Sgurr Coire Choinnichean and Luinne Bheinn

Wednesday 6th June 2012

While the rest of the country was suffering from torrential rain in June, the west coast of Scotland was escaping it all so I was once again setting off for a good walk in brilliant weather. Although it clouded over later in the day, the weather for this walk never deteriorated so much that it prevented me from walking up a Corbett and a Munro in the stunning scenery of the Knoydart peninsula. This walk was dictated by the need to return to Inverie in the middle of the day to buy some food, specifically the local venison from the community shop that was not open early or late enough for me to visit before or after a walk. Two shorter walks were therefore required rather than one long walk. To start I climbed the Corbett that I’d failed to include in my ascent of Ladhar Bheinn the previous day. Sgurr Coire Choinnichean is the steep mountain that overlooks Inverie Bay and I had decided that the best route to take up it would be straight up the ridge from Inverie, and did I soon regret that?!! This was a ridiculously steep climb through lush-green bracken and past-their-prime bluebells up a sort of a path, but was really just a struggle up an impossibly steep slope.

As I climbed higher and higher I stopped frequently for a breath, but also to get a glimpse of the increasingly stunning view that was appearing behind me. By the time the gradient eased the ridge was narrowing and the view across Inverie Bay was awe-inspiring. In the superb weather and after climbing so high so quickly I had stunning views across the bay towards Loch Nevis and out to sea. As the ridge narrowed it grew craggier and more exciting with steep drops down either side to the valley floors far below me. There was a fabulous path along the glorious ridge with stunning views under blue skies and above blue seas that made every step a joy. When I reached the summit of the Corbett I bathed in the awesome scenery and stunning views and then turned around to enjoy that great ridge all over again. Beyond the summit the ridge widens as it undulates tediously over Meall an Ullt-fhearna down to the col where I’d joined the ridge the day before, so I felt there was no hardship in missing out on this grassy ridge. Instead I returned along the narrow ridge over the western top and turned right once the ridge broadened again and descended the wide grassy slopes around the top of Slochd a’Mhogha.

The grassy slopes above Inverie Woods took me to a forest track that led me all the way back into Inverie where I bought some venison stakes, and took them to the bunkhouse where I was staying, before setting off along the track I’d taken the day before beside the Inverie River. After having my lunch beside Dubh-lochain while dark clouds began to spread across the sky I slowly made my way along the well-made path that leads all the way over the pass of Màm Barrisdale. For those walking into Knoydart this would have been the main route into the area, starting from Kinloch Hourn and passing Barrisdale Bay before climbing over the pass. This was a very well-made path, well-graded and with clever, subtle engineering in places, but is sadly now in need of repair. At the top of the pass I turned right onto a narrow path that follows a broken line of fence posts across the southern face of the Munro, Luinne Bheinn. Despite dull, overcast views, this was a great walk with great craggy scenery, but it soon became obvious to me that the path I was on was not going up to the top of Luinne Bheinn. A quick check of the map confirmed that the line of fence posts that I was following would soon start to descend into Coire Odhair, so I abandoned the faint path and climbed up a steep grassy rake.

This strenuous climb brought me near to the eastern top of Luinne Bheinn, which has three prominent tops. I was fascinated by this and enjoyed exploring the complex summit ridge. The western top, which overlooks the Dubh-lochain valley, has a fine cairn at the top, but is not the Munro, it is not the summit. My map indicated that the middle top is the highest, so I set off along the ridge until I reached a much smaller cairn that is actually the summit of the Munro. The eastern top is slightly smaller than the other two, but there is a bit of a drop before a small scramble leads up to the top. In addition to Munros there is such a thing as Munro Tops. These are Scottish Mountains above three thousand feet with a drop of more than thirty metres, but not distinct enough to make them Munros. The western top doesn’t count, despite its cairn and its prominent view from Gleann an Dubh-lochain. The central top is a Munro, but the eastern top, thanks to its drop, is a Munro Top. I’m not actually interested in Munro Tops (I’m not really interested in Munros), but the path across to the eastern top seemed too good to ignore and the views from this top, along the summit ridge of Luinne Bheinn and across Barrisdale, were worth the effort.

With rain looking likely I passed back over the summit of Luinne Bheinn and descended the steep rocky north-western slopes to the col with Bachd Mhic an Tosaich. I found a great path down the craggy slopes but it faded into nothing at the bottom of the crags so, deciding that the fence-post path I had used earlier was a sure guide back, I descended the grassy slopes until I reached my outward route. It was now straight forward for me to return to the excellent Barrisdale path and follow that all the way back into Gleann an Dubh-lochain. The rain that had looked imminent from the top of Luinne Bheinn never really materialised, despite the heavy rain that was plaguing the rest of the country. This was a long day with two great walks up two great mountains in the fantastic Knoydart area. Both mountains have interesting summit ridges, which made up for the long walk-in required to get to Luinne Bheinn. After my second day in Knoydart I was really beginning to appreciate the fun that can be had on the mountains in the area.

