Glen Nevis

Wednesday 7th September 2016

When I drove away from the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel at the start of this day I didn’t have a clue where I was going to be walking. It was raining when I got up with low clouds that were not an encouragement to go walking anywhere. I had a lot of poor weather throughout this holiday and I was becoming fed up with it. It is so much nicer walking up mountains in good weather, and in comparison there is no fun in being at the top of a mountain in bad weather. Although it wasn’t very windy it was still drizzly and murky; it was just plain wet and miserable. I moped around the hostel for a while trying to decide what to do, and then sat in my car for twenty minutes trying to make a decision and eventually set off down the valley road towards Fort William still not knowing where I was going. Before reaching Fort William I saw a sign for the Braveheart car park and immediately made a decision to park there and do a walk in Glen Nevis. This car park is named after the famous Mel Gibson film because it was constructed to take the film vehicles while scenes were being shot in Glen Nevis.

There are a number of way-marked walks through the woods that line Glen Nevis and start from this car park while the one that had caught my eye was the longest, the green-marked walk to Dun Deardail fort. This follows a wide forest track and is soon joined by the West Highland Way as it climbs above the valley floor towards the ancient hill fort. The forest track was very tedious to walk upon as it is very wide and gradually took me up the side of the valley into the clouds until eventually I reached the top of the pass that leads out of the valley. At this point the way-marked trail turns off the West Highland Way and keeps to the top of the ridge heading towards a vitrified Iron Age fort. Just before I reached Dun Deardail I noticed that I had risen into an eerie gap above the valley fog but below the clouds. I was in a curious bubble with dramatic views across the valley to the slopes of Ben Nevis opposite, but on top of the earthworks that are all that remains of the hill fort I was once more enveloped in cloud.

After returning to the junction with the West Highland Way, I made my way back down into the valley exploring the various narrow, unmarked, seemingly abandoned paths that maze through Glen Nevis Forest and were considerably more interesting than the wide forest track that I had taken earlier. When I eventually reached a track near the bottom of the valley I decided to head back to my car before heading to the Nevis Gorge, where I was keen to return. As I was driving up Glen Nevis I was astonished to see the clouds begin to break, the sun start to appear, and my heart began to sink. The afternoon was revealing itself to be warm with glorious sunshine, which is just the sort of weather for being at the top of a mountain, but I was stuck at the bottom of Glen Nevis. If I’d spent the dreary morning climbing a mountain I could have now been basking in the fabulous views from the top.

I still didn’t know where I was going to walk or how to make the most of this unexpectedly good weather, but in the meantime I stuck with my idea of walking through the stunning Nevis Gorge. Less than a week later a serious rockfall forced the closure of the path through this gorge, but fortunately I was able to enjoy this fabulous path that is described by some as being the best footpath in Scotland. Thankfully the path has now been reopened thanks to the heroic efforts of the John Muir Trust. By the time I reached the meadow at the top of the gorge overlooked by Steall Falls it was very humid and I was cooked in my waterproofs, so I stopped to have my lunch and cool down while continuing to ponder where I was going to walk. Across the river is the Munro An Gearanach and I decided that would be my target, but first I had to get across the river. On previous occasions that I have been up An Gearanach I have simply stepped across the river, but there had recently  been a lot of rain and it was unlikely that I would be able to cross without getting my feet wet. There is a wire bridge but that appealed to me even less than wet feet.

Therefore, once again, I didn’t know where I was going to go walking so I just wandered up Glen Nevis towards the ruins at Steall where I noticed a path that branches off to climb towards the Munro Top of Sgurr a’ Bhuic. Finally I had decided on a walk and followed the clear, though boggy, path beside the Allt Coire nan Laogh heading for a prominent prow of rock ahead of me eventually losing the path as I made my way steeply up the hillside. The views behind me of the Mamores were stunning in the sunny, humid conditions and I was having a fabulous time even though I secretly wished I was already at the top of those mountains. I have a fondness for the Mamores and would love to return to this area to reacquaint myself with the fabulous ridges that connect these great mountains. On the other side of Glen Nevis I continued to slowly climb the steep slopes until I eventually reached the top of the prow with the heat now pouring off me. I could hardly move a muscle as I hauled myself up the final few steps to the tip of the western ridge of Sgurr a’ Bhuic with the summit of the Munro Top still some distance away along a rocky ridge. Slowly I dragged myself along the stony ridge that reminded me fondly of the Grey Corries.

