Torridon

Liathach

We’re always being told (well, I’m always telling people) that May is the driest and sunniest month in the NW Highlands. Oh Yeah? Well I know an Ironman, a veterinary surgeon, and a supermum who might question that previously held presumption. It all came good in the end as you will see but along the way our week in Torridon exposed us to the full range of UK 4-season mountain weather. Any prospective undergraduate thinking of writing a thesis on the subject might like to book early for next year! Still, such an eclectic mix of backgrounds ensured we all now know a lot more than we did about the malting process in making beer, what sensible precautions to take before peering into a cow’s rear end, what Easter is really all about and what colour bricks make up the Scottish Highlands! A cosy self-catering bungalow in Kinlochewe provided the base for this springtime splash & scramble up some of the best mountains in Scotland.

Slioch

Slioch (980m)

An ideal hill to start with: an hour’s level walking to get the legs moving takes you to a delightful spot where the path crosses the fast-flowing Fhasaigh burn complete with stunning waterfall and deep pools - just as well there’s a bridge here! The path turns right here and climbs steadily up Gleann Bianasdail and up into Slioch’s central corrie which provides the only weakness in ‘The Spear’s’ summit ramparts. The path gets a big boggy in the base of the corrie but soon returns to a good quality hill path as it climbs up on to the summit plateau. There are 2 summits: the first has an OS trig point on it, but the highest point of the mountain lies a further 200m beyond from where a vast panorama opens up in all directions – allegedly! All we could see today was each other! Given the absence of grand views to the north into the Fisherfield forest, we dispensed with the option of traversing across to Sgurr an Tuill Bhàin. Instead, we retraced our steps downward pausing only for a quick lunch by the lochans. We could have shortened the day by a couple of miles but Supermum wouldn’t let us take a car so we had to walk ALL the way from the cottage and ALL the way back! What are hillwalking holidays coming to with these sort of people around! It was just as well we had Gault’s famous fish pie to look forward to!

Beinn Damh

Beinn Damh (903m)

On the way to climb Beinn Alligin it became clear we were in for another cloudy day so would miss all the stunning cliff scenery and much of the fun of traversing the Horns of Alligin. So we elected instead to climb a fine Corbett: Beinn Damh, a long 5Km ridge whose summit just happens to lie at the far end of it! An old stalkers path leads up through trees and rhododendron bushes from the recently re-developed Torridon Inn complex and climbs high above a deep gorge before opening out on to the open hillside. Supermum, having unequivocally proved that size does matter after all, had decided to remove the world’s biggest camera from her rucksack from the previous day and tore off up the mountain with the rest of us in her wake! After this, we smuggled the camera into the bottom of her rucksack in order to slow her down! The much-repaired path leads a good way up the corrie of Toll Ban towards the main ridge of the mountain but turns a bit messy and braided near the skyline. Once on the bealach however, it’s good walking underfoot before the tiresome quartzite boulders of the summit tops is encountered. These remain until the eventual summit is reached after 2 intervening tops. Again, a summit panorama was denied to us by the cloud so we retraced our steps – mind the navigation on the way back to ensure you take the north-west ridge (not the northern one) off the 868m top. Half-way down a clearance offered welcome views of Liathach’s southern terraces.

Beinn Alligin

Beinn Alligin (922m/986m)

At last we had our day in the sun! Well, it was bright and clear anyway with just the odd heavy shower to keep the waterproofs from drying out completely. A car park at the foot of Coire Mhic Nobuill between Beinn Alligin and Liathach gives access to a good path which leads directly towards and up into Coir nan Laogh. This convenient corrie leads almost directly to the first Munro of the day: Tom na Gruagaich (922m) whose northern and eastern cliffs fall vertically directly from the summit trig point. From here you can see the whole of Beinn Alligin laid out before you, a stunning vista which is reason enough to keep this mountain for a clear day! Our ascent was enlivened by the curious sight of ‘Map Case Mike’, a bespectacled, seriously academic type-looking walker who insisted on hanging a bloody great map case around his neck (why do people do that???) whilst toiling up the mountain in windy conditions! We took bets on whether he’d get airborne or garrotte himself first! Occasional snow showers accompanied us down and up to Alligin’s highest point: Sgurr Mhor (986m), whose summit cone is rent by the Eag Dhubh – a dramatic, deep cleft in the mountain which creeps up on you unannounced. We descended steeply and then enjoyed an hour’s fun scrambling over the impressive looking, but straightforward Horns of Alligin: 3 eroded sandstone towers/ridges where anyone can play at being a rock climber.

The Horns of Alligin

At one point this gallant leader had to run ahead and rescue a damsel in distress who had got herself stuck on a rock ledge whilst her bloke went off to inspect the view! Men - Pah! Then it was steeply down beside a white-water burn in pleasant late afternoon sunlight and a very pleasant return to the car. Do save this ‘Jewel of Torridon’ for a clear and preferably sunny day and follow this clockwise route. That way you have the horns to look forward to after the main summits and you enjoy a pleasant walk-out (or run) into the setting sun!

