along the way we passed by this lovely corrie, with Loch Toll an Lochain:
Almost there! The crags of A'Chailleach:
The final push - steep-ish but enjoyable:
Surprisingly, An Teallach changed its mood for a short time and it showed us its smiley side...
...although the rain was so close!
Again, a quick look back to Toman Coinnich and Sgurr Breac:
One of the showers was now dangerously close:
Now the movie will be called "A million showers and two Munros"
Kevin on the summit of A'Chailleach. He allowed me to handle his precious camera for about 30 seconds and take one picture. Hoooray!!!
The great panorama of Torridon from the summit of A'Chailleach:
Go home? Now? Oh no!
An Teallach still sunny...
...but bad front may be coming any time now!
For the descent route we had three options: one was to retrace our steps (but that would be long and tiring), second - to walk all the length of the northern shoulder of A'Chailleach, Sron na Goibhre (that one looked very steep) and the third one which was to go back to Toman Coinnich and return along its ridge. We chose the latter option and soon we were down on the ridge of Druim Reidh. There are good views to Toll an Lochain from here:
Such a shame it is time to go...
Walking back along Druim Reidh:
One more attraction was the nice view from Leitir Fhearna down to Loch a Bhraoin:
The final descent from Leitir Fhearna was wet and slippery and we were eventually caught in a short shower but it was a small price to pay for the joys of this fantastic trip. Now I want to go back to the Fannichs and climb more of them! Just hope the good, old Scottish weather will make it possible. Meow!