Slioch

Tuesday 1st June 2010 

After the great weather of the day before, I woke to rain, low clouds and midges by the million as I packed up my car for yet another long drive to my next walk. I was returning to Torridon, the climax of my holiday last year, but I wasn't looking forward to a walk up one of the Torridon Giants in such poor weather. However, as I drove downhill towards the village of Kinlochewe, with the magnificent sight of Loch Maree ahead and Slioch to the right, I suddenly thought that Slioch would make a good alternative. This mountain is not in Glen Torridon but still possesses the Torridonian Sandstone that is typical of those giants. Incidentally, the evening before this walk I realised that I didn't know what my schedule was! I knew which hostels I was staying in, even if not the duration, and I knew which mountains I wanted to go up, but I think the availabilities of the various youth hostels had screwed up my schedule without me actually realising it. So, for the remainder of the holiday I had to make up an improvised schedule that was rather different from my original plan. I had once included Slioch in my itinerary but dropped it in order to get to the far north quicker, so at the last minute Slioch had been given a reprieve, which as it turned out was well deserved. 

Leaving the car park in Incheril, on the outskirts of Kinlochewe, I walked for three miles to the Kinlochewe River and Loch Maree, until I reached a bridge over the stream, Abhainn an Ehasaigh. Turning right at this point I ventured across rough, often boggy, terrain climbing up to the mouth of Coire na Sleghaich. Maybe I was a little unfit or at least not yet up to my full mountain walking fitness, but I found this quite an exhausting climb, lightened only by the sight of Beinn Egihe behind me, and hearing my first cuckoo of the holiday. This cuckoo, or possibly others, seemed to follow me on every subsequent walk that I took in the far north of Scotland and became a welcome companion as I travelled. On reaching the mouth of the corrie I crossed the corrie floor and climbed the hill opposite. This was a long, tiring and dreary climb that was enlivened only by the views north across Lochan Fada to the awe-inspiring Great Wilderness. Eventually, after a lot of effort, I reached the summit of Sgurr an Tuill Bhain where I stopped to have my lunch. Buttoning up against the cold weather I set off from the top towards the Munro across a fabulously narrow ridge. The sides of this ridge were ridiculously steep and induced a bit of delicious exposure. I couldn't help comparing this ridge with Striding Edge in the Lake District, which although is possibly slightly narrower is quite shallow, and not as high in comparison to this ridge which is insignificant for Scotland and so it doesn't even have a name. I am often reminded at times like this of the enormous differences between the mountains in Scotland and those of Lakeland. In comparison to Scotland the mountains of the Lake District are tame and easy, for the mountains of Scotland are in a class of their own. All too soon the terrain widened and I climbed up to the summit of the Munro, Slioch. I'm sure the view from the summit is fantastic, taking in Loch Maree and the Great Wilderness, but in the conditions I had I couldn't see anything. 

Turning south, with the aid of my compass, I visited the trig point, no longer considered to be the summit of the Munro, before taking another compass bearing towards the downward path. While passing a small lake I decided to visit the south top of Slioch before taking the steep path down. Once below cloud level I could once more see the eastern end of mighty Beinn Eighe. On Ralph Storer's advice I didn't follow the path down into the corrie but visited the final small tops on the corrie rim that culminates in Sgurr Dubh, thereby completing my circuit of the corrie. A ridiculously steep descent brought me down to my outward route which I took all the way back to my car accompanied for the first time on this walk by sunshine. Considering this mountain was unplanned and the weather was poor, I had a good, enjoyable walk over it. It was just a pity that I didn't have a view from the top.

The South Glen Shiel Ridge

Monday 31st May 2010 

On the morning of this walk I was on the move once again travelling from Crianlarich, where I'd overnighted, to Glen Shiel, stopping off on the way in Fort William for supplies and petrol before continuing to the top of Glen Shiel. Glen Shiel is a wonderful place that I just seem to keep returning to, this being my third year in a row that I've been there. Last year, after spending two hours at Cluanie Inn waiting for a bus to take me back down the valley, I resolved to bring my car next time, so that is what I'd done. Parking near the Cluanie Inn I crossed the valley floor of Glen Shiel, and across the stream that emanates from Coire nan Eirecheanach, walking to the foot of A'Chioch. Thus began a relentless and exhausting climb up a steep hillside in stunning weather with no clouds in the sky but a cooling breeze. By repeatedly resting I eventually reached the top of A'Chioch where I had my lunch in the stunning surroundings. 

While crossing a saddle the wind picked up, which prompting me to put my cagoule on before starting to climb the rock strewn slope that leads to the start of the ridge, Druim na Ciche. After gaining the ridge I made a fabulous crossing of the narrow ridge with accompanying nerve shattering exposure. I don't have a great head for heights, but I do like a good scramble that pushes me close enough to the edge to get my heart pounding. I don't like anything that is too exposed and in this case there was a lower path that I could have used to avoid all difficulties (I didn't use it, but instead I tried to stay on top of the ridge as much as I dared). With a couple of moments of good scrambling, this is a great route to a Munro and it isn't even on the main ridge. Immediately after the scramble is the summit of Aonach air Chrith, the third Munro on the South Glen Shiel ridge, and the highest. 

The whole ridge includes seven Munros, but from my perspective on the third Munro the others appeared to be rather dull and the ridge linking them looked to be a mundane, straightforward walk. I'm sure a traverse of the entire ridge is a huge undertaking, especially in bad weather, but since my time was limited I followed Ralph Storer's suggestion and took in just two of the seven Munros on the ridge. I keep telling myself that I am not in the business of bagging Munros, that all I'm interested in is doing a good walk; after all, I'm on holiday and I should be relaxing, not wearing myself out! Incidentally when I told this to someone in one of the hostels that I stayed in, later in this holiday, he replied that that was how he'd started. He was now bagging every Munro. I don't want to do that because a height above three thousand feet is no guarantee of a good mountain. I still often have to remind myself that I'm doing this for fun, because sometimes hill walking can be really unpleasant! 

From the summit of the Munro I turned right onto the main ridge and walked along it to the fourth Munro on the South Glen Shiel ridge, Maol Chinn-dearg. After my exciting scramble along Druim na Ciche this was an enjoyable, leisurely stroll on the excellent path along the top of the South Glen Shiel ridge until at the summit of Maol Chinn-dearg I turned left, off the main ridge and descended the grassy ridge of Druim Coire nan Eirecheanach. During the course of this walk I was doing a full circuit of the corrie and now had a wonderfully relaxing walk down the grass covered ridge all the way back to the road. This was a fabulous walk, shorter than my usual full day's walk because of the driving I had to do at the start of the day. In near perfect weather conditions this was a near perfect walk in an absolutely fantastic area of mountains. When I first came to Kintail I was struck by the huge numbers of mountains in the area and I knew I'd be coming back for a long time to come. All my walks in Scotland are inspired by Ralph Storer's book "100 Best Routes Up Scottish Mountains", and out of those one hundred walks, six start from Glen Shiel. I have now done four of those walks, so you can be sure I will be coming back to Glen Shiel.