The Easains

Saturday 2nd June 2012

Over the last couple of years I have coincidentally found that the walk undertaken on the middle Saturday of my Scottish holiday has been the highlight. Last year, the middle Saturday walk was up An Cliseam, the highest point in the Western Isles, and I had a fabulous walk in great weather. The year before I once again had great weather this time for a walk up Suilven, one of the most iconic and distinctive mountains in the North-west Highlands. You can go another year back to a fabulous walk on the middle Saturday over the Five Sisters of Kintail, but before then for a couple of years I took only one week holidays in Scotland. However, a highlight of my two week holiday in 2005 was a walk on the middle Saturday over the Mamores, my first ever visit to that great range of mountains. This year has followed suit with another fabulous walk over a pair of fantastic mountains that provided me with truly sensational views.

First thing in the morning my walking companion of the day before and I caught the sleeper from London, which was a bizarre experience. I had caught this sleeper to Fort William before, fifteen years ago, actually sleeping in the berth, but I had never before caught the sleeper as a sitting passenger. There is only one carriage for normal passengers and it was full. Fortunately we got off at the next station, Tulloch, where we walked along the main road for a short distance before taking a narrow winding side road off to the left. After a couple of miles I was pretty fed up with walking along the road so at the first hint of a path, just before the small lake, An Dubh Lochan, I wanted to get off the road and onto the bracken-covered hillside at the northern tip of the Easain ridge. Eventually we reached the main path, which we probably should have waited for, at the foot of the steep crags of Meall Cian Dearg.

These were really steep, and at first I tried to climb them at a fair pace, though really just to try and keep up with my companion, but I just couldn’t keep up the pace and eventually collapsed into a heap. Just as earlier in the week, when climbing a mountain I didn’t have enough energy to maintain the pace that was being set by my fitter companion. After a rest I went into the lead and climbed up the hillside very slowly, one step at a time, saying to myself that it was not a race. Methodically I plodded my way all the way up the mountain until eventually we reached the top of the cliffs and across to the summit cairn of Meall Cian Dearg. Although I found this climb difficult I was still able to appreciate the fantastic path that had made it possible, that zigzags up the steep cliff-face. At the top, despite warm sunny weather, a cold wind forced us to put on our cagoules before continuing along the ridge. This was an easy walk along a level ridge with great views all around us until another hill loomed ahead, though not as daunting as the cliffs below Meall Cian Dearg. The eastern edge of the ridge had steepened into awesome cliffs, which afforded us with stunning views down to Loch Treig far below as we climbed up to the summit of the Munro, Stob a’ Choire Mheadhoin.

The views west were now clear and awe-inspiring. The full length of the Grey Corries were arrayed before us in all their splendour as a fluctuating ridge of white quartzite stones with the taller, darker mountains of Aonach Mòr and Ben Nevis behind. Even when looking away from the Grey Corries the views were amazing; all around me were mountains forevermore in awesome abundance and splendour, but the best views were always towards the Grey Corries. I had a memorable walk in 2006 along that splendid ridge, and seeing them now from such a perfect viewpoint made me long to be walking over those mountains again. After lunch we crossed the col to the neighbouring Munro of Stob Coire Easain that required a steep descent down loose, granite stones and an even steeper ascent up white quartzite stones to the summit. An excellent path zigzagged up the steep sides of the second and higher of the Munros to a tiny summit, especially when compared with the wide summit plateau of the neighbouring Munro.

With steep cliffs in all directions, this summit made us feel like we were at the top of a real mountain. The easiest route off the mountain is to continue south and descend all the way down the south ridge of Stob Coire Easain over Creagan a’ Chaise. Now I was in my element and left Justin behind as I leapt like a gazelle from crag to crag and ran down the steep grassy slopes. My companion may have been quicker than me in ascent, but I was never going to be beaten in descent. This was a gorgeous ridge that I enjoyed with every step as we slowly dropped down towards the river at the bottom of the valley. The valley we dropped down into was the Lairig Leacach, which is really quiet and isolated, where orchids grow in abundance and I felt like I was truly in a wilderness. A faint path took us beside the river and through a spectacular dry gorge to the shore of Loch Treig. The lack of rain in this part of Britain had severely depleted the lake revealing the old field boundaries that were flooded when the lake was extended to provide water for the aluminium works near Fort William. Beside Ceaguaineach Lodge we joined a track that took us all the way back to Loch Ossian climbing wearily up beside the railway lines. This was a fabulous walk over a wonderful pair of Munros, with awesome terrain underfoot and stunning views. Truly, a walk to remember.

