The Arran Hills

Wednesday 11th April 2007

This walk was a big one doing the ridge on the other side of the valley from the previous day's walk and involved going over three Corbetts with some really fearsome scrambling. Fortunately the weather was brilliant with light wind (at last) and warm sunshine in amongst the breaks in the clouds. It was perfect walking weather even though not great for photos. I started the walk from the North Sannox Bridge, a mile or so north of Sannox, i.e. in the middle of nowhere with nothing there but a bridge and a small car park. Heading from the car park straight up the hill I immediately realised that I had left my walking pole behind, but since I hadn't been using one for long I soon forgot that I didn't have it. After a steep climb I crossed the heather moorland to the foot of Suidhe Fheaghas and climbed the steep face up a badly eroded path. Once out of the deep channel I climbed up to the 660m top and beheld an awesome sight of the valley ahead. I had walked in this area just the day before but I had not seen anything then because of the poor weather. The rugged mountains in this area are amazing; they are an awesome sight and as I was about to discover, very challenging. Continuing along the ridge I arrived at a steep climb with a fun scramble up to the top of Ceum na Caillich. Unfortunately this is also known as the Witch's Step, and a sheer cliff lay below me.

With considerable difficulty I scrambled back down the way I had come and tried to find a way round. This proved very difficult and I had to descend a very steep crag that would have been difficult to climb. Eventually I was at the bottom and now I had to climb back up to the top of the gap where the scrambling still hadn't ended. Another tough scramble brought me to the top of the western side of the Step and the scrambling still hadn't ended as my onward progress along the ridge frequently involved more scrambling. Right up until the top of Caisteal Abhail I had many scrambling challenges, often in descent. This walk is usually done the other way, and now I can see why.

During lunch on top of Caisteal Abhail the clouds descended turning the air very cold, but fortunately this was short-lived as while crossing the bealach to Cir Mhór the sun came back out and soon I was hot again. The rest of the walk was relatively easy and left me being able to relax and enjoy it, especially in the improving weather as I descended from the small summit of Cir Mhór towards A'Chir. I had heard that rock climbing skills are needed for a traverse of A'Chir so I gave this a miss and followed the clear path that diverts around the western slopes. Onward I avoided the ridge to Beinn a Chliabhain and instead climbed up a fun path to the top of Beinn Tarsuinn which twists and turns, constantly varying and made for an easy but fun climb.

With the sun now shining and clear views all around me I followed the ridge over Beinn Nuis, the final top of the walk, before a long but fun and relaxing descent led me all the way down to the Garbh Allt and along Glen Rosa back into Brodick. This was a long and challenging walk, but the second half proved be to relatively easy and relaxing, so overall it was a really great and enjoyable walk.