Sgùrr na Feataig

Wednesday 22nd May 2019

The evening before this walk, in the Bearnais bothy, I made grandiose plans to walk up the Munros Sgùrr Choinnich and Sgùrr a’ Chaorachain, and if there was time to spare afterwards to climb the Corbett Beinn Tharsuinn, but to do this I was hoping for good weather, and this was the Scottish Highlands. When I got up in the morning the weather was awful with low clouds and miserable rain. All my plans had gone awry as it wasn’t a day for going for a walk up a mountain. I have been accused of being a fair weather walker, and, frankly, they are right. It is a lot nicer to be up a mountain when the sun is shining and you’ve got a view, however, I couldn’t stay in the bothy all day so I decided I would climb the Corbett Sgùrr na Feataig. This seemed my best option as not only is this mountain the nearest to the bothy it also has a clear footpath that leads almost all the way to the summit. After getting kitted up in all my waterproofs I headed off into the rain and up the path that climbs beside the Allt Mòr a’ Bhearnais with surprisingly good views behind me of the bothy and Loch na Laoigh behind that. The weather at this time was not as bad as it would later become.

After plunging into the clouds and reaching the top of the pass that Ordnance Survey calls Baobh-chacan Dubha I came across a small cairn that I took to be marking the junction I needed even though there was no sign of a path coming off the one I was on. Despite this I turned off onto an imaginary path and headed up the hill soon realising that I had gone the wrong way. This is one of the problems with building lots of piles of stones on hills as they can be easily misinterpreted. I had been sheltered from the wind during the climb and the rain, at this time, was merely a constant drizzle, but when I eventually reached the top of the ridge I was suddenly assaulted by strong winds and an increase in the rain. I also found no path at the top of the ridge, but nevertheless I headed fearlessly east along the ridge passing over a small top and suddenly a clear path materialised through the mist. Where this path had come from would become clear on my way back down. While climbing a steeper top I thought the sky was brightening, though this may have been my imagination as I reached the 805 metre top that is marked on Ordnance Survey’s Explorer maps as Sgùrr na Feartaig.

The Ordnance Survey Landranger map gives this name to the whole ridge while Harvey Maps uses the slightly different spelling, Sgùrr na Feataig, that I have adopted, for the 862 metre summit of the Corbett. Despite the poor weather I enjoyed my walk along the ridge and reflected that all the best hill walking is along a ridge where one can gain maximum enjoy from being at the top of a mountain while expending minimum effort walking along the ridge. This ridge would have been better if the weather was better and gave me a view of the sensational mountains that are in every direction. The path along the ridge is very well made with a miner’s talent for negotiating the contours weaving along the undulating ridge and was a real pleasure to walk upon. Soon after the best example of this cunning path it bypassed a broad top and eventually began to descend, which made me wonder if I had just walked past the summit. Checking my compass revealed I was now heading north, which confirmed my suspicions, so to establish my position with certainty I powered up my GPS device and this showed that I was north of the summit having indeed passed by. Turning around I headed back up the hill and coming off the path crossed the trackless slopes to find a well-built cairn sitting on a wide base of stones.

After eating I took a bearing and headed back onto the path passing some pretty yellow flowers growing in a boggy area that I took to be marsh-marigold, though I am no expert. Back onto the excellent path I headed back along the ridge now with my face into the wind that seemed to have increased while the rain was more persistent, and this made the journey back along the ridge less appealing than it had been earlier. When I reached the point where I had joined the clear path at the start of the ridge I now found the path dropping down the northern side to reach the pass on the northern edge of the wide saddle. Turning left I headed along the path over the pass eventually discovering that I had not lost the path at the fictitious junction, but earlier than that where there is a sudden turn that was not clear in the low cloud. Some cairns here would have helped. Descending in the rain I came all the way back down into the valley and back to the bothy where I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and playing cards. Considering the bad weather this was not a bad walk that was helped by a clear path on a good ridge.

Lurg Mhòr and Bidein a’ Choire Sheasgaich

Tuesday 21st May 2019

On my trek north from Cluanie to Strathcarron following the route of the Cape Wrath Trail I had reached the Maol-bhuidhe bothy, which is situated in a fabulously isolated location beside Loch Cruoshie many miles from the nearest road, and is popular with walkers tackling the Cape Wrath Trail. When I woke up at the start of this day I was pleased to see sunshine and blue skies for the first time on my holiday which made me hopeful for a good walk. If I had been tackling the Cape Wrath Trail I could have easily reached Strathcarron before the end of the day and even crossed the valley before climbing beside the Fionn-amhainn to the Coire Fionnaraich bothy. However that was not my goal and I wasn’t actually walking the Cape Wrath Trail, but simply using the route to reach more mountains. I had hoped to climb some mountains at the western end of Glen Affric the day before until poor weather had intervened, but now that I had good weather I wanted to take advantage of it so I headed towards the nearest Munro. I was sorry to leave the Maol-bhuidhe bothy as I set off north along the Cape Wrath Trail across the River Ling and through pathless peat hags around the eastern shoulder of the Corbett, Beinn Dronaig.

