Category Archives: Travel

Gairich, 918m.

Posted on by
Reply

14°C, falling breeze, run but rain pm hill fog too.
A very boggy approach, especially near the start, by the dam. Gairich has quite a long, gentle lead-in with steep schist rocks near the top. It took me about 5.5 hours round trip, including distractions. Scotch mist disorientated me for a short while, just at the track became indistinct.
Worse was later, without checking, I headed off on the wrong direction. A simple compass check would have prevented a 150m diversion. Embarrassing.

I was not alone on this climb, a German couple, who were not well equipped and turned back before the first steep section. They were probably dispirited by the bog anyway.
Another couple of retired teachers who probably have done all the munros but never kept a list. Some they have climbed 20 times or more. They recommended the Severn Sisters Of Kintail. Severn munros in one day!

I was delayed by that mist and the false turn, but a red car was finally visible next to mine in the dam car park. I thought a flash of headlights was visible, so I waved okay. That was kind of them to wait and check.

Falls of Glomach,

Posted on by
Reply

13°C, SW breeze that brought heavy rain later.
Rainy day walk; it’s quite logical to use a wet day to walk low level to waterfall. This one is supposed to be the highest single drop in Scotland.The walk starts after a 6 mile drive up a single-track road. There follows a Glen walk and the waterfall is up a side Glen. The side Glen is steep but to only 150m. This is also the stage where the rain started.
Beforehand, in the valley is a track that is easy walking for about 7km along a Glen that is very attractive. You can admire the clarity of the glacial features, drumlins, nunateks and various moraines.
Then you can look forward to see the most enormous Highland cattle. The adults must weigh over 2 tons, and they had calfs. Admittedly, the calfs were probably 1 year olds. But still, their curiosity was strong, as was my desire to take a wide detour.
Eventually, I got to the falls after climbing over gneiss boulders. Their grip was plenty despite the water everywhere. More frogs too.
On the return, the herd of cattle had become two, but the divisions were easier to find this time.

I have found another mountain to add to the ‘must climb’ list: Benn Bhan, in the Applecross region. It has 4 fantastic looking spurs that loom out of hill fog in an intoxicating way.

Part 2: Maol Chean-dearg, 933m.

Posted on by
Reply

Rain cleared before dawn. 12°C, building breeze.
Woke before 6 and fixed breakfast. Re-packing the bag took a while but I made time for sweeping out the bothy.
My sleep in the night was good but had a strange interruption. From deep sleep, my mind was penetrative by a sound. At first like an approaching steam train, all thundering and chuffing. The sound got closer to the bothy, the thundering deeper and deeper. And an unearthly grunting and chuffing. It was a herd of deer, maybe in stampede. I have been spooked by deer before, at Glenfinnan for example. Still wary of them.
Anyway, back to my ‘adventure’. I left the bothy at 8am and got to the bealach by 10. The climb only took an hour and a half. It starts over brittle, sharp quartzite. More quartzite, loose and steep, then to more friendly sandstone. Quartzite seems less likely to be consolidated by organic matter, and much looser on steep slopes. The summit is found after several ledges of pillow like sandstone. It has the best cairn I have seen. It has six shelters arranged like an asterisk.
The summit was a bit cold to spend long there. The strong wind saw to that.I met and chatted to few people on the way down, but I was definitely the first up.
Something caught my eye on the way back to collect my stash. The Mountain opposite. It lifted from the same bealach as MCd. But the curves, textures and shapes in the quartzite captivated me. The way the inclined layers blended into the bealach reminded me of those fascinating forms you can find in comes. I will have to spend a day with this mountain.
On the walk out, I took my time. The loch beneath the day’s summit has beaches. I couldn’t resist washing my feet in it’s pure, clear waters. Lovely.
The day drew to a close with improving skies and stronger wind.

Part 1: Sgurr Rhuadh, 966m.