Leum Uilleim and Carn Dearg

Friday 1st June 2012

Some of the guys in Loch Ossian Youth Hostel where I was staying were well acquainted with the area and recommended walking up the hill to the west of Corrour Station. This was the very same hill that the boys in the film Trainspotting started to climb. It is a prominent landmark in the area, so I and one of the other guys in the hostel decided to go up the hill together. First thing in the morning we set off past the station and across the boggy slopes slowly climbing towards the craggy ridge of Sròn an Lagain Ghairbh. A landrover track was a help to begin with, but it was soon obvious that this track was heading south towards the Blackwater Reservoir, so we came off the track and made our own way climbing steeply up the craggy slopes. Eventually the gradient levelled off and left us with an easy walk across the broad top to the cairn at the summit of the Corbett, Leum Uilleim. There is supposed to be good views from the top but when we got there we found that the ridge was so wide the views from the summit were restricted. Moving to the sides of the ridge afforded us with better views of Blackwater Reservoir to the south and the Grey Corries to the north, but grey, overcast skies spoilt the overall picture.

During the ascent we were constantly turning around to see the view behind us towards Loch Ossian. The view west may have been spoilt by the shape of the hill, but during the ascent there was nothing to spoil the view towards the picturesque loch and its stunning surround of mountains. While descending to the col above Coire a’ Bhric Beag I couldn’t keep my eyes off the Grey Corries to the north. I had a memorable walk there six years ago and consider it one of my favourite ever. The mountains of the Grey Corries are a complex network of ridges, almost as delightful as their neighbours, the Mamores. Picking a landrover track, we traversed the eastern slopes of Beinn a Bhric onto the north-eastern ridge over Tom an Eòin and down An Diollaird. As ever on these hills it wasn’t the hill itself that drew the eye, but the views around with the Grey Corries continuing to attract attention and when Loch Treig came into view we were entranced by the stunning views along the entire length of the nine kilometre loch. I wasn’t impressed with this walk, and didn’t feel it deserved the praise heaped on it by the old men in the hostel. I suppose therein could lie the problem. The men who recommended this walk saw it as a maximum gain in views for a minimum of effort under foot, but I like to have good rugged terrain under foot as well as good views.

At the bottom of the ridge the ground was horrendously boggy and we had a difficult time trying to make our way around all the bogs, but eventually reached the railway line where we had a much easier walk alongside the tracks. It’s a good thing the single track line is not very busy. After a look at the map while at the station we set off past the hostel and along the route that I’d taken the day before below Meall na Lice to Peter’s Rock where we stopped to have lunch. Continuing up the hillside across pathless grassy slopes, we climbed all the way up to the top of Carn Dearg, a Munro. I was only now beginning to realise that the hills in this area are drearily rounded and grassy and so don’t really appeal to me as I prefer my mountains to be more rugged. The mountains to the west, including the Grey Corries, are much more rugged with rock in abundance and are therefore much more appealing to me so I found myself often looking longingly in that direction. Those mountains are more challenging, more interesting, more appealing, and more mountainous.

Carn Dearg does have some appealing qualities. The summit has a fine cairn, (as has Leum Uilleim), a tall, solidly built structure, that are not simple piles of stones; someone has used a lot of skill and spent a lot of effort in constructing these magnificent monuments. The weather by now had improved considerably since we’d been at the top of Leum Uilleim with the clouds breaking and lifting to reveal a gorgeous sunny day with hardly any wind. The views in the clear air were stunning, especially towards Ben Alder and the other mountains east of Loch Ossian. But the best feature of Carn Dearg is the south ridge which was an absolute delight to walk down. I hate ascents, especially on this holiday where my energy levels seemed much lower than usual, but I adore prolonged descents where I can enjoy my surroundings with a minimum of effort. This was a fabulous ridge with lots of things to see, some craggy surfaces to play at scrambling on and pools to cool baking foreheads. I had been so lucky with the weather on this holiday.

At the end of the ridge we started to drop down the western slopes until we saw a cairn half way up the hillside a short distance to the north of us. This seemed too tempting to miss out, so I persuaded Justin that we ought to visit it, and we headed across the steep slopes of the ridge until we reached another finely built cairn, apparently in the middle of nowhere. After dropping down the steep grassy slopes to a track at the bottom, we could see that although the cairn is halfway up the hill it stands out against the horizon when seen from the track. At some time in the past this cairn must have played a significant role in the lives of the people who used to live in the area. Slowly we made our way along the muddy track all the way back to the hostel. The hills in this area may be uniformly rounded, but it is a very beautiful, tranquil area. Any walk in this area is good if the weather is this good.