At the summit of Sgurr a’ Bhuic the Grey Corries themselves came into view, but the glorious sunshine that I had been enjoying was now gone as clouds covered the sky and everything was dull and grey once more. Beyond the summit, the Grey Corries still looked inviting while the sprawling mass of Aonach Beag dominated the view to my left, and behind me Ben Nevis gazed upon all it commands. All the peaks in view were clear of clouds and teasing me for my lack of preparation, but I was now amongst them, at the top of a peak more than three thousand feet high, even though it is a only a minor top of Aonach Beag. Sgurr a’ Bhuic may only be a top, but it is a Munro Top so it felt like a proper mountain and I had finally achieved something on this changeable day. This was my last three thousand footer of the holiday, and based on the stunning, albeit grey, views from the summit I considered it a good one. Happy, I made my way down to the col with Stob Coire Bhealaich dropping left down to the forming stream soon picking up a path that I followed all the way back down to the ruins of Steall Hut at the bottom of Glen Nevis. Considering that most of this day I had no idea where I was going to walk and was always making it up as I went along, it eventually turned out quite well. When the day started I would never have imagined the weather that I enjoyed in the afternoon, or that I would manage to climb a peak more than three thousand feet high.

The Rois-Bheinn Ridge

Tuesday 6th September 2016

I have had my eye on this walk for many years whenever I’ve stayed near Fort William, though it has usually only been a backup and other walks have previously taken precedence. But now, after waiting so long to do this walk it had become a must-do, so it was on my original plan for my late spring holiday this year and now on this holiday I finally managed to do this long-awaited walk around these amazing mountains. There are no Munros in this area, south of the Mallaig road and railway, which Cameron McNeish says in his book “Scotland’s 100 Best Walks” means there are no real footpaths, no erosion, no lines of cairns and no roadside car parks. There are however, quite a few Corbetts and this walk climbs three on a walk that Ralph Storer describes as one of the finest ridge walks in the Western Highlands. First thing in the morning I headed off along the ‘Road to the Isles’ eventually parking at the Lochailort Inn, with kind permission.

After walking down to Inverailort I had a little difficulty finding the path until a lovely old lady, who reminded me of my Great Grandmother, told me the path was past a fallen tree that obscured the view. Beyond the tree the path got a bit boggy and at the point where the track turns left at an old building, as per Ralph Storer’s instruction, I took a vague path that heads towards the gap between the foothill of Tom Odhar and the ridge coming down from Seann Chruach. It didn’t seem like anyone had been on this narrow path for a long time, which made it almost impossible to follow. It passes through some interesting wooded terrain that is delightfully wild-looking as I climbed beside a stream until eventually I reached the top of the path where I found myself on a wide gravel track that was quite a surprise after the tricky climb. This provided me with an easy walk up the valley to a dam that has been built on the Allt a’ Bhùiridh, presumably for hydroelectric purposes, and after crossing the stream I headed up the laborious, grassy slopes of Meall Damh.

Usually on these instances the tedium of a long climb is relieved for me by listening to some music on my mp3 player, however on this occasion I had left it in the youth hostel so I had to endure the entire walk all day in silence, which is very unusual for me. This meant the walk was an interesting experience and at times eerily quiet with the only sound being the trickle of a stream far below in the valley. It took me a long, wearying time to get up to the ridge between Beinn Coire nan Gall and Druim Fiaclach, and as I climbed up onto the latter I plunged into clouds that I had been promised would lift. Eventually I reached the summit of Druim Fiaclach where it was quite windy, very cold and there were no views, but occasionally as I made my way south-west along the ridge the clouds parted to reveal the gorgeous ridge that I was walking upon. The path was very faint and difficult to follow, often disappearing, so while it was encouraging when the path was visible, it was not clear enough to be relied on.