Ladhar Bheinn

Tuesday 5th June 2012

Upon leaving Loch Ossian I travelled to the port of Mallaig and got onto a small boat to the isolated community of Inverie in the great wilderness of the Knoydart peninsula. Although still on the British mainland, the easiest way of getting to Knoydart is by boat, since there are no roads into the area. A long walk by mountain path is the only other way in. Aside from the small coastal village of Inverie, where I was staying, and a couple of other coastal dwellings, there is little trace of civilisation throughout the peninsula, which has resulted in an area with a delightfully wild and unspoilt atmosphere. Loch Ossian felt even more isolated, though thanks to the railway station it is more accessible. I had a bit of a culture shock when I caught the train at Corrour after such a tranquil weekend away from everything. Thankfully after braving the crush of tourists at sunny Mallaig I was able to get away from it all once again. Inverie can also be quite a busy place at times, especially at the popular Old Forge Inn, but a short walk up a path soon took me into stunning unspoilt countryside.

At the start of my first walk in the area, I took the path that climbs away from Inverie beside the Inverie River past grazing highland cattle until I had almost reahed Dubh-Lochain. Just before reaching the lake I turned off the track and started to climb steep bracken-covered slopes all the way up to Màm Suibheig. This was a difficult climb through tall bracken with no sign of a path to ease my way, but my efforts were rewarded by sights of many wild flowers amongst the bracken that included bluebells, primroses and foxgloves. It is just a pity that the bracken was gradually smothering out all these spring flowers. Eventually I managed to get above the bracken and onto the top of the ridge at the col between the Corbett, Sgurr Coire Choinnichean, and the complex ridges of the Munro, Ladhar Bheinn. Larven (as it is pronounced) is the highest point in the Knoydart peninsula so it was an obvious first target for me during my stay in the area. Turning right onto the complex ridge I began a thoroughly entertaining and challenging walk along the top of the undulating, craggy ridge on a good path that bypasses all difficulties as it slowly climbs towards the Munro.

The ridge narrows and levels off along Aonach Sgoilte, which provided me with easy walking and stunning views of the awesome mountain scenery that was arrayed all around me. The centre-piece of the scene though was Larven, looking dark and brooding under heavy clouds. The weather had started well, but had quickly deteriorated, though it never got any worse than being heavily overcast. Everywhere else in the country that day was being lashed with heavy rain, but by some miracle I escaped it all, so in relatively good weather I turned left at the top of Aonach Sgoilte and followed the path down off the top. With awesome scenery all around me I descended to Bealach Coire Dhorrcail before climbing the fabulously craggy ridge that led me all the way up to the summit of Ladhar Bheinn. An excellent path took me safely up the complex and immensely satisfying ridge, including a little scrambling along the way, until I reached the triple-topped summit ridge.

The eastern top is the most interesting as this was the point where I reached the summit ridge and a complex side ridge branches off to the right at this point which would have been my route of descent if I had climbed Larven from Kinloch Hourn. The scenery to the north of Larven is stunning as it drops steeply down to Loch Hourn and made me wonder how much better this walk would have been if I’d started from remote Kinloch Hourn. The central top of the summit ridge is the Munro, the highest point on Larven. The western top contains an old Ordnance Survey Triangulation Point (known as a trig point) that has now half disintegrated with a big pointed rock stuck in the middle of it. I had my lunch at the summit on the narrow ridge before making my way down the grassy western slopes of the mountain. Larven has two faces; the eastern one is craggy with narrow ridges, but the western face has broad grassy slopes so I was able to have an easy, pleasant descent down the steep southern slopes into Gleann na Guiserein.

While walking along the track at the bottom of the valley I kept turning around and looking back at Larven thinking that my walk over the mountain had been too short. It was a great climb while it lasted but once I reached the summit all the excitement had ended and I was left with a straight forward descent and return to Inverie along forest tracks. It may have been better if I’d started the walk by climbing the Corbett at the start of the ridge that overlooks Inverie Bay, Sgurr Coire Choinnichean. I joined the ridge after this mountain, but maybe a more satisfying walk would have been to have done the Corbett first, but I don’t want to take anything away from the greatness of Ladhar Bheinn. This mountain typifies all that is great about Knoydart: complex craggy mountains amongst beautiful unspoilt scenery.