The Applecross Hills

Applecross

A return to low cloud encouraged a wee bit of sightseeing and as Supermum’s previous hard line approach to walking every possible footstep had softened (Merlot is such a powerful relaxant), we decided to drive to Applecross up over the switchbacks of the Bealach na Bà and maybe take in one of the 2 Corbetts that sit comfortably within a short stroll of the summit of that pass. A brief visit to the location for Monty Hall’s recent BBC series of life on a croft and an agreeable lunch at the Applecross Inn (only chips of the week I’ll have you know) preceded a wee amble over to Sgurr a’ Chaorachain (792m), most of it in cloud, naturally! We spent much of the return journey listening to Ironman – newly elected President of the Ford Focus Admiration Society - extolling the virtues of the Focus (one of which he owns) over the VW Golf (one of which he clearly doesn’t)! I ask you!

Beinn Eighe

Beinn Eighe (993m/1010m)

Whilst my deft matching of appropriate mountains to fit the daily weather conditions had helped save the more stunning peaks for the better days, we were now running out of choices. Only 2 days left and only 2 big mountains left to do! Consequently, it was bite the bullet time and we were forced to admit that today we would have to clamber up and along Beinn Eighe’s twisting 10Km ridge in pretty desperate conditions! Sure enough, we had this huge mountain to ourselves. An excellent path leads up from Glen Torridon up into Coire an Laoigh before turning into a steep shaley scrabble up on to the skyline. After climbing up to the trig point we made a small 200m diversion to capture the first of the mountain’s 2 Munros, Spidean Coire nan Clach (993m). It’s amazing to think that this summit was only accorded full Munro status in the 1997 Munro revision, particularly in light of today’s struggle up through the wind and rain. The rest of the day was spent mainly head down in and out of showers and in and in of cloud. I just knew the others were so grateful for my really interesting, informative and stimulating observations on subjects as diverse as solifluction levels, fucoid beds and pipe rock! Oh and there was a very occasional reference to the Pyrenees from Julie who may just have been there! In the middle of all this we stumbled upon the mountain’s highest point: Ruadh-stac Môr (1010m), had some lunch, and back-tracked to the trig point above Coire an Laoigh. Here we decided a prompt return to the glen, the car and Emma’s Thai chicken curry was preferable (but only slightly, of course) to a further 3hr tromp through the rain over Beinn Eighe’s eastern ridges! I think the party were grateful for my helpful insights into butterworts and louseworts on the way down; they just forgot to say so..... One worrying development concerning our otherwise very clever vet was her inclination to start unilaterally adding Munros to some mountains. On subsequent drives down Glen Torridon, she convinced herself that a subsidiary top of Beinn Eighe was higher than the Munro! As if the week wasn’t long enough!

Liathach

Liathach (1055m/1023m)

We always save the best until last with Hillways and this week it all came good in the end. Mighty Liathach, Scotland’s finest mainland mountain, stunning from all directions, rather than An Teallach’s asymmetric splendour (the grass slopes of ‘The Forge’s western slopes are no match for The Grey One’s cavernous northern corries). Liathach offers no comforting walk-in from the road, it’s all steeply uphill from the outset. The distances – if not the height – are short though and we made the skyline ridge in 90 minutes. From here it is always worth investing a little time and effort to visit the eastern-most top of Liathach which gives a fantastic view along the mountain as well as a wide panorama of Beinn Eighe (useful if you’ve spent the previous day on that mountain in cloud)! The next few hours were spent in an entertaining and scenically stunning traverse of one of Scotland’s finest ridges, the first part of which culminates in the highest point on the mountain: Spidean Choire Leith (1055m).

Holding Tight on Am Fasarinen!

Lunch here in warm sunshine and under blue skies is one of life’s real pleasures. After this first Munro it was down the awkward quartzite boulders of the summit cone to the beginning of an hour’s fun traversing the eroded sandstone pinnacles of Am Fasarinen. At this point, ‘Nigel’ happened upon us declaring himself lost and in need of direction. So our party of 5 briefly became 6 as we snaked our way over, along and around a succession of rock scrambles with yawning gaps below our feet and dear old Nigel bringing up the rear!

Ignoring the Drop!

Eventually, the fun ended and we were deposited on a wide, grassy section of the ridge before the final climb of the day – and week - up on to Mullach an Rathain (1023m). Here we bade a tearful farewell to Nigel and began our final descent back down into Glen Torridon. A lovely 30min stroll up the glen in 25 degree heat and with the sun on our backs brought our week to a fitting and memorable end. I’d even run out of things to say about the lousewort!

Happy Days!

A Rucksack-full of Memories

Even the best of times must come to an end and this wild, windy, but occasionally sun-kissed, week in Torridon was no exception. Wonderful company must fragment and go it’s own way and a rucksack-full of memories is all we can truly retain. We duly left early on Saturday morning to reclaim our own lives. Kev went home to fix his partner’s exploding car, Julie went home to prepare for a short walk in the Pennine Alps and Emma went home to try (unsuccessfully) to convince her children that mountain climbing was cool! For me, it was a return to Skye for a date with the Good Doctor and a Norwegian Princess! More anon.......

Check out my future plans for similar walks on: http://www.hillways.co.uk/summer/summer.htm