Munros: Maol Chean-dearg
Corbetts: An Ruadh-stac
Date: 21/09/2019.
Distance: 18 km.
Ascent: 1400m.
Time: 8 hours, 30 minutes.
Weather: Warm, sunny, breezy early on.

A rare weekend back in Inverness, and the weather was looking fantastic on Saturday. As we had come up the road rather late the night before, I wasn't in the mood to get up early. But no worries - there are plenty of great places within an hour's drive .

We had initially considered An Teallach, but the wind was looking rather brutal, so we opted for something a little less exposed. An Ruadh-stac was an obvious choice, with Maol Chean-dearg as a potential add-on. Finally on the go from Coulags shortly after 11am, we left the busy parking area behind and headed up towards the Coire Fionnaraich bothy.



An Ruadh-stac


Coire Fionnaraich bothy

It's always difficult to tell how well glens will recover from hydro scheme development when they are in the middle of being built, but Coire Fionnaraich seems to be faring pretty well. 5 years ago I wasn't even aware it was to be developed; 2 years ago it looked a complete mess, and now things largely seem to have returned to how they were - even the upgraded stalker's path is of a pretty similar character to previously. With some of the mess around at the moment (particularly where restoration hasn't been carried out properly), it can be quite pleasing to see that it is quite possible for areas to recover fairly quickly.


Clach an Fionn-chon and Fuar Tholl


Maol Chean-dearg


Back to Fuar Tholl

We made a reasonable pace up to the col below Maol Chean-dearg, where we stopped for lunch. We were quite well protected from the wind here, but it could be seen making dramatic patterns on the loch below. We decided to go for An Ruadh-stac first - Jackie's bagging instinct meant that if she decided she only wanted to go up one hill, it should be the one she hadn't been up before


Meall nan Ceapairean


Beinn Damh


An Ruadh-stac from Bealach a’ Choire Ghairbh


Loch Coire nan Ruadh-stac and Beinn Damh


Maol Chean-dearg


South of Strathcarron


On An Ruadh-stac


Looking up the slabs

Joking aside, An Ruadh-stac is the more impressive of the pair from this direction, and despite being very rocky, is barely more than a walk in the dry. Higher up, we passed a group and I spotted Greg - a friend who I'd gone to Rum with a couple of years earlier. Just before the summit, we were recognised by Gail (gld73). I was wondering who else we might bump into .


Back to Sgurr Ruadh


Ben Alligin and Maol Chean-dearg


Beinn Damh and Ben Alligin

A bit breezy at the top, but still good enough to spend a bit of time admiring the views. Regardless of which of the pair of hills is more impressive, you can't deny that An Ruadh-stac has an inferior view of Torridon. We decided that barring dramatic injuries on the way down, we'd carry on to Maol Chean-dearg.


Black Cuillin


Beinn na h-Eaglaise

A few rocks were dislodged on the way down, and Jackie managed to pick a couple of stupid routes, but we were soon passing by the loch at the base of the ridge, where a trio were setting up camp.


Nap time


Lost? Idiot!





The ascent of Maol Chean-dearg was easy by comparison, although briefly a bit of an effort in the warm afternoon. We were glad we had included it, as it definitely had the better views at this point in the day. Enough to accidentally spend 30 minutes sitting around.


Meall nan Ceapairean


Skye and Rum


Last ascent to Maol Chean-dearg


An Ruadh-stac


Liathach


Ben Eighe


Liathach


Ben Alligin


Glen Torridon and Ben Eighe


Summit Jaxter


Down to Glen Torridon


East to the other Coulin hills

I had persuaded Jackie that the east ridge was a preferable way down as it was on sandstone rather than the angular quartzite of the lower SE ridge. As usual she fell for it and after an easy start, we plowtered through steep heather on the side of the ridge before reaching flatter ground. It was Jackie's longest walk in a while and her knees didn't really enjoy my route choice (even though I found it easier)!


Walking back out past the bothy

We then strolled back out to the car in the falling light, an excellent day behind us.


Last light