Once I got to the highest point on the traverse I found a vehicle track that effortlessly took me down the other side of the hill to the mouth of Loch Calavie where I found a wide, clear track that follows the edge of the loch below the steep slopes of the Munro, Lurg Mhòr. Towards the western end of the loch, immediately after crossing the Allt Coire Calavie, I turned off the track and started climbing the grassy slopes where many wild flowers, including my favourite, spotted-orchids, decorated the ground and alongside the nearby stream adding to my delight and compensated for my exertions as I toiled up the steep terrain. Eventually I reached the top of the saddle between the two Munros, Lurg Mhòr and Bidein a’ Choire Sheasgaich, where I abandoned my heavy rucksack and in lovely sunshine headed up the boulder-strewn slopes to the summit of Lurg Mhòr. The view behind me was stunning with the mountains of the Coulin Forest and Torridon looking particularly stunning in the distance where the sun reflected off the white quartzite to stunning effect. The views all around were great with mountains everywhere and the only sign of the interference of man being the vehicle track to Bendroniag Lodge.

I tried to continue along the ridge beyond the Munro but I got into difficulty when the ridge narrowed and requires a steep scramble down to the col before the rise to the eastern 974 metre top. As a lone walker I often decide to err on the side of caution so I didn’t proceed any further down the crags where I might have got myself into serious difficulty or injury. Returning to the summit of the Munro I made my way back down the boulder-strewn slopes until I reached my rucksack where I had my lunch. After eating I put my heavy rucksack back on, the weight of which was very noticeable after the brief walk up the Munro without its load, and set off up the Munro on the other side, Bidein a’ Choire Sheasgaich. Behind me, the mountains that I had passed the day before were basking under dark clouds and rain while I was enduring blue skies and sunshine, but enjoying a strong cold wind as I slowly made my way up the Munro. The walk up to the summit of the Munro was relatively easy on gentle grassy slopes, but beyond the summit the ridge narrows deliciously and excitingly in amongst dramatic, steep, rocky terrain. I had been a little worried that I would encounter at this point similar problems to those I had found on Lurg Mhòr, however an excellent path weaves a cunning course through the difficulties.

The terrain was fabulously craggy and a tremendous pleasure to be walking through thanks to the brilliant path that enabled me to negotiate the rocky ground with safety. I thoroughly enjoyed walking through this complex, craggy terrain though with great care as I slowly made my way along the path with steep drops not far to my left and my right while ahead of me were stunning views north-west across the Coulin Forest towards Torridon. At the end of the ridge is a ridiculously steep descent to Bealach an Sgoltaidh that I felt sure the path would fail to negotiate, but despite being very steep with a little erosion it successfully and safely brought me all the way down to the bottom of the pass. Despite the difficulty this descent was a joy to walk in such a rock-filled landscape. I considered continuing north onto the Corbett, Beinn Tharsuinn, but when I saw how deep was the col and how steep was the slopes up the hill on the other side I decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Although it was only two o’clock I turned left at the bottom of the pass and headed down towards the Bearnais bothy making my own way across the pathless slopes down to the bottom.

Slowly I made my way across the heather and grass slopes to the valley bottom where my problems really started as I had to cross the peat hags to the reach the bothy on the far side. Not far from the bothy there is a wide bog and rather than going around I thought I’d be able to step across, and my leg disappeared up to my knee. Soon after that I reached the Amhainn Bhearnais where I attempted to wash my dirty leg and foot in the stream, but only succeeded in getting water inside my boots. So it was that when I reached the Bearnais bothy I had wet feet, and although it was only mid-afternoon I was thankful to be at this fabulous bothy whose location is amazing surrounded by great mountain scenery, especially towards the pass of Bealach Bhearnais. On this walk I went up two great mountains that are infamously a long way from any road while the second Munro has some awesome rock scenery that, although challenging, provided me with some great walking. It was a pity the walk ended as early as it did, and I possibly should have gone up the Corbett. Nevertheless I was more than happy to be at the Bearnais bothy and quite happy to be spending the next couple of days there.