Difficult though it may be to recall given the pretty
rubbish summer we’ve had, but July 2014 saw debilitating high
temperatures in the Highlands.
Consequently, last year’s trip to the Affric hills had to be cut short
and Matt & Jenn had unfinished business to attend to in their pursuit of
Munro glory!
Tom a’ Choinich
Tom
a’ Choinich & Toll Creagach
These 2 straightforward hills provided an ideal
first day. The distances were relatively
modest and the weather pretty good - clear on top with occasional sunshine and
only a cool wind to spoil the party.
Tom a’ Choinich
We started from the Chisolm Bridge a couple of
miles short of the road-end in Glen Affric and took the track up Gleann nam
Fiadh as far as the Allt Toll Easa, but not before it had deteriorated into a
somewhat boggy wee path. Turning right uphill, we followed the burn up to the lip of Toll Easa before turning
left and climbing the craggy spur of Creag na h-Inghinn. From here, a well-defined ridge led us rather
pleasantly to Tom a’ Choinich (1112m;
hill of the moss).
Having admired the spectacular, if slightly
hazy, panoramic view, we descended steeply E to the Bealach Toll Easa (872m) before a fairly easy climb over a wide
grassy ridge placed us on the flat summit of Toll Creagach (1054m; rocky hollow).
Toll Creagach
Then it was simply a matter of descending the
gentle S slopes of the mountain to intercept the outward track in Gleann nam
Fiadh and retrace our steps back to the car.
An easy Day 1 with the serious risk of heat exhaustion now a distant memory!
Mam
Sodhail, Carn Eighe & Beinn Fhionnlaidh
There’s no easy way of capturing these 3 remote
Munros including as they do, the 2 highest mountains N of the Great Glen. But in the end, sacrificing a circular route
for better conditions underfoot gave us a 9 hr out-and-back day with reasonably
good going and a successful haul of all 3 Munros!
Starting from the road-end in Glen Affric, we
followed the track above the N shore of Loch Affric for 5 Km before taking the
long-established stalker’s path up into Coire Leachavie (now a well-engineered
vehicle track for the first kilometer due to a new hydro installation).
Sgurr na Lapaich From Mam Sodhail
At 800m, we turned N and climbed up to the
skyline before following the long narrow ridge that leads to the imposing
hollow stone cairn that crowns the summit of Mam Sodhail (1181m; hill of the barns).
Unsurprisingly, given the mountain’s height and position, the views are
mightily impressive in all directions and stretched from the Cairngorms to Ben
Nevis to Torridon in a single sweep!
It’s a short hop down and then up to the
adjoining slightly higher twin of Carn Eighe (1183m; file hill). The view
is much the same but now includes Loch Mullardoch and the adjoining peaks.
From the summit, a fairly steep, well-defined
ridge drops quickly to the Bealach Beag (832m)
from where easy grassy slopes lead to the very remote, but always welcome,
summit of Beinn Fhionnlaidh (1005m;
Finlay’s hill).
The knowledge of just how far you’ve come (and
therefore, just how far you’ve got to go) always takes the edge off the elation
of reaching such a remote summit.
Nevertheless, we were happy with our route strategy and the return to
the car passed fairly painlessly, contouring around Carn Eighe and back over
Mam Sodhail before the stalker’s path and vehicle tracks returned us to our
start point.
Having achieved what we set out to do with Matt
& Jenn completing the Affric Munros, it was time for a day off and a move
across to Kintail for some more unfinished business on the west coast. Somewhat predictably however, the weather was
about to change….
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