Ben Attow

Monday 30th June 2008

After the rain the day before it was a relief when the rain held off for most of the day giving me an enjoyable walk on a fabulous mountain. I had originally planned to go across the Five Sisters, but something had put me off, there seemed to be something about them that intimidated me; it could be just the sheer scale of them, a traverse of the whole ridge seemed like a major undertaking, one that I didn’t feel I was ready for, or had enough time. The approach was taking me such a long time that I decided I would need to start a lot earlier for a proper walk over those bastions of Kintail. My eye instead wandered over to Beinn Fhada (or Ben Attow, whatever you want to call it, somehow I can’t see how Fhada could be pronounced Attow) and its enticingly serrated ridge. After already walking for a couple of hours to get to its foot I proceeded around the back of the mountain into Gleann Choinneachain where I had a tremendous walk through a spectacular valley past waterfalls in a wonderfully ungrazed area. This enclosed area was full of all sorts of plants and young trees and was delightful to walk through, so it’s a pity that more of the countryside isn’t like this instead of being eaten clean by sheep or as is often the case in the Highlands, deer. I suppose if there were no grazing animals at all, the countryside would eventually become a dense wild wood and ruin any views of the mountains. Perhaps, but for the time being I like these untouched areas like those in this valley.

Eventually the path crossed the river and began to climb steeply into Coire an Sgàirne. The path at this point in the walk was really good, because it is in National Trust for Scotland territory and has been extensively repaired and well-graded. The walk up to the summit plateau was therefore a delight from beginning to end from the lovely valley through to the awesome rock scenery in the corrie on a wonderfully graded path. At the top of the path, on the edge of the corrie, I stopped for lunch before continuing up to the summit of the Munro. Despite the encroaching clouds I still had views from the top as I surveyed the stunning scenery around me. With the weather worsening I descended the shallow slopes of the summit plateau and crossed to the subsidiary top, Meall an an Fhuarain Mhóir, and despite light rain and a bleak landscape this was an enjoyable crossing. I was at top of a mountain in poor weather but snug inside my waterproofs I was completely prepared for the conditions.

Once at the top of Meall an Fhuarain Mhóir I had a view of the fabulous ridge that lay before me, and it looked tremendous and even better to walk. The weather improved as I began the exciting traverse of the narrow ridge high above the valleys, and although it was a little nerve wracking at times it was not too bad and I was able to enjoy every minute of the traverse. Half way along I descended steeply to a col at the top of Coire Caol where I had to climb up almost a cliff face to continue the traverse. This was the only real scramble of the day and it wasn't too difficult and soon I was able to mount the top, Sgùrr a’ Choire Ghairbh. Pausing near the top I rested and surveyed the stunning surroundings. The clouds had lifted from the Five Sisters across the valley and afforded me with great views of those awesome mountains and many others around.

The ridge continued, wider but more unevenly along the serrated edge that I had seen from the valley on my approach; this involved climbing many small rocky hills and then back down them, repeatedly, over and over again. This was not only tiring, but time-consuming, so I thought I'd never reach the end of the ridge, however eventually I did, which left me with a steep descent, at first over rocky ground, and then down a soft grassy slope. My descent brought me to the top of Beinn Bhuidhe from where a steep grassy slopes eventually brought me back to my outward route. There now only remained a couple of hours of walking to get back to the youth hostel, which seems to be a common occurrence in Scotland where all distances are long and no walks are short.

This may have not been the walk that I had originally planned to do on this day, but it turned out to be a fabulous walk over a great mountain with so many fantastic features. The valley approach was wonderful, the corrie climb below towering rocky cliffs was awesome and led me up to an enjoyable summit plateau and a brilliant narrow ridge. The Five Sisters would have difficulty following that.

