Knoydart - 2010

Loch Nevis

Great weather graced our first visit of the year to the remote peninsula of Knoydart on the west coast of Scotland across from Skye. The late cancellation of Jon’s London flight threatened a hasty re-plan but as the weekend weather forecast enabled Friday to be a spare day, he was able to catch the afternoon ferry and missed nothing. Meanwhile, Gayle and I made ourselves comfortable in the best bunkhouse on Knoydart: the Old Byre. We planned to take in both Luinne Bheinn and Meall Buidhe in one long day on Saturday followed by a slightly shorter day on mighty Ladhar Bheinn on Sunday. The Monday morning ferry would take us back to the mainland – or so it always seems that way on Knoydart where you have to keep reminding yourself you are already on the mainland!

Luinne Bheinn and Loch an Dubh-Lochain

Saturday started with the customary and unavoidable hike up to Mam Barrisdale (450m), a 3-hr walk on a reasonably good track for most of the way past an old fish hatchery and Loch an Dubh Lochain (black loch). A highlight today was the sight and sound of snipe darting above us with their distinctive ‘drumming’ created by their tail feathers. Sandpipers were playing along the loch shore but deer were nowhere to be seen. The track becomes a path that climbs up to the pass that heralds the start of the actual ascent of Luinne Bheinn (939m; swelling hill). The route is fairly easy, even in mist, as a line of rusting fence posts carry you around the southern flank of the hill before you strike for the summit up steep grassy slopes. The view to the north is stunning across Loch Hourn to Arnisdale and dear old Beinn Sgritheall, a favourite and memorable wee Munro.

Sgurr na Ciche From Meall Buidhe

Below you to the south the great ice-scoured corrie of Choire Odhair (dun-coloured corrie) fills the foreground and it is around the headwall of this mighty bowl that a good path leads you around to Meall Buidhe (946m; yellow hill). In clear conditions this hill always give great views to the west out over the sea and the islands of the Inner Hebrides. As it’s generally late in the day when I’m up here, these views are always enhanced by the sun sinking in the western sky and its shimmering reflection on the water. From the summit a long grassy ridge stretches south-westwards directly towards Inverie. You can descend from this ridge at the 500m level and drop down to a footbridge in Gleann Meadail. By late June however, the ferns are rampant on the lower slopes so we elected to stay with the ridge (Druim Righeanaich) all the way until it deposited us on the flat bogland opposite the Kilchoan estate bothy. A short walk across the dry bog and a convenient (but essential) bridge carried us back to our outward track and back to Inverie. It was a long day (25km; 9½ hrs), and tiring, but it breaks the back of the Knoydart Munros and leaves you with a more straightforward day to finish with for Ladhar Bheinn.

Ladhar Bheinn From the Folach Track

The horror that is wading through waist-deep ferns influenced our route selection on Sunday too! We decided to tackle Ladhar Bheinn directly from the south via the old shepherd’s cottage at Folach. Once you can fight your way out of Inverie (the track is not clearly marked and the pier has moved) you just follow the vehicle track north out of the trees and across the open pass of Mam Uidhe before dropping down to the bridge at Folach. Ladhar Bheinn is in view from the pass onwards and it’s not too long before you are climbing up easy grassy (and fern-free) slopes of An Diollaid on a sketchy path to the skyline.

Coire Dhorrcail

Again, great views open up to the north and the steep craggy cliffs of the mountain’s northern aspect contrast strongly with the more gentle grass on the southern slopes. The almost level summit ridge of this great mountain is punctuated by 3 cairns and a trig point; the actual summit is the cairn between the trig point and the eastern-most cairn – Ladhar Bheinn (1020m; hoof hill) From here spectacular views can be had in all directions. Mighty Coire Dhorrcail falls away beneath you, the mountain’s defining feature, whilst Barrisdale Bay, Loch Hourn and the other Knoydart peaks fill the eastern panorama.

Beinn Sgritheall and Arnisdale Across Loch Hourn

We returned the same way, heavy showers ensuring we didn’t get away scot-free. It didn’t matter however, we’d stood on 3 cloud-free summits and seen a lot of what Knoydart has to offer – wild country, great peaks and the unshakeable sense of being on an island. Don’t ever change!