Posted on by
Reply

Bright sun and stiff breeze to start. Ended with rain set-in and building wind. 12C,
I lie alone in a bothy with roaring wind outside. Here’s what I have done:
Sgurr Rhuadh, a fairly remote munro that requires a long walk-in. Thus, I hatched a plan, make the summit from Torridon, and stop in a bothy. Then wake up and climb Maol Cheam Dearg, from there, return to Torridon.
I committed to the approach from the north because I stashed my heavier kit under an overhanging sandstone boulder. So my route had to be an out and back. So far so good.
Despite there being no indication on the map, or the guidebook, there actually is a decent path up the ridge to the summit. I found it on the way down.
image
Today’s walk was characterised by sharp, brittle clinking quartzite boulders. They are more slippery than they look. It’s not the quartzite at fault, it’s lichen. Oh, and frogs everywhere. Big ones, tiny ones but all with similar colouring. The colour scheme is the same idea, at some are more black than others. All keen to jump out of my way, all elbows and knees.
Eventually, I made it to the bothy. On the way stood an isolated sentinel stone, bright white with lichen. In that light, the owns in the structure could have been crafted by a 1960’s sculptor. It is far older than that. The bothy is an old crofters house, now owned by the estate and used as a mountain hut by the Mountain Bothy Association.
image
Nevertheless, it looks like a good place to make up ghost stories. A few trees have been planted nearby, and as I plodded to towards, I was convinced that they were people by the house.
The place was empty. In good condition outside, even the windows were tidy. Inside was all wood clad, in dark brown. These places are very sparse, Capel  any furniture, not even bunks. You have to choose room and sleep on the floor. I picked upstairs facing the river.
Now to settle in and find how well I have packed.

Torridon rest day.

Posted on by
Reply

16°C, fine summer’s day.
Some breeze has kept the midges under control. However, though I feel the enthusiasm, as soon as any walking turns uphill, then my legs complain. Therefore, cafes, drives to interesting places and general slowness is on order.
Thinking, talking on the summits yesterday turned to those without a head for heights. I announce that I have a theory: it runs in parallel to motion sickness. That’s when  our inner-ear balance organs disagree with what you see. The comparison is valid in my little theory, one I dreamt up while traveling along a ridge.
Normally, you walk along and the ground appears to move beneath your feet. Also normally, the apparent movement in your peripheral vision matches that under don’t. Walking on a ridge breaks that rule. The ground under your feet, moves at about 4mph. That in the periphery, does not, it’s 2,000 metres away so looks still. A disconnect that your mind may not handle.
That’s my theory. Does it sound okay?

Atmospherics: it’s a shame, in a way, to rest on a day like this; the weather is ideal for a few summits. The sun is now down, but it has triggered some interesting effects. There are clouds forming abut 300 up, they don’t extend much higher. So the peaks here all show their summits.
The plan; to hike tomorrow and do an overnight stop in a bothy. I want to make one munro summit tomorrow and another on Thursday before returning here. They are both quite remote and no phone signal apart from on the tops. I left a route card with the mountain rescue here at the SYHA in Torridon.
I still prefer to travel solo. What rubbish do people talk about when they’re in a party? Wouldn’t it get irritating? How about not saying anything?

Beinn Alligin.

Posted on by
Reply

13°C, milky overcast and zero wind.
2 munros, Sgurr Mor, 986m, and  Tom na Gruagaich, 922.m. The Horns (Na Rathaoan) is a Corbet.
Start 9.00 and back at camp at 19.15 including walk in and out time.
The horns of Beinn Alligin: started off at 9am, and walked to the start-point. It was a mistake, because the hour that took, was time off the summits.
Anyway.
The ‘Horns’ are pinnacles which are fun scrambling places. I  went up the first one and part of the last one.
image
After these, the two Munros loom ahead. The  are not that hard, it’s just something about their ‘mood’ that is intimidating. The whole mountain group is old red sandstone, a good snag for walking. The grip is always good and there are springs not far below. That was the only problem I had, the last summit was a much because of thirst. Oh, and the midges.
The still air was perfect for midges, even at 1000m altitude. I had to eat my food pacing about to stop them building up.

Maol Chean-Dearg orbital.

