walkhighlands

Maol Chean-dearg - rocky mountain high

Route: Maol Chean-dearg ascent, Coulags

Munros: Maol Chean-dearg

Date walked: 03/04/2021

Time taken: 8 hours

Distance: 14km

Ascent: 932m

The weather forecast was tremendous for the Saturday and turning nasty Sunday onwards. The 'stay local' order had replaced 'stay at home' and to top it all, it was my birthday! :clap: My daughter was up from Edinburgh (in our bubble), so we agreed it would be remiss not to head out and stretch our legs. I had attempted Maol Chean-dearg once before, but high winds turned me back at the bealach, so I was keen to return, especially as the fine day promised wonderful views.

We picked up my other walking buddy Evie the lab from my friend on route and arrived at the little car park at Coulags later than expected after much faffing about looking for her lead. I almost said "ach, never mind it" as she walks to heel and has really good recall, even although she's not my dog, but thankfully we persevered until the lead was found.

The car park was busy, but we managed to squeeze in and we were off and running (not literally) by the back of 11am.

Once through the gate, the farmer shouted over to get the dog on the lead as there were pregnant ewes further along. Thank goodness we had her lead, otherwise the walk would've been abandoned before we'd even started! And a reminder to always take the lead, no matter what.

It was a cracking day and we were down to our t-shirts before we crossed the wee bridge over the Fionn-abhainn river. It's a really lovely walk along an excellent path and we soon reached the Coire Fionnaraich bothy. We sat on the step and had a drink and a mars bar and it was just lovely. A right wee suntrap - I could have happily sat there all day! But there was a hill to climb and Evie was running back and forth, eager to get going.
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Footbridge over the river

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Looking back at the bothy


Just past the bothy, the path disintegrates into a short boggy section which we managed to negotiate with a hop, skip and a jump. We met two ladies who were walking to Loch Coire Fionnaraich and we said cheerio at the wee cairn marking our left hand turn up towards the bealach, with a clear view of our hill ahead. The path up is pretty good in the main - a bit rough in places but a thoroughly enjoyable walk up. The views looking back were wonderful and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
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Path up to the bealach

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Looking over to Beinn Eighe from the zig zags

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Maol Chean-dearg comes into view



Once at the bealach, we were greeted with the majestic sight of An Ruadh-stac - what an absolute beauty and we will definitely return to climb it at some point. I was sweating like an old horse by then and a wee dook in the lochan below crossed my mind for a brief moment – it looked so inviting! Two guys arrived on mountain bikes just after us on their way to Annat. I mean, that's just showing off right?!
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An Ruadh- Stac


We stopped for a bite to eat and a breather before we set off up the scree section. The WH report describes this section as short, which I suppose it is relatively speaking, but I felt it went on forever. :shock: :shock: I found it a real chore and couldn't wait to get onto the promised grassy plateau. My daughter was leading the way, firing up it like a mountain goat and there were a couple of guys behind me and I felt under pressure to get a move on. I was also aware that I was sending a wee rockfall their way every now and then!
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Looking up to scree section from the bealach


My delight at reaching the top of the steep scree section was short lived however, as I looked ahead at the next boulder strewn section! By this point, I was tuckered out and starting to feel my age. :( We surveyed the way ahead and it's a case of just picking your way up as best you can over the boulders - it doesn't really matter which line you take. Various songs popped into my head as I hauled myself up the never-ending steep pile of boulders, occasionally on all fours. There was a bit of artistic license going on, as words were changed here and there. "It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to" became a particular favourite.
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Looking back down to the bealach

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Tackling the boulder field


Eventually, hallelujah brother - the summit cairn came into view. The sore legs and back were forgotten as we gawped at the views all around us. Beinn Alligin, Liathach, Beinn Eighe, Beinn Damh. We could see the Cuillins and lots of other mountains and ranges I don't know the names of! It was breathtakingly beautiful and well worth the effort to get there.

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Beinn Alligin

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Liathach

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Beinn Damh

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Summit cairn

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Summit cairn



You'd think the summit cairn was specially built for our socially distanced times, with its wee dookits and we sat for a while, eating our picnic and savouring the view. But time waits for no-one. It was half three already and we'd said to my husband (who was cooking a birthday dinner for me) that we'd be home by seven. Fat chance!

There’s a couple of wee cairns marking the return and we started to pick our way down the boulder field and let me tell you, the air was blue. My hips and knees were sore and I found it really quite arduous. A couple of other walkers just seemed to run down :shock: It would be all too easy to fall and break an ankle or worse on this stuff. I’m going to digress for a moment if I may, but coming down the boulder field reminded me of a skiing holiday, when at the end of a hard day, we got lost on the way home and ended up on a really punishing mogul field. About three quarters of the way down, I fell, and I was so exhausted, I couldn't get up. The liftie guy was waving madly, shouting at us to hurry up as the lifts were closing, but all my energy had evaporated. So, the liftie walked up the piste, hauled me up, picked up my poles and gave me a horsey back down to the chairlift!!!! :lol: :lol: I was mortified and grateful in equal measure. There is a photo of the ‘incident’ in the loft somewhere – I must dig it out!

Anyhoo, back to 2021, and while there wasn't a fit (in more ways than one if you get my drift) :wink: liftie around to carry me down to the bealach, the memory made me chuckle and cheered me up enough to make the descent slightly more bearable.

Coming to the end of scree section, we contemplated a wee shortcut down onto the zig zags, but thought better of it. It looked quite steep and we really ought to stick to the path anyway. A bit further down the zig zags, I filled my water bottle up at the burn. I don't know if I was just dehydrated, minerals in the water or what, but once I took a good long drink, I got a second wind and had a spring in my step all the way back to the car.

It had taken us 8 hours in all - we did stop a few times, but not that often and we stayed on the summit for maybe half an hour. I had to phone my husband to delay the birthday dinner by and hour and half – oops! It was a hard slog – just like childbirth really – hell at the time, but hugely rewarding once it’s over with!

A word of warning for those contemplating taking dogs – pregnant ewes aside. The boulders and scree skint Evie’s paws quite badly. There were other dogs on the hill and I obviously don’t know how they fared, but I had to return Evie to her mum a bit bruised and battered, so just something to bear in mind if your dog isn’t used to that kind of terrain.

On the drive back to Inverness, we reflected on the difficult past year with the pandemic and how lucky and grateful we are to live in the Highlands and to be fit and healthy enough to climb to the tops of mountains. Very lucky indeed.

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Comments: 4



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Joey


User avatar
Location: Inverness
Interests: Hillwalking, skiing, golf, socialising.
Activity: Mountain Walker
Place: Anywhere along West Coast
Gear: My Meindl Bhutan boots!
Member: Walk Highlands!
Ideal day out: Reasonably challenging without being hairy scary

Munros: 66
Corbetts: 8
Fionas: 2



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Statistics

2021

Trips: 1
Distance: 14 km
Ascent: 932m
Munros: 1

2016

Trips: 2
Munros: 5

2015

Trips: 2
Munros: 2

2014

Trips: 1
Distance: 14 km
Munros: 1

2013

Trips: 1
Munros: 2


Joined: Jul 29, 2013
Last visited: Feb 12, 2024
Total posts: 96 | Search posts