Beinn Alligin

Wednesday 10th June 2009

I had worse weather for this walk than the day before with low clouds and heavy rain by the end of the day, however the weather wasn't too bad as I set off first thing even though there were low clouds over the highest mountains. I was walking over Beinn Alligin, a mountain that isn’t the highest in the area but is still considered one of the three Torridon giants. To start I had to walk for a couple of miles along the road from Torridon to a bridge over the river, Abhainn Coire Mhic Nòbuil, where a path on the far bank struck across the moorland and up the steep hillside. This was a good path that used the local rock well as it weaved up the hill into the impressive Coir’ nan Laogh steeply up beside the burn, Alltan Glas. It was an awe-inspiring place with precipitous slopes on both sides of the narrow corrie. After slowly climbing up the path I eventually managed to reach the top where it immediately started to rain. The sunny weather that had accompanied me during my climb deserted me by the time I reached the top and would not come back all day. After donning my waterproofs I turned to my left to walk to the end of the summit ridge at Meall an Laoigh where a prominent cairn marked a spectacular view across Loch Torridon despite the cloud that was trying to block my view. Returning to the top of the path I went over a 904m top before crossing over to the 922m top of the Munro, Tom na Gruagaich. Here the view of the onward route along the ridge to the second Munro could be glimpsed through the murky weather with the top of the Munro unseen in the clouds. At the summit I had lunch before proceeding down the steep rocky path along a narrow ridge to the ascent up to the second Munro, Sgùrr Mhór. Near the top there was an incredible sight, a deep cleft gouged out of the mountain that goes by the name Eag Dhubh, the black cleft. It was quite a scary sight, more so now with the clouds descended over the top of the Munro.

After passing over the summit I started to drop down the other side and was terrified by the sight that was revealed to me once I had descended below the clouds: the Horns of Alligin. These precipitous peaks seemed impossible to climb over and apparently there was no bypassing path as the sides were too steep. These seemed to be like the Pinnacles of Liathach that I had encountered the day before but were considerably more open and exposed. With great fear of what was to come I completed the descent to the foot of the first horn where I found a steep path that climbed up the sheer sides of the peak. Up close, this was actually a fun climb with some easy scrambling over all three horns that didn't seem too steep once I was actually on them so there was little feeling of exposure. I was able to enjoy myself quite a lot as I scrambled over them and the fun continued beyond the horns as I descended along the ridge steeply down the butt end of the ridge. Looking back it seemed impossible that I had managed to get down the sheer drop at the end of the ridge but the path was brilliantly designed to negotiate the contours easily. It was a pity the path across the moor at the bottom was so poor after such an excellent path down the hill.

Following the burn, Allt a’ Bhealaich, and then the river, Abhainn Coire Mhic Nòbuil, I returned to the road where a long walk back to the youth hostel in the rain was in store until someone felt sorry for me and gave me a lift. I wonder if this walk would have been better taken in the opposite direction whereby the Horns were tackled first rather than leaving them till last. The steep climb up to the top of the ridge would have been more satisfying than the long tedious climb into the coire. My guide books were divided on the issue of the direction so I had decided to go with the majority verdict (two against one) and do the round clockwise, which does have the advantage of leaving the best till last. I believe an anti-clockwise walk would probably have been more satisfying but ultimately what I really needed on this walk was better weather as the views were spoilt by the dreary weather and low cloud. Despite the bad weather though, this turned out to be another fantastic walk in the magnificent Torridon Mountains.