Another excellent week’s weather saw a successful
visit to Torridon that enabled Matt & Jenn to complete all the Munros in
the area as well their outstanding ones on Skye.
Slioch
Slioch
Slioch From Loch Maree
Based in Kinlochewe, the week started, as usual, with Slioch. This magnificent block of Torridonian sandstone comes complete with easy-access corrie so that the summit can be achieved by footwork alone! It’s a bit of a walk-in direct from the village, but the first 90 mins of almost level ground provides the perfect opportunity to get the leg muscles warmed up for the week.
Towards Kinlochewe
The summit was clear although billowing wisps of thin cloud - developing in front of our eyes as the air climbed over the mountain - occasionally dimmed the distant views over the Torridon mountains, Loch Maree and the Fisherfield wilderness. Slioch (981m; spear hill).
Loch Maree From the Summit
Returning the same way gave us an incident-free descent and although the walk-out seems long, it’s a small price to pay for such a fine peak.
Liathach
Liathach
I am lucky to have always enjoyed Scotland’s finest
mainland peak (the grey one) in
excellent weather. I always wait until
the best day of the week to climb it so my memories will always be good
ones. The quartzite boulders of the E
part of the mountain and the exposure of the central Am Fasarinen sandstone
pinnacles or alternative goat track may not be to everybody’s liking, but
there’s no denying this is one great mountain.
Approaching the Skyline
East-to-west is best, steeply up the almost unseen path into the hanging valley of Toll a’ Meitheach and on to the skyline in just under 2 hrs. The ridge to the highest point of the massif (and the E Munro) is straightforward and wide enough not to create too many problems. Just be careful on the quartzite if it’s wet! The final boulder field rises in a symmetrical cone to the splendid airy viewpoint of Spidean a’ Choire Leith (1055m; peak of the grey corrie ). As if to mark the occasion, a golden eagle hove into view and treated us to a clear view of its soaring prowess as we ate lunch!
Spidean a’ Choire Leith
The initial descent from the summit can be tricky in cloud. The route is not that obvious at first, but a general SW direction leads to a narrow bealach and the beginning of the Am Fasarinen pinnacles. Today, we opted for the easier option and followed the narrow goat track that traverses across the very steep grassy slopes below the pinnacles themselves.
Am Fasarinen
In less than 30 mins, we were spat out at the other end and found ourselves standing on the wide grassy shoulder that leads up to the 2nd Munro. A very obvious path leads along the grassy shoulder, rising gently to the summit of Mullach an Rathain (1023m; summit of the row of pinnacles).
Mullach an Rathain From Spidean a’ Choire Leith
The descent S into the corrie requires care at first although the path is receiving very welcome attention from an NTS working party just now so things should improve by next year. We followed the path down to the road which we then followed back up the glen in glorious late afternoon sun (as it always seems to be!) to the car.
Skye: Am Basteir & Bruach na Frithe
Am Basteir & the Basteir Tooth
On yet another bright and sunny day, we drove over to Skye and set off from the Sligachan Hotel along the familiar path across the moorland. We climbed as far as the start of the Pinnacle Ridge before veering off into Coire a’ Bhasteir and climbed the scree path up to the eponymous bealach.
The Northern Cuillin
We picked our way up and along the ever-precipitous ridge, diverging S to avoid the difficult step before climbing the final steep slopes to reach the tiny summit of Am Basteir (934m).
Bruach na Frithe From Am Basteir
This ascent can be quite challenging for many and the guys were in no mood to linger so we rapidly reversed our direction of travel and scampered back to the bealach to retrieve rucksacks and poles. Having done so, the day became significantly easier as we continued W up the clear scree path below the towering black cliffs of Basteir and its tooth and traversed the short ½ Km to our 2nd Munro: Bruach na Frithe (958m; slope of the deer forest).
Sgurr nan Gillean & Am Basteir From Bruach na Frithe
We returned E and descended into Coire a’ Bhasteir and followed the long, long path back to the Slig.
Beinn Eighe
Ruadh-stac Mor From Spidean Coire nan Clach
This was a much more straightforward day; up the excellent path from Glen Torridon and high into Coire an Laoigh. We were on the skyline in 90 mins and were standing on our 1st Munro of the day soon after: Spidean Coire nan Clach (993m; peak of the corrie of stones). It’s fairly common knowledge now, but remember the trig point at 972m is not the Munro - the latter lies 200m along the ridge to the NE!
Spidean Coire nan Clach
Then it was back to the trig point and we were soon heading W along the wide quartzite and sandstone ridge with great all-round views. We also got quite close to some red deer hiding in the northern corrie.
Red Deer
A secretive path that traverses across the steep headwall of Coire Ruadh-staca provides a helpful short-cut to the outlying spur that leads to the highest point on Beinn Eighe and our 2nd Munro of the day: Ruadh-stac Mor (1010m; big red peak).
Liathach From Beinn Eighe
The stunning view into Coire Mhic Fhearchair and the Triple Buttress suffered a little from being in shade, but there was no doubting the sheer scale of the place. We returned the same way and even found time for some sunbathing before descending easily back into Glen Torridon.
Fionn Bheinn
Approaching the Summit
We were due an easy day and duly took the opportunity presented by the close proximity of this straightforward Munro to our base. We parked in Achnasheen and took the clearly marked path through the new hydro workings and climbed along the right-hand side of the Allt Achadh na Sine.
The View East From the Summit
Once above the initial skyline at 500m, we made a bee-line for the summit of the mountain across the slightly boggy moorland and up the easy slopes to the trig point: Fionn Bheinn (933m; white hill). We were on the summit in under 2 hrs from the car.
Slioch & Fisherfield From the Summit
The return took even less time and we were back at the accommodation with half a day to spare! Given the short distance involved, the modest height climb, and the relatively easy going, this is an excellent choice of Munro for an easy day, a day of travel or a wet-weather day - where the time spent in the rain will be minimal for a Munro!
Coire
Lair: Sgorr Ruadh & Beinn Liath Mhor
Coire Lair
Our final day saw us returning to Coire Lair, above Achnashellach where 83Kt winds had blown us away in May.
Fuar Tholl
This time, much more benign conditions enabled us to complete the circuit without difficulty. As some rain was forecast later in the day, we opted to dispense with the full traverse of the quartzite ridge of Beinn Liath Mhor and decided on a clock-wise circuit.
Maol Chean-dearg & Beinn Damh From Sgorr Ruadh
Once into the upper coire, we turned left, crossed the River Lair without difficulty and climbed the excellent stalker’s path to Bhealaich Mhoir below the towering sandstone cliffs of Fuar Tholl. Turning N at the bealach, we climbed the easy slopes on a pretty sketchy path to the small summit of Sgorr Ruadh (962m; red peak).
Fuar Tholl From Coire Lair
The descent N from here is quite steep in places, but not for very long and alternate bands of quartzite and sandstone soon lead to a grassy ramp that allows for an easy descent to Bealach Coire Lair (650m) - a delightful spot in good weather, complete with picturesque lochan!
Sgorr Ruadh
The 2nd Munro is only one Km from here so it didn’t take long to climb around the initial sandstone lump, up a steep cliff (good path) and on to the quartzite boulder field that crowns the summit of Beinn Liath Mhor (926m; big grey hill).
Beinn Liath Mhor
As rain started to fall, we left the summit almost immediately and returned most of the way back to the bealach before peeling off left and descending into Coire Lair. The rain didn’t in fact amount to very much and we finished the walk in dry conditions and warm sunshine - weather that had accompanied us all through this very successful week!
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