A Distant Slioch & Loch a’Bhraoin
The original plan was to spend a week based in Ullapool climbing the Fannaich, Beinn Dearg and Fisherfield groups of hills. A tall order requiring quite a few things to fall into place, not the least of which was the weather....
Sgurr Breac & A’ Chailleach
The
Fannaichs (West): Sgurr Breac & A’
Chailleach
We started from the small parking area on the A832
close to Loch a’Bhraoin. The track leads
down to a soon-to-be rebuilt ruined fishing lodge surrounded by new deer fencing. A detour path leads through the small
plantation on the left to the bridge over the loch’s outflow.
Soon after, you leave the stalker’s path and
strike out across open ground heading straight for the blunt nose of Druim
Reidh. A path winds its way through the
steep crags and the top is gained without undue difficulty (although it’s a
steep old pull for the start of a long week)!
Sgurr Breac
We followed the broad shoulder all the way to
the culminating summit of Toman Coinich (935m)
which is the centre of an entertaining ridge connecting today’s 2 Munros. From this airy viewpoint, the whole of the
northern Highlands suddenly appears with wide views from the Cairngorms to
Torridon and from the Outer Hebrides to Ben Hope.
Today’s peaks are fairly close together so it
didn’t take long to head E to the flat summit of Sgurr Breac (999m; speckled peak).
Sgurr Breac
Retracing our steps, we traversed around the S
side of Toman Coinich along the rim of impressive Toll an Lochain before
climbing one last time to the grassy summit of A’ Chailleach (997m; the old woman)!
A’ Chailleach
We returned to the car via the broad shoulder of
Druim Reidh accompanied by great views across to Fisherfield and mighty An
Teallach.
Seana
Bhraigh & Eididh nan Clach Geala
Seana Bhraigh vies with A’ Mhaighdean & Lurg
Mhor for the title of most remote Munro.
Certainly, the near-14Km trek to reach its isolated summit supports such
a contention! Moreover, approaching the
mountain from the S across fairly mundane grassy slopes means you have to wait
until a few steps short of the summit before the peak’s defining feature
suddenly drops away in front of you revealing one of the finest corries in the
Highlands. Go on, take a peep - it’s
well worth the long walk!
We started from the newish car park at Inverlael
and headed up the forestry track towards the old ruin of Glensquaib where extensive
forestry operations have altered the landscape and created several new tracks.
Cadha Dearg
As such, the start of the stalker’s path up the
flanks of Druim na Saobhaidhe took a little finding but thereafter, the path does
what its always done: leads you across the wide open moorland with just a few
deer for company and no sign of Seana Bhraigh!
Eventually though, things start to happen and a string of lochans adds
some texture to the surroundings as you approach the UK E/W watershed where the
path peters out! A short section of wild
terrain (difficult in mist) leads to the majestic sweep of Cadha Dearg, a
near-perfect U-shaped glacial valley hemmed in by very impressive cliffs.
Cadha Dearg
It is as you round the head of this amazing
defile that you actually start climbing Seana Bhraigh itself. Its been a long wait! A path (sketchy at first) climbs across wet
and boggy grassland to the steepening slopes of the mountain’s S slopes until
the cairn finally appears and your whole world drops away before your eyes into
the awesome Luchd Choire. If you’re
lucky, as we were today, you’ll get amazing views in every direction, none
finer than NW to the wonderful individual peaks of Assynt & Coigach! It may be a long walk (4½ hrs) but this is a
special place. Try not to rush away. Seana Bhraigh (926m; old height).
Luchd Choire, Seana Bhraigh
We returned (almost reluctantly), retracing our
steps as far as the watershed. From
here, a rising traverse across open ground led us up grassy slopes and around
the odd snow patch to the summit boulder field of our 2nd peak of
the day (playing very much a supporting role): Eididh nan Clach Geala (927m; web of the white stones).
An easy descent, joining up the grassy patches
between the boulder fields, led us back down to the broad shoulder of Druim na
Saobhaidhe where we intercepted our inbound path. We had been lucky - it had stayed dry,
reasonably bright and fairly calm. All
of this was about to change!
The
Fannaichs (East): Beinn Liath Mhor
Fannaich, Sgurr Mor, Meal Gorm & An Coileachan
Meall Gorm
Today, we continued our quest to climb all 9
Munros in the Fannaich range during the week.
The 4 easternmost peaks, which include the range’s highest point (the
distinctive cone of Sgurr Mor), are best accessed from the Ullapool road starting
as we did from the weather station on the S side of the road close to an inflow
of Loch Glascarnoch. This gives the
shortest access to the group as well as a helpful 270m start.
