Monday 30th June 2008
After the rain the day before it was a relief when the rain held off for most of the day giving me an enjoyable walk on a fabulous mountain. I had originally planned to go across the Five Sisters, but something had put me off, there seemed to be something about them that intimidated me; it could be just the sheer scale of them, a traverse of the whole ridge seemed like a major undertaking, one that I didn’t feel I was ready for, or had enough time. The approach was taking me such a long time that I decided I would need to start a lot earlier for a proper walk over those bastions of Kintail. My eye instead wandered over to Beinn Fhada (or Ben Attow, whatever you want to call it, somehow I can’t see how Fhada could be pronounced Attow) and its enticingly serrated ridge. After already walking for a couple of hours to get to its foot I proceeded around the back of the mountain into Gleann Choinneachain where I had a tremendous walk through a spectacular valley past waterfalls in a wonderfully ungrazed area. This enclosed area was full of all sorts of plants and young trees and was delightful to walk through, so it’s a pity that more of the countryside isn’t like this instead of being eaten clean by sheep or as is often the case in the Highlands, deer. I suppose if there were no grazing animals at all, the countryside would eventually become a dense wild wood and ruin any views of the mountains. Perhaps, but for the time being I like these untouched areas like those in this valley.
Eventually the path crossed the river and began to climb steeply into Coire an Sgàirne. The path at this point in the walk was really good, because it is in National Trust for Scotland territory and has been extensively repaired and well-graded. The walk up to the summit plateau was therefore a delight from beginning to end from the lovely valley through to the awesome rock scenery in the corrie on a wonderfully graded path. At the top of the path, on the edge of the corrie, I stopped for lunch before continuing up to the summit of the Munro. Despite the encroaching clouds I still had views from the top as I surveyed the stunning scenery around me. With the weather worsening I descended the shallow slopes of the summit plateau and crossed to the subsidiary top, Meall an an Fhuarain Mhóir, and despite light rain and a bleak landscape this was an enjoyable crossing. I was at top of a mountain in poor weather but snug inside my waterproofs I was completely prepared for the conditions.
Once at the top of Meall an Fhuarain Mhóir I had a view of the fabulous ridge that lay before me, and it looked tremendous and even better to walk. The weather improved as I began the exciting traverse of the narrow ridge high above the valleys, and although it was a little nerve wracking at times it was not too bad and I was able to enjoy every minute of the traverse. Half way along I descended steeply to a col at the top of Coire Caol where I had to climb up almost a cliff face to continue the traverse. This was the only real scramble of the day and it wasn't too difficult and soon I was able to mount the top, Sgùrr a’ Choire Ghairbh. Pausing near the top I rested and surveyed the stunning surroundings. The clouds had lifted from the Five Sisters across the valley and afforded me with great views of those awesome mountains and many others around.
The ridge continued, wider but more unevenly along the serrated edge that I had seen from the valley on my approach; this involved climbing many small rocky hills and then back down them, repeatedly, over and over again. This was not only tiring, but time-consuming, so I thought I'd never reach the end of the ridge, however eventually I did, which left me with a steep descent, at first over rocky ground, and then down a soft grassy slope. My descent brought me to the top of Beinn Bhuidhe from where a steep grassy slopes eventually brought me back to my outward route. There now only remained a couple of hours of walking to get back to the youth hostel, which seems to be a common occurrence in Scotland where all distances are long and no walks are short.
This may have not been the walk that I had originally planned to do on this day, but it turned out to be a fabulous walk over a great mountain with so many fantastic features. The valley approach was wonderful, the corrie climb below towering rocky cliffs was awesome and led me up to an enjoyable summit plateau and a brilliant narrow ridge. The Five Sisters would have difficulty following that.
After the rain the day before it was a relief when the rain held off for most of the day giving me an enjoyable walk on a fabulous mountain. I had originally planned to go across the Five Sisters, but something had put me off, there seemed to be something about them that intimidated me; it could be just the sheer scale of them, a traverse of the whole ridge seemed like a major undertaking, one that I didn’t feel I was ready for, or had enough time. The approach was taking me such a long time that I decided I would need to start a lot earlier for a proper walk over those bastions of Kintail. My eye instead wandered over to Beinn Fhada (or Ben Attow, whatever you want to call it, somehow I can’t see how Fhada could be pronounced Attow) and its enticingly serrated ridge. After already walking for a couple of hours to get to its foot I proceeded around the back of the mountain into Gleann Choinneachain where I had a tremendous walk through a spectacular valley past waterfalls in a wonderfully ungrazed area. This enclosed area was full of all sorts of plants and young trees and was delightful to walk through, so it’s a pity that more of the countryside isn’t like this instead of being eaten clean by sheep or as is often the case in the Highlands, deer. I suppose if there were no grazing animals at all, the countryside would eventually become a dense wild wood and ruin any views of the mountains. Perhaps, but for the time being I like these untouched areas like those in this valley.
Once at the top of Meall an Fhuarain Mhóir I had a view of the fabulous ridge that lay before me, and it looked tremendous and even better to walk. The weather improved as I began the exciting traverse of the narrow ridge high above the valleys, and although it was a little nerve wracking at times it was not too bad and I was able to enjoy every minute of the traverse. Half way along I descended steeply to a col at the top of Coire Caol where I had to climb up almost a cliff face to continue the traverse. This was the only real scramble of the day and it wasn't too difficult and soon I was able to mount the top, Sgùrr a’ Choire Ghairbh. Pausing near the top I rested and surveyed the stunning surroundings. The clouds had lifted from the Five Sisters across the valley and afforded me with great views of those awesome mountains and many others around.
The ridge continued, wider but more unevenly along the serrated edge that I had seen from the valley on my approach; this involved climbing many small rocky hills and then back down them, repeatedly, over and over again. This was not only tiring, but time-consuming, so I thought I'd never reach the end of the ridge, however eventually I did, which left me with a steep descent, at first over rocky ground, and then down a soft grassy slope. My descent brought me to the top of Beinn Bhuidhe from where a steep grassy slopes eventually brought me back to my outward route. There now only remained a couple of hours of walking to get back to the youth hostel, which seems to be a common occurrence in Scotland where all distances are long and no walks are short.This may have not been the walk that I had originally planned to do on this day, but it turned out to be a fabulous walk over a great mountain with so many fantastic features. The valley approach was wonderful, the corrie climb below towering rocky cliffs was awesome and led me up to an enjoyable summit plateau and a brilliant narrow ridge. The Five Sisters would have difficulty following that.
No comments:
Post a Comment