Beinn na Caillich and Mam na Gulainn

Sunday 4th June 2017

On the middle weekend of my holiday in Scotland I had camped beside the beautiful lochain that lies in the saddle between Sgùrr Eilde Mor and Sgòr Eilde Beag at about 750 metres above sea level. The previous morning I had woken up at five o’clock feeling very cold due to the high altitude, but I was able to snuggle up in my sleeping bag and get warm. During the early hours before this walk I was woken up at four o’clock not just from the cold but from the rain and wind that was shaking my tent and seemed to be blowing through both the tent and my sleeping bag so that I was unable to get warm or get back off to sleep. I suddenly did not want to be camped at that exposed spot anymore so I rolled up my sleeping bag, got my waterproofs on and ventured out of my tent only to be greeted by blue skies and the rain soon stopping. Although this was mildly frustrating it meant that I could take my time having my breakfast before breaking camp and heading back down the mountain. With hindsight I had probably overreacted as my tent has proven pretty resilient in the past and even survived the thunder storm the previous afternoon.

Eventually I set off down the mountain slowly descending the same path that I had climbed not only two days previously but also the day before due to my bizarre route selection. On my first ascent I had paused at the burn Allt Coire nan Laogh and considered camping there before continuing uphill. With hindsight I think this would have been a much better place as it would have been warmer, more sheltered and not required the strenuous climbs at the end of both days. Retracing my steps of the previous afternoon I followed the Loch Eilde Mor track with the view slowly brightening as the day gradually woke along Loch Leven. A shower passed overhead as I skirted around Coire na Ba where I had descended the previous day but it had stopped by the time I reached the rather grand looking Mamore Lodge where the track starts to climb once again until it reaches the West Highland Way coming out of Kinlochleven. I have walked this final section of the Way twice, first when I did the whole trail in 2004 and again in 2012 when I was feeling tired and wanted an easy walk.

Although I had been walking for almost three hours it was still only nine o’clock and I wanted to make something out of this walk. There are a couple of hills, one of them a Corbett, to the left of the valley that the West Highland Way passes through at this point and I had always wanted to climb them so this seemed to be an ideal opportunity. A boggy path comes off the busy trail dropping down to a burn on the opposite side of which the path improves immensely as it zigzags ingeniously through heather until the gradient finally eases. This good path is so brilliantly designed I think whoever built it deserves a pat on the back. After a largely flat section the gradient steepens again up what had seemed an impregnable, vertical cliff face but another well-made path worked wonders with the gradients zigging and zagging me many times up the steep hillside all the way up to the top of Beinn na Caillich. It is an utter joy to be walking on paths as good as this and the rain showers failed to quench my enthusiasm.

Unfortunately this is not the Corbett, even though it deserves to be, as there is a higher hill further along the grassy ridge. It was cold and windy on the ridge with dark clouds covering the mountains behind me, but ahead of me the weather was quickly improving with stunning views soon appearing across Loch Leven. The magnificent mountain of Beinn a’ Bheithir seemed to glisten in the sunlight and continually attracted my eye while behind me the Glen Coe mountains sat under thick clouds. This was such a spectacular sight it compensated for the dreary views ahead of the grassy mound that is the Corbett of Mam na Gualainn, nevertheless I headed up the dull slope where no zigzags or ingenious path was needed to bring me up to a cairn. Frustratingly this is not the summit and after a short drop a steeper rise eventually brought me up to the trig point that sits upon the summit of Mam na Gualainn. The sun was now shining warmly and due to my early start to the day I felt it was time I had my lunch even though it wasn’t twelve o’clock yet.

There was no cleverly engineered path to take me down the north-western slopes, so instead I had to somehow make my own way down the grassy slopes even though one is marked on maps. Occasionally one did briefly appear but it was no help in getting me down although the great weather and the stunning views along the valley that carries the West Highland Way more than compensated. Eventually I came across a narrow path that comes up over the pass from Loch Leven and I followed this as it slowly descends below the northern slopes of Mam na Gualainn into the valley. This path was a little frustrating for me as it heads towards Kinlochleven rather than Fort William where I wanted to go, but eventually it does join the West Highland Way, at the ruins of Lairigmòr, where I could turn around and head back along the trail towards Glen Nevis. Even though this day had started a lot earlier than I would have wanted it was turning out to be a rather good one with a great climb up Beinn na Caillich along some fabulous paths before walking along the ridge with stunning views over Loch Leven.

I had not expected to enjoy the end of this walk along the West Highland Way but I was pleasantly surprised, although the trail was benefiting from the good weather. When the path narrows the West Highland Way passes through felled plantations that are being allowed to naturally regenerate which produces more pleasing surroundings for me. I was even more surprised when I suddenly got a clear view of Ben Nevis, a lot earlier than I was expecting, thanks partly to the good weather but also to the felling that has cleared the views from the trail as you approach Glen Nevis. The West Highland Way does eventually deteriorate when it joins ridiculously wide forestry roads and it doesn’t get any better on the last couple of miles beside a road all the way into Fort William. Despite the depressing end to this walk I enjoyed the good weather and relished the chance to climb a couple of hills that I’ve wanted to climb ever since I first walked the West Highland Way in 2004.