Sgurr Coire Choinnichean and Luinne Bheinn

Wednesday 6th June 2012

While the rest of the country was suffering from torrential rain in June, the west coast of Scotland was escaping it all so I was once again setting off for a good walk in brilliant weather. Although it clouded over later in the day, the weather for this walk never deteriorated so much that it prevented me from walking up a Corbett and a Munro in the stunning scenery of the Knoydart peninsula. This walk was dictated by the need to return to Inverie in the middle of the day to buy some food, specifically the local venison from the community shop that was not open early or late enough for me to visit before or after a walk. Two shorter walks were therefore required rather than one long walk. To start I climbed the Corbett that I’d failed to include in my ascent of Ladhar Bheinn the previous day. Sgurr Coire Choinnichean is the steep mountain that overlooks Inverie Bay and I had decided that the best route to take up it would be straight up the ridge from Inverie, and did I soon regret that?!! This was a ridiculously steep climb through lush-green bracken and past-their-prime bluebells up a sort of a path, but was really just a struggle up an impossibly steep slope.

As I climbed higher and higher I stopped frequently for a breath, but also to get a glimpse of the increasingly stunning view that was appearing behind me. By the time the gradient eased the ridge was narrowing and the view across Inverie Bay was awe-inspiring. In the superb weather and after climbing so high so quickly I had stunning views across the bay towards Loch Nevis and out to sea. As the ridge narrowed it grew craggier and more exciting with steep drops down either side to the valley floors far below me. There was a fabulous path along the glorious ridge with stunning views under blue skies and above blue seas that made every step a joy. When I reached the summit of the Corbett I bathed in the awesome scenery and stunning views and then turned around to enjoy that great ridge all over again. Beyond the summit the ridge widens as it undulates tediously over Meall an Ullt-fhearna down to the col where I’d joined the ridge the day before, so I felt there was no hardship in missing out on this grassy ridge. Instead I returned along the narrow ridge over the western top and turned right once the ridge broadened again and descended the wide grassy slopes around the top of Slochd a’Mhogha.

The grassy slopes above Inverie Woods took me to a forest track that led me all the way back into Inverie where I bought some venison stakes, and took them to the bunkhouse where I was staying, before setting off along the track I’d taken the day before beside the Inverie River. After having my lunch beside Dubh-lochain while dark clouds began to spread across the sky I slowly made my way along the well-made path that leads all the way over the pass of Màm Barrisdale. For those walking into Knoydart this would have been the main route into the area, starting from Kinloch Hourn and passing Barrisdale Bay before climbing over the pass. This was a very well-made path, well-graded and with clever, subtle engineering in places, but is sadly now in need of repair. At the top of the pass I turned right onto a narrow path that follows a broken line of fence posts across the southern face of the Munro, Luinne Bheinn. Despite dull, overcast views, this was a great walk with great craggy scenery, but it soon became obvious to me that the path I was on was not going up to the top of Luinne Bheinn. A quick check of the map confirmed that the line of fence posts that I was following would soon start to descend into Coire Odhair, so I abandoned the faint path and climbed up a steep grassy rake.

This strenuous climb brought me near to the eastern top of Luinne Bheinn, which has three prominent tops. I was fascinated by this and enjoyed exploring the complex summit ridge. The western top, which overlooks the Dubh-lochain valley, has a fine cairn at the top, but is not the Munro, it is not the summit. My map indicated that the middle top is the highest, so I set off along the ridge until I reached a much smaller cairn that is actually the summit of the Munro. The eastern top is slightly smaller than the other two, but there is a bit of a drop before a small scramble leads up to the top. In addition to Munros there is such a thing as Munro Tops. These are Scottish Mountains above three thousand feet with a drop of more than thirty metres, but not distinct enough to make them Munros. The western top doesn’t count, despite its cairn and its prominent view from Gleann an Dubh-lochain. The central top is a Munro, but the eastern top, thanks to its drop, is a Munro Top. I’m not actually interested in Munro Tops (I’m not really interested in Munros), but the path across to the eastern top seemed too good to ignore and the views from this top, along the summit ridge of Luinne Bheinn and across Barrisdale, were worth the effort.

With rain looking likely I passed back over the summit of Luinne Bheinn and descended the steep rocky north-western slopes to the col with Bachd Mhic an Tosaich. I found a great path down the craggy slopes but it faded into nothing at the bottom of the crags so, deciding that the fence-post path I had used earlier was a sure guide back, I descended the grassy slopes until I reached my outward route. It was now straight forward for me to return to the excellent Barrisdale path and follow that all the way back into Gleann an Dubh-lochain. The rain that had looked imminent from the top of Luinne Bheinn never really materialised, despite the heavy rain that was plaguing the rest of the country. This was a long day with two great walks up two great mountains in the fantastic Knoydart area. Both mountains have interesting summit ridges, which made up for the long walk-in required to get to Luinne Bheinn. After my second day in Knoydart I was really beginning to appreciate the fun that can be had on the mountains in the area.