Corbetts: Sgurr an Airgid.
Date: 08/02/2025.
Distance: 12.5 km.
Ascent: 930m.
Time: 3 hours, 50 minutes.
Weather: Calm, sunny, not too cold.

Jackie was away down south and I was joining her for a few days from Sunday afternoon onwards, which meant I had a day and a half to get out on the hills. A couple of pints the night before meant that I wasn't after anything too long, and the weather looked just perfect out west. So I decided that Sgurr an Airgid would fit the bill. I was finally ready to start just after 1pm - even with an alternative descent route I expected to be down before dark.

While the map shows the path up to Mam na Dubharachie as starting at Lenassie further up the glen, I knew that these days the most obvious route went from very close to the A87. Good walking led to constantly improving views across Strath Croe and the end of Loch Duich - it wasn't even as cold as I thought it would be (having struggled back home with frozen doors on the van).


Beinn Fhada

Sgurr na Moraich

Path upwards

Loch Duich and Sgurr Mhic Bharraich

A Ghlas Bheinn and Beinn Fhada

Beinn Sgritheall

Up at the col it was cold enough to keep the bogs frozen and I passed a couple of groups of people descending. The path actually goes around to the shadowy northern face of the hill here rather than up the more prominent ridge that I would have preferred, but I was happy for the line of least resistance today so I didn't look for an alternative route.

Sgurr an Airgid from the col

A Ghlas Bheinn and Beinn Fhada

Applecross Peninsula

Across the N face of Sgurr an Airgid to the Red Cuillin

Strath Croe with Sgurr nan Ceathramhnan in the background

90 minutes saw me on the summit eating a late lunch. You can't argue with the views from here - that little extra distance west improves the views of Skye and the coast.

Rum and Skye from the summit

Zoom to the Skye Bridge

Beinn Fhada to the 5 Sisters

Once done with lunch I continued west to the summit of Sgurr na Seamraig and then onwards to Sgurr an Uillt Tharsuinn. The ground was pretty good although there were a couple of steeper rockier sections to negotiate. Again the temperature kept the worst of the bog frozen while still feeling fairly mild. Lower down I joined a quad track from the north for a spell, before leaving it for the top of Sgurr an Uillt Tharsuinn itself. Again, the further west the better the views down Loch Duich.

Looking back to the summit of Sgurr an Airgid

Cuillin, Loch Alsh and Loch Duich

5 Sisters, South Glen Shiel Ridge and the Saddle

5 Sisters

Beinn Bhan and the Torridon hills

Torridon

Loch Duich from Sgurr an Uillt Tharsuinn

Coire Dhuinnid

The route back from here required picking up a forestry track on the SW face of the hill - the initial descent to the 407m spot height was the steepest part of the day, and I scared a few deer while descending this. Then it was a last look west before entering the forest. The upper fence shown on the map was no more than a line of posts and the going was easy through clearings for a bit.

5 Sisters and Loch Duich

As the descent got steeper I had to enter the trees properly for a short while (mostly good underfoot) before coming out next to a deer fence which ran down the crest of the ridge. It was more open here and there were tracks (deer, I'd imagine) to follow. Then I was on the track, which was a lovely stroll in the end - barely driven on but with a dry, grassy surface and better views than I expected.

Lower down on the forestry track

Loch Duich and the Saddle

Eventually I popped out on the pavement of the A87 and followed this for a couple of minutes before turning off onto the old road where I had parked. A fantastic extension to what would have been a fairly short walk otherwise.

Since the weather was still set to be good out here but grey and miserable down south, I decided to stay out overnight even though I'd barely be doing any walking the next day. I parked up on the Bealach Ratagan for a comfortable evening and an early night.

Out of the window at Bealach Ratagan