Respect on Beinn Sgritheall
Route: Beinn Sgritheall
Munros: Beinn Sgritheall
Date walked: 21/05/2017
Time taken: 5 hours
Distance: 10.8km
Ascent: 1099m
We chose Beinn Sgritheall as my Husband had not been out for over a year and since its billed as 4-6hours we thought it would be easy - Its not! It seriously commands respect!
We had camped between Glen Elg and Arnisdale so by 6:30am we were driving into Arnisdale, the road scattered with curious majestic deer all blowing cold misty air from their nostrils. Shadow in the back was tense, focused and I think in complete heaven lol Deer are his absolute favourite animal to "herd".
We kitted up and were soon making our way up the slope. The path was pretty clear, the morning beautiful and my husband suggested a long break on the summit enjoying some food and admiring the views - little did we know! The path is steep, it winds its way up between the hills of Beinn na h-Eaglaise and the top neighbouring Beinn Sgritheall. It is continuously steep until you reach the bealach where one is granted a quick breather near a small lochan. Then its off to the left and up even steeper ground. Shadow and I took a direct line over the scree but my husband found a path that was well defined and we scrambled over to join him. This had to be THE path everyone took right? Well maybe but this got steeper and more and more loose. I had the advantage of Shadow who is tied to me and acts like a permanent leader in rock climbing giving his hapless partner a constant tight rope. My husband on the other hand didn't have him and started to loose his nerve. It was one of those slopes that was loose, steep and you just had to keep going. There was no way were going back down this way! Ok, possibly we would have made it - bums, hands etc but if there was a safer option down we were going to find it.
Finally it leveled off and we spotted a cairn nearby only to realize that this was a top and not the summit - did I mention we didn't have a map! I admit false summits are demoralizing but we deserved it after not perhaps not giving Beinn Sgritheall all the respect he deserves - and commands. We headed off for the true summit all the while scouring the land for a safer return. The summit did indeed yield some of the most gorgeous views and that area including Knoydart is fast becoming my favourite place of solitude. However our half hour break did not happen. It was freezing! the wind chill was biting, there was not much shelter and yes our nerves were a little frayed. We headed down the western slope which is a fantastic route. Its steep, interesting, loads of good solid hand holds and the views out over towards Skye was breathtaking. It was hard going, long and arduous but so rewarding. After the bealach you descend into a forest that is quite simply pretty with an incredible amount of biodiversity. Finding a large rock we took a breather looking out towards Knoydart - and trying to remove the more than 100 ticks that had taken refuge on Shadow.
Once back on the road it was an easy 2km walk back to the car.
I can highly recommend this walk, its interesting its diversified, it has stunning views but give it the respect it deserves!
We had camped between Glen Elg and Arnisdale so by 6:30am we were driving into Arnisdale, the road scattered with curious majestic deer all blowing cold misty air from their nostrils. Shadow in the back was tense, focused and I think in complete heaven lol Deer are his absolute favourite animal to "herd".
We kitted up and were soon making our way up the slope. The path was pretty clear, the morning beautiful and my husband suggested a long break on the summit enjoying some food and admiring the views - little did we know! The path is steep, it winds its way up between the hills of Beinn na h-Eaglaise and the top neighbouring Beinn Sgritheall. It is continuously steep until you reach the bealach where one is granted a quick breather near a small lochan. Then its off to the left and up even steeper ground. Shadow and I took a direct line over the scree but my husband found a path that was well defined and we scrambled over to join him. This had to be THE path everyone took right? Well maybe but this got steeper and more and more loose. I had the advantage of Shadow who is tied to me and acts like a permanent leader in rock climbing giving his hapless partner a constant tight rope. My husband on the other hand didn't have him and started to loose his nerve. It was one of those slopes that was loose, steep and you just had to keep going. There was no way were going back down this way! Ok, possibly we would have made it - bums, hands etc but if there was a safer option down we were going to find it.
Finally it leveled off and we spotted a cairn nearby only to realize that this was a top and not the summit - did I mention we didn't have a map! I admit false summits are demoralizing but we deserved it after not perhaps not giving Beinn Sgritheall all the respect he deserves - and commands. We headed off for the true summit all the while scouring the land for a safer return. The summit did indeed yield some of the most gorgeous views and that area including Knoydart is fast becoming my favourite place of solitude. However our half hour break did not happen. It was freezing! the wind chill was biting, there was not much shelter and yes our nerves were a little frayed. We headed down the western slope which is a fantastic route. Its steep, interesting, loads of good solid hand holds and the views out over towards Skye was breathtaking. It was hard going, long and arduous but so rewarding. After the bealach you descend into a forest that is quite simply pretty with an incredible amount of biodiversity. Finding a large rock we took a breather looking out towards Knoydart - and trying to remove the more than 100 ticks that had taken refuge on Shadow.
Once back on the road it was an easy 2km walk back to the car.
I can highly recommend this walk, its interesting its diversified, it has stunning views but give it the respect it deserves!
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Comments: 1
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Bushbaby
- Location: Kinrosshire
- Activity: Munro compleatist
- Mountain: Injasuti
- Place: Balnakeil Bay
- Gear: Buffalo Jacket
- Ideal day out: Endurance. Long day out with multiple objectives and some interesting scrambles.
- Munros: 193
- Corbetts: 50
- Fionas: 6
- Donalds: 7
- Sub 2000: 17
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- Trips: 1
- Distance: 10.8 km
- Ascent: 1099m
- Munros: 1
- Trips: 2
- Distance: 38.2 km
- Ascent: 1878m
- Munros: 1
- Sub2000s: 1
- Joined: Mar 22, 2013
- Last visited: Apr 21, 2024
- Total posts: 5 | Search posts