The cloud soon came down again leaving me to practice careful navigation on the undulating ridge that veers left and right and plunges steeply on occasions such as down to Bealach an Fhalaisg Dhuibh before climbing more gradually to An t-Slat-bheinn. It was a challenge walking on this ridge in these weather conditions, and although I quite enjoyed it I would have given anything to have had a view and to have been able to see along the whole length of this fabulous ridge. Eventually I climbed up to top of my first Corbett on this walk, Sgùrr na Bà Glaise, and on the steep descent to Bealach an Fhiona it was very windy, but before reaching the bottom of the saddle I emerged, to my great surprise, out of the clouds with the unspoilt landscape of Glen Moidart revealed to the south. On the other side of the pass I was sheltered from the wind so I was able to have an enjoyable climb up rock-covered slopes switching several times between both sides of the ridge-top wall until eventually I reached the summit of Rois-Bheinn, but not before plunging once more into clouds.

It is recommended to go to the west top of Rois-Bheinn for the stunning views out to sea, but since the clouds were thickly covering the top I turned around and headed back down the ridge I had just climbed. My next target was An Stac, which is the other side of a deep col north of Bealach an Fhiona. I don’t think I took the right route here as I came off the ridge long before I reached the bottom of the pass and descended steep terrain where it was difficult for me to keep a foothold. Eventually I came upon the wall that I should have stayed beside, but I now stayed beside the wall for too long while cloud filled the trough between the Corbetts. The wall does not climb An Stac but descends the western slopes, however, fortunately the unrelenting descent soon alerted me to my error and prompted me to check my location and turn right towards the foot of An Stac. An opening in the clouds revealed the steep climb ahead of me up the complex slope as the clouds slowly began to lift spectacularly from the ridge that I had walked upon earlier in the walk. The climb to the top of An Stac was entertaining, though long, and by the time I reached the summit of my third Corbett of the walk, cloud was covering the top once more.

When I moved towards the northern slopes the clouds suddenly cleared overhead to reveal bright sunshine overhead while my shadow fell onto the thick clouds below encircled by a wondrous rainbow-coloured halo. This is a Brocken spectre, which is something that I have seen on only a couple of occasions before and usually only briefly. This time the optical effect was visible for many minutes which enabled me to take countless pictures and gaze in awe at the lovely rainbow colours. Eventually I got fed up with taking pictures of it, so I started heading down the steep slopes of An Stac as the weather slowly improved with the cloud gradually lifting from the mountains all around me revealing stunning views most notably along the coast across Ardnish and towards Arisaig. After my cloud-covered walk on top of the ridge earlier in the day, it was a welcome change to now be enjoying bright sunshine and stunning views while I made my way down the steep, grass and rock slopes of An Stac towards Seann Chruach.

This descent was lengthy and challenging with some very boggy ground to negotiate before the terrain finally eased and I was able to enjoy the relatively flat landscape of Seann Chruach. The descent continued on tussocky grass for a long time as I slowly lost height until eventually I dropped onto the access road for the hydroelectric scheme that I had been on earlier. At the point where I thought I’d joined this track I couldn’t find any trace of the path that I’d taken at the start of the walk, probably because the path is so faint. Eventually I just descended on the track thinking that it must go somewhere and is probably a much easier route. By carefully studying my map I was easily able to find my way back to the foot of the faint path and saw why it is no longer used, before returning to the road and back to my car. This was a very tiring walk that was also very challenging with the low cloud making navigation difficult. It was a fantastic walk that I would love to do again so I can enjoy some of the great views that I’ve heard can be seen from it, and to more properly experience that fabulous ridge.