From here, a narrow, but clear, path faithfully
follows the meanders of the Abhainn an Torrain Duibh for 3 Km to its confluence
with the Allt an Loch Sgeirich. Here, we
turned W over open ground to begin our ascent of Creag Dhubh Fannaich (757m) and soon after entering cloud, the
broad stony summit of our 1st Munro: Beinn Liath Mhor Fannaich (954m; big grey hill of Fannaich).
Following a short ‘delicate’ descent W from the
summit over loose boulders, we intercepted the stalker’s path that follows the
rim of the impressive corrie of Loch a’ Mhadaidh. The slope quickly increases as you climb up a
series of solifluction levels to the sharp, conical summit of the Fannaichs’
highest point: Sgurr Mor (1110m; big peak).
Sgurr Mor
All was cloudy and windy so this superb spot was
not a place to linger today, alas. There
then followed a long traverse in thick cloud, driving rain and strong, cold
winds (late June!!!) along the main spine of the Fannaichs. It was really just a matter of counting the
bumps as we struggled manfully over 2 intermediate tops to the next Munro: Meal
Gorm (949m; blue hill).
From here, more abject misery led over slippery
boulders and the wet grass of Bealach Ban and eventually to the last hill of
the day: An Coileachan (923m; the little
cock)! Another windswept and rainy
summit in the clouds!
Down we went, following the mountain’s N ridge
until Loch Gorm loomed out of the murk and we finally had a view! We traversed the W slopes of Meallan Buidhe
before crossing interminable heather nothingness aiming for the bridge over the
Albhainn a’ Ghiuthais Li. From here, the
inbound path led us back to the car and the sweet relief of home sweet
home. A pretty yuk day!
Ben
Klibreck
Ben Klibreck
We were beginning to get the message
weather-wise by now so the rest of the week was subject to some rapid
re-planning. It started today, when the
prospect of 4 big Munros in similar conditions to yesterday was firmly voted
down and we opted instead for Ben Klibreck, a remote Munro further E and
hopefully, out of the clutches of the west coast drizzle.
A long drive took us through Lairg and N on the
Altnaharra road to the usual parking spot just N of Vagastie Farm. The River Vagastie was just fordable here and
we made a boggy bee-line across the moors to the outflow of Loch nan Uan. Rising above us, like some heathery tidal
wave, were the W ramparts of A’Chioch up which we then proceeded to stagger. These safely negotiated, we turned N along
the ridge that leads to the summit slopes of Meall nan Con, the highest point
on Ben Klibreck: (962m; hill of the
speckled cliff).
We returned the same way, negotiating a slightly
easier line down the steepest slopes and re-crossing the wonderfully wet
blanket bog. We were getting used to it
by now!
The
Fannaichs (Centre): Sgurr nan Each,
Sgurr nan Clach Geala & Meall a’ Chrasgaidh
The Central Fannaichs
Having given up on tackling the Fisherfield
hills, we used our last day to finish off the Fannaichs. Starting once again from the roadside on the
A832, we took the track past Loch a’Bhraoin and on up the glen of the Allt
Breabaig. It is best to leave the
stalker’s path 50’ past the bridge, turn E for ½ Km to cross the river by
another bridge and then follow a boggy ‘path’ for 1 Km S until you intercept
the original stalker’s path again. This
convoluted detour avoids a difficult crossing of the Allt Breabaig on the main
stalker’s path.
The Allt Breabaig Glen
Two hours from the start, we reached the 550m bealach at the head of the glen and struck up open ground to the E, reaching the skyline at 810m. Here, we entered cloud so had no views for the short easy traverse S to Sgurr nan Each (923m; peak of the horses).
All In A Day's Work - Sgurr nan Each
There then followed a pretty straightforward
traverse N up grassy slopes and solifluction levels to the summit cairn and
half-destroyed trig point atop Sgurr nan Clach Geala (1093m; peak of the white stones).
Unfortunately, we had no view down
the vertical cliffs into impressive Coire Mor and the splendour of this
amazing viewpoint was rather lost on the group today.
Sgurr nan Clach Geala
Finally, a gentle descent and traverse of grassy
Am Biachdaich (place of fattening)
led us to the last climb of the day (and week) up onto Meall a’ Chrasgaidh (934m; hill of the crossing).
Meall a’ Chrasgaidh
All done, so we descended W down easy grassy
slopes and then not-so-easy heathery slopes until we intercepted the inbound
stalker’s path and retraced our squelchy steps to the car.
So, a long, hard and at times challenging week
requiring flexibility and improvisation, not to mention considerable physical
and mental effort! Nevertheless, we
achieved much of what we set out to do: the complete Fannaich range and one of
the remotest Munros (Seana Bhraigh) with the added-on bonus of remote Ben
Klibreck in the far north. The stats for
the week are pretty impressive too: 102 Km walked; 6,300m climbed and 12
Munros. Well done guys - top effort!
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