Binnein Beag and Binnein Mor

Saturday 3rd June 2017

This walk was characterised by rapidly changing weather, sunshine and heavy showers, and by indecision, but curiously the indecision was not really caused by the weather. I was camped beside the small loch that lies in the saddle between Sgòr Eilde Beag and Sgùrr Eilde Mor, which is an excellent location where I had a good night’s sleep and woke to the same fabulous sunny weather that I had enjoyed when I went to bed. Setting off along the good clear path that passed my loch I dropped down to cross the Allt Coire a’ Bhinnein before following the excellent path as it contours around Coire a’ Bhinnein. Already this walk was entertaining me as I enjoyed the good sunshine on this great path that led me to the foot of Binnein Beag where a faint path climbs the loose scree all the way up to the summit of the Munro. This mountain is an outlier of the Mamores and the most remote peak in the range so that it is the last one in the range for me to, I hesitate to use the word, bag. As I was climbing I saw dark clouds coming from the west over the Mamores slowly drowning out the gorgeous sunshine that I had been enjoying since the day before.

From the small top of Binnein Beag I headed back down the scree with my attention now fixed on the mountain opposite, the much higher neighbour Binnein Mor, that throws a craggy ridge towards Binnein Beag. There didn’t seem to be much of a path up to this ridge and a very steep bastion of rock defends the approach that did not make the ridge look easy to climb and would involve some potentially tough scrambling. Alternatively there is a distant northern ridge and a much closer eastern ridge that looked easy enough once I’d crossed the mouth of Garbh-choire. In worsening weather I crossed the saddle and made my way to the mouth of the small, rough corrie and reached the start of the easy ridge just as it started to rain. A faint path gradually materialised as I made my way up what became an enjoyably good climb on an airy ridge with hardly any scrambling required, which was fortunate in the wet weather, and led me straight towards the summit cairn of Binnein Mor. I have been to the top of this Munro twice before, first in 2006 and again in 2008, and both times bad weather prevented me from enjoying a view from the summit.

Despite the rain that had accompanied me for most of the climb I now had clear views so I see all the way along the ridge to the south top and onto the neighbouring Munro of Na Gruagaichean and the rest of the Mamores. Although the rain had stopped by the time I reached the top of Binnein Mor, the mountains to the south were still receiving a heavy deluge while the sun attempted to break through behind me creating a dramatic, contrasting view. As I made my way along the ridge to the south top I was once more undecided on my onward direction as I’d originally planned to turn left and descend Sgòr Eilde Beag back to my tent, but it was far too early in the day and the weather seemed to be improving. I’d planned a walk that was far too short, simply up Binnein Mor and Binnein Beag, which was accomplished but now what? When I reached the south top I turned right and headed towards Na Gruagaichean knowing full well that I would have to retrace my steps. The weather continued to improve as I descended with fabulous views of the Mamores ahead of me prompting me to stop, have my lunch and take off my waterproofs.

After eating I set off down to the bottom of the col and up the narrow, craggy ridge to the summit of Na Gruagaichean that I had previously visited on the same walks that had taken me up Binnein Mor, and so consequently I had also not seen a view from this summit until this moment. It was great to be at the top of these fine mountains in improving weather that enabled me to get a view across the entire range of the Mamores. These stunning views of the awesome ridges of the Mamores were making it hard for me to turn back as all I really wanted to do was keep going. Ever since I spent a fantastic weekend in the Mamores in 2005 I have loved these hills and their narrow connecting ridges so it was very difficult for me to turn my back on them. Eventually I descended to the narrow gap that separates the small, rocky summit of Na Gruagaichean with its broad, grassy north-west top where I stopped at the cairn that overlooks the broad saddle to Stob Coire a’ Chairn and gazed out over the views.

The narrow gap between the summit and the north-west top is badly eroded with such a difficult path between them that I was so reluctant to retrace my steps I just kept on going down the broad slopes to the bottom of the col and took the path that descends into Coire na Bà. Part of me really wanted to keep going further into the Mamores to bag a few more Munros, but there was no point in doing that as I’ve been up these mountains before. Despite the fantastic weather I took this path that I had taken down in 2008 and is very good initially as it skirts below Na Gruagaichean but soon deteriorates as it drops steeply into the valley. It would have been great if I could have followed the contours round the slopes of the mountain but this would be stupid and pathless on steep ground, although that didn’t stop me briefly attempting it before coming to my senses. As the path deteriorated on boggy ground the weather also began to deteriorate with rain once more beginning to fall.

Although this rain was brief, by the time I reached the Loch Eilde Mor track at the bottom of the valley it had started to rain again and this time it was falling very heavily and it also brought thunder. Being at the top of a mountain in a thunder storm is not a good idea, however fortunately I was not at the top of a mountain, but I had camped near the top of a mountain. With the rain falling heavily around me I had to walk along the Loch Eilde Mor track until the rain and thunder eventually stopped so that I could have a more pleasant walk up the path that I’d taken the previous day climbing all the way up into Coire an Lochain to what was left of my tent. In some ways this was a fantastic walk with an awesome climb up Binnein Mor where I was finally able to get a view across the fabulous Mamores, however my choices may not have been great. I had descended all the way down to 250 metres above sea level only to then have to climb all the way back up to 750 metres at the end of a tiring day. This may not have been the wisest action, however it had meant that during the thunder storm I was safely down in the valley rather than exposed on top of the mountain.