Posted on by
Reply

Improving weather, 14°C, light SW and sky breaking up during.
Small summit, Bealach an Rhuadh-Stac, 603m. 7.5 hours walk, probably 12miles.
It was only supposed to be a rest day jaunt, maybe 4 hours or so. It turned into seven. In short, I did an anticlockwise circuit around Maol Chean-Dearg.
This really is the heart of the Torridonian hinterland. More old red sandstone layer cakes and iced with quartzite caps. The high point, Bealach an Rhuadh-Stac was all crunchy white quartzite, hard and sharp.

The tracks were bereft of human footprints, but mountain-bike tracks were continuous. Incidentally, there were horse’s hoof marks and a dog’s paw prints too.
There is a bothy further south, which I may use if my plan works. I’d like to do a multi-day trek to take in a few munros and wild camp too. This looks like the place to do it!
image
The forecast looks great for tomorrow, but duller on Tuesday. So to make the best use of tomorrow, I hope to go up Ben Alligin to the west of here. That will be a full day with at least two munros and views of the Atlantic.
Today confirmed that my fitness is plenty, as long as I have enough food.

Ben Eighe, 3 munros.

Posted on by
Reply

13°C, 8 at the tops, cloud about 800m, lifting later to showers. Some sunny intervals.
Majestic B. Eighe is perhaps less intimidating than other Torridonian peaks, especially Laithach.
I started the climb at 10am and made the first summit at about 12.30. From there it’s possible to go in several directions. My route was West along a white quartz ridge.that drops you down to a bealach then onto a grassy flatter summit area that would be great for a wild camp. In fact, it is reminiscent of Craig Meagaidh over by Glen Spean.
There were plenty of alpine status in flower, just like the ones in my garden.
After the second, easy summit Munro, I considered scaling Sail Mhor, but after looking at the drop down to the bealach, I turned around. That descent was almost like one of the famous buttresses. There probably is a good route, but I feared running out of time.
Back then to the cairn and down to the bealach connecting Rhuadh stac Mor. The third and last munro was easy too. From here, you could see past me Skye  in tho distance. In every direction, there were fantastic things to feast your eyes upon. East was vast expanses of space and quartzite scree. North, Slioch was just visible between rain showers.
Rain returned regularly today. That left sunny bits between and the light was magical.
image
Finally, the bit I always dread, the descent. Initially, a deep gully that looked much worse than it was. The technique was to use the sandstone blocks at the side like a staircase. Easy really. At the bottom of this stage, I could finally restock water. The most delicious spring water oozed out of the sandstone to the left.
Feeling replenished, I had the energy to tackle the descent quickly. Failing light was quite worrying by now. The views were not. Long shadows and crepuscular beams reached out from a sunset behind Ben Alligin. I can’t wait to see the photos properly
I finally reached the car at 21.50, nearly 12 hours after starting out.

To Torridon.

Posted on by
Reply

13C, low cloud but not much rain.
More driving: but yesterday was all driving too. To break it up, I hoped for a walk. AND I found one. It was near Loch Cluanie. There is a fine ridge that puts you between three Monroes. The name, Am Bathach. At the northern end is a bealach which looks like a good place to bivvy. There are banded rocks, probably gneiss, which appear to offer the right amount of shelter.
The ridge itself offered that effect where you can see the distant ground in you peripheral vision moving strangely behind the ground beneath your feet. You’d have to see it to know what I mean.
With all these choices, three summits and two escapes down, a decision had to be made.
Right at the last minute, I took the one recommended in my guide book.
Scotland has had unusual amounts of summer rain this year and much of it remains in the boggy ground. The return was very squelchy.
With a late start, I didn’t get down until 18.30 and faced a long drive to Torridon. So I ate at the Cluanie Inn. There I listened to an American girl talking to some drunk old gents about Ben Nevis. She must be planning to climb it tomorrow.

Oban, at the end of the road.

Posted on by
Reply

23°C, Clear blue and light wind.
Chased north avoiding the rain. Started at 09.15 and got to Oban at 18.00. No rush, it’s good to stopp a few times: one layby in Glen Awe, there is a marked walk in the woods to a very nice waterfall. Just what I needed when sat in the car driving for all those hours.

image

The forecast has changed, it looks like the heavy rain has tracked east and gone to the other side of Scotland.