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

Knoydart

The Approach From Mallaig

One day, The Professor, the Teacher and Superman gathered at Mallaig harbour to go Munro-bagging in Knoydart! I was leading 3 of Darren’s clients from http://www.hebrideanpathways.co.uk/ on a 4-day walkathon over the 3 Munros on this near-deserted peninsula of quintessential Scottish Highlands. The weather was on the good side of great and ensured clear views from all 3 summits and suntans all-round! We were staying in Torrie Shieling bunkhouse near Inverie, the only settlement on a peninsula that used to be home to several hundreds of people before sheep, deer and autocratic landlords conspired to drive them from their homes and away to the coast and then across the ocean! Logistics is the key to a successful Knoydart trip so the leader forgetting his towel and, more importantly, the spaghetti, made for an inauspicous start. Thanfully, clients Peter, Ray and Chris - and, unusually, Darren - were very kind and didn’t really go on about it very much........! Anyway, my delicious Bolognese sauce doesn’t require any pasta accompaniment, so there!

Meall Buidhe - and that Memorial!

A morning ferry from Mallaig on Day 1 ensured time was available to walk up the Barrisdale track, past the Brockett Memorial (a previous landowner’s disproportionate memorial to his family) and up Glean Meadail to climb Meall Buidhe (946m). From here there are good views to the east over the Rough Bounds of Knoydart and north across Choire Odhair to a tantalisingly close (but not THAT close) Luinne Bheinn, a second Munro that can be combined with Meall Buidhe to make a satisfying 2-Munro day. Today, however, a strong wind and travel fatigue combined to encourage us to descend Meall Buidhe’s long western ridge that leads in the general direction of our bunkhouse – a significant factor in today’s decision-making process! So it was back down into Gleann Meadail and along the Barrisdale track and past the Brockett Memorial, for some delicious Bolognese sauce! Pasta is so over-rated don’t you think?

Ladhar Bheinn

Day 2 was reserved for mighty Ladhar Bheinn (1020m) – pronounced Larven - a big mountain with more than its fair share of stunning rock architecture, impressive ridges and cavernous corries. There are no short cuts from Inverie so you have to work for your summit! Choose the right day though and you will be rewarded with spectacular views from the most westerly Munro on the Scottish mainland. In particular, the views north across Loch Hourn to Arnisdale and Beinn Sgritheall and down to Barrisdale in the noth-east emphasise Ladhar Bheinn’s splendid isolation. After my ceaseless attempts to get everyone interested in mountain flowers, I was greatly heartened when I thought I detected a nanosecond of excitement when Superman discovered an orchid! It didn’t last! Our approach gave us a bird’s eye view of the mountain’s pre-eminent feature: Coire Dhorrcail, a huge steep-sided corrie shaped by earth movements and ice into a stunning, silent ampitheatre. For a mountain with such stunning approach climbs, Ladhar Bheinn has a curious summit – a tent-shaped ridge complete with 3 summit markers (a bit like Beinn a’Ghlo – see April): 2 cairns and a half-destroyed OS trig point! The high point is the central pimple. All of this comes as some surprise after the ups and downs of the outlying ridges, but its very pleasant to wander along this level 500m of ridge and your departure should not be rushed (saving for, perhaps, the onset of hypothermia)!

Summit Ridge of Ladhar Bheinn

We descended the west ridge towards An Diollaid and peeled off down to Folach where a spot of rain tried to dampen our spirits. But it needn’t have bothered – the 7 kms walk out along a forest track was sufficient! The Teacher helped us pass the time with a sort of mobile pub quiz with subjects ranging from US presidents to Top of the Pops! The Professor was very kind and let me win! As it turned out, rain gave way to a beautiful sunny evening and venison casserole at the Old Forge with a glass of Merlot seemed an appropriate signing-off for a big mountain day - 9½ hrs!

Luinne Bheinn

The final hill day saw us stride manfully once more up the Barrisdale track, past the Brockett Memorial and all the way up to Mam Barrisdale before actually getting on to our mountain and achieving our third and final Knoydart Munro: Luinne Bheinn (939m). Again, warm sunshine adorned the summit and spectacular views in every direction capped a rewarding climb. We resisted the dubious temptation to re-take Meall Buidhe on the way home and instead, retraced our steps (exactly), our tired legs slowly consuming the long miles back down the Barrisdale track, past the Brockett Memorial.............

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