The Saddle and the Forcan Ridge

Sunday 29th June 2008

It was great to be back in Scotland for the first time since September last year and, after this walk, I knew what I had missed out on for all those months and why it’s worth the effort to get up there. I was in Glen Shiel, a valley with an enormous number of Munros on either side and I'll never be able to go up all of them on this visit so I will be returning to this area for quite a while to come, which suits me fine. However, my first walk and all the others in Glen Shiel on this holiday were blighted by rain and strong winds that stayed with me till the middle of the week, but fortunately they didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the walks. For my first walk in Glen Shiel I had picked the best of the lot: The Saddle, including the fabulous Forcan Ridge. Starting from Shiel Bridge I walked along a good stalkers path beside the Allt Undalain, but left the path and climbed up into Coire Caol. The river crossings proved to be quite a challenge as the rivers were full from all the rain that had fallen recently (a far cry from the Lake District last month when the streams were dry). Once I eventually crossed the Allt a’Coire Chaoil I climbed up the hillside braving heavy rain to reach Bealach na Craoibhe where I joined a good stalkers path that crosses the side of Meallan Odhar up to the start of the Forcan Ridge where my eyes was constantly being drawn.

I could have started this walk at the bottom of the stalkers path but I had not wanted to walk for several miles along the road at the bottom of the valley, which forced me to walk up Coire Caol and make those difficult river crossings. Had I taken the better route? Maybe not, but not for the first time. It makes me wonder what is my problem is with walking along a road for a mile or so? On many occasions, I have  taken difficult cross-country routes to avoid road-walking, for example, on Skye last year when I walked for many hours over dull terrain to get to the Storr, which left me exhausted and really late getting to the hostel; you’d have thought I’d have learnt my lesson. If I had walked along the road on this walk I’d have probably reached the bealach long before I actually did and probably spent much less energy doing so. The part of the stalkers path that I walked along was very well constructed and probably just as well made lower down. I guess I’ll never learn. When I reached the foot of the Forcan Ridge I had to decide whether to go over the ridge or miss it out. There is a good path that misses the whole ridge out, but the weather had cleared by this point so I decided to give it a go. After scrambling up to the top of the ridge I slowly made my way along, crouching against the wind, always taking the by-passing paths on the northern side that avoids the most difficult sections of the ridge. This was an enjoyable traverse but tough and challenging with the weather not making it easy, but it is still a great ridge that ranks up there with the best of them in the country.

After passing over Sgurr na Forcan I gingerly made my way along the ridge negotiating some tricky descents as well as ascents and eventually reached the top of the Saddle where I had my lunch. The weather had stayed clear for most of my traverse of the ridge, with a few short, light showers being the only blight, but once I reached the Munro that all changed. During lunch the clouds started to descend and it started to rain, though despite this it was brilliant being up there at the top of a mountain with, for the moment, some good views to be seen. The rain fell heavily for the rest of the walk, but failed to prevent my enjoyment of the ridge west of the Saddle. This ridge was easier than the Forcan Ridge, but still exciting, especially in the wet weather, as without the terror and concentration inherent in Forcan I was able to enjoy the traverse for what it was. As I passed over Spidean Dhomhnuill Bhric and Sgùrr Leac nan Each the clouds descended below my position, ruining the views and making navigation difficult which finally put a dampener on my enjoyment. After the last top I had to use my map and compass to carefully ensure I got down the hillside safely. By descending across steep, pathless grassy slopes in the pouring rain I eventually reached a stalkers path that was turning into a stream. Sloshing down this path I reached the good stalkers path I had used on my outward journey and followed this back to Shiel Bridge.

Despite the weather this was a great walk across a fabulous ridge that was exciting and challenging without being too difficult due to the presence of "summer paths" that by-pass the grade 2 scrambles on the top of the ridge. I really needed this walk as while coming up to Scotland the day before I had been really depressed. I was tired from work and the 12 hour journey up to Scotland was bringing me down. When I saw the weather in Glen Shiel I began to wonder why I had made the effort, why had I travelled all that way just to go on yet another walk, and even worse, another walk in the rain. I was really wondering why I had to spend every holiday I get walking. Work wears me out and then when I have a chance to recover I exhaust myself again by walking up mountains. I need another holiday after my holiday to get over my holiday! Why do I travel 12 hours to get to the Highlands of Scotland when there are mountains in Wales and the Lake District that are much closer? Now I know, the Saddle and the Forcan Ridge have answered my question perfectly. There is nowhere in the rest of the country with mountains quite as good as those in the Western highlands; my only disappointment with this walk was that the ridge was just too short.