After a grim winter, with 250 hours of overtime, I had a couple weeks of holiday booked in Scotland in May. The aim was to spend a week in the north, near Tongue, spend a couple of days in Poolewe, three days in Knoydart and a final few days in Tyndrum. Obviously, when planning a Scottish holiday, there is no guarantee of good weather, but I hoped I might get lucky either in Poolewe or in Knoydart. That would have enabled me climb A'Mhaighdean, or to climb Ladhar Bheinn. I wasn't sure I wanted to walk either hill without any views.

As it turned out, Poolewe was a bit thundery. I got some nice walks, however I didn't want to risk the weather on a 50 km round of A'Mhaighdean. So that Munro will have to wait for another year. But I hit the jackpot with the weather in Knoydart. Three days of bright sun and excellent visibility. So obviously Ladhar Bheinn was the first day's walk.

I was staying in Sandaig with Pete (my usual walking companion if I'm going to try any gnarly scrambles). Sandaig is a few miles from Inverie, but we got a lift there and back, avoiding a long walk-in and walk-out on an already tiring route. Our plan was to tackle a scrambling route on An Diollaid before climbing to the summit of Ladhar Bheinn, tackling its famous ridge, and then walking down over the Corbett Sgùrr Coire Choinnichean.



As the scrambling route is quite complicated, I am going to describe it separately in this report. It's an excellent route, but I want to give a proper impression of what it is like, its easier bits and its no-so-easy bits. The report of our walk over Ladhar Bheinn and Sgùrr Coire Choinnichean will be in Part 2 (available here: https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=125862). Feel free to skip ahead, if scrambling is not your thing.

Ladhar Bheinn Part 1: the scramble

We started along the Walkhighlands route, following the track/road from Inverie and then turning off along the forest track towards the Abhainn Inbhir Ghuiserein.





But past the waterfall, having crossed the river on the bridge, our route diverged from the Walkhighlands path. We followed the smaller footpath (initially boggy, but soon drying) up the Abhainn Bheag, between the crags of An Diollaid and the slabs running down the side of the Corbett, Beinn na Caillich. (Incidentally, if one is looking for a way to extend the Ladhar Bheinn circuit, climbing Beinn na Caillich first and the following the ridge around to Ladhar Bheinn looks like an excellent alternative route.)

A kilometer or so up the valley, we left the path and headed up the steep, heathery hillside towards the crags above. Highland Scrambles North describes a Grade 3 scamble up An Diollaid from this direction, calling it "by far the best scramble on the hill" and giving it two stars for quality. And having climbed it, I agree -- it is a superb scramble: varied, with plenty of choice; sometimes tricky; often thrilling; and prolonged. But definitely exposed.

The first half of the description of the route reads as follows.

Start up purplish clean slabs on the right-hand side of the face, fairly continuous but little more than walking. Follow small outcrops above until they run out, with bigger steeper cliffs off left. Walk over to these. The toe is steep and easily avoided, but small sharp holds make it much easier than it looks. Above this much easier slabs lead up to a large clean slab with more good holds. After a broad slab the ground becomes grassier, but still with small scrambly craglets which run up to a wide shelf below the upper face.

I do not know how closely we followed this section of the route. An Diollaid is not a ridge, but a wide face of crags. We were certainly in the right area. The OS coordinates for the start of the route seem broadly right, and we were heading up toward the right-hand area of a gully/stream which is certainly where the second half of the route takes over. But I am not sure I could match the descriptions in the book to particular crags and slabs.

It did not really matter, however. As we knew that we were broadly going the right way, we diverted to climb whatever looked interesting. Inevitably, this involved moving off to the right, and climbing a few slabs and ledges that were a bit beyond Grade 3 (although not horrifically exposed). All crags were optional. The pictures and descriptions below should give an impression of this section of the climb.









While some of the photos (below) of the scrambling higher on the ridge make it look harder, more vertiginous and riskier, climbing the lower slabs was much trickier: small footholds and handholds. The crags and small cliffs further up had much larger and more stable holds, and were a lot easier than they look.

After the final set of slabs shown in the previous picture, we moved left across the gully to the foot of the buttress seen below. This provided a fairly straightforward climb, although not suitable for anyone with a problem with heights.




I think that section of the climb (above) corresponds to this part of the description from the book, but I could be wrong. Our route at this point seemed roughly to match the picture from the guide:

Climb the first outcrop above the shelf, then traverse horizontally left to the first crag on the far side of a small stream/gully. Starting this direct is Moderate, but by coming in from the left big holds allow you to climb the rest of the rib direct. Continue up left on excellent rock to boulder slopes.

Following the buttress was a brief grassy ledge, with views opening up towards Rum. Then was a more scrambling up solid crags to a large boulder-strewn ledge.





The next part of the route description says this:

Just left is an irresistible pink slab above a small pool, climbed direct on superb holds. These continue on easier rock, although getting mossier, to the top of the main face.

There's not much to say about the route on that section. There's quite a bit of choice, but the scrambling is easier than it looks from below -- plenty of solid, sizable holds. At the top of that section is another large, grassy ledge, with views towards Beinn Sgritheall appearing over the horizon.



But the scramble was still far from over. The books says this:

Off left is a steep square outcrop -- reach over the biggest bit of the overhang to get a nice surprise.

We found the square outcrop. The overhang is immediately above the grassy ledge, in that you just reach up and grab it. And spoiling the surprise, here's what you'll find:




The final part of the description in the book says this:

Easy pink rock continues past perched boulders to the top of the tier. Several more short walls provide more fund with fantastic sharp holds before the 650m shoulder arrives all too soon.

I think that rather undersells the rest of the scramble. There are some fairly substantial buttresses as shown below. But the rock is excellent, as described, with plentiful holds.







Near the top, however, the route described in the book missed out what is probably the best part of the scramble. There's a sizable cliff face, slightly sloping, off to the left just above a small pool. A ledge leads across the face to a rib on the horizon, which can be climbed directly like a ladder, with excellent holds.





Yet An Diollaid still has more to give. Above the wall are a few final sections of outcrop that, like the rest of the route give excellent scrambling.





And then we were at the top.

The standard route up Ladhar Bheinn misses the summit of An Diollaid, but it is will worth a detour. It is a mass of outcrop and lochans, typical of Knoydart, with lovely, unfamilar views over Beinn Na Caillich towards Skye, and towards Beinn Sgritheall.







Well that's the end of scramble. I hope the pictures are of some use if anyone wants to do it. It is one of the best scrambles I've done in Scotland, not least because of the quality of the rock. And the approach is also easy -- a path and a little steep heather, and then the scramble begins. And once it begins it just keeps going. Almost all the crags are avoidable, but many are easier than they look. Just be careful on the lower slabs.

We had now rejoined the main Ladhar Bheinn path, but the rest of the walk is covered in Part 2: https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=125862 .