Half way up the ridge kinks and breaks clear of the ranges. Snowy peaks began to appear ahead. A great array of Grahams can be seen from this summit sweeping round from Beinn Chaorach just across the deep valley eastwards to the white queen Cnoc Coinnich to the west. A hailstorm broke just as we reached the summit cairn and sent us scuttling back down the same way. The views should have been even finer on the way down but we saw only hailstones sweeping dramatically across from west to east until, almost back at the road, we dropped out of the storm to see sunlight glinting on Gare Loch and the cranes of the dockyard below.
[Beinn Chaorach from Beinn a'Mhanaich]
[Cruach an t-Sidhein, Tullich Hill, Ben Reoch, Doune Hill and Ben Lomond from Beinn a'Mhanaich]
We were amazed today to meet another party of six staggering just as drunkenly as us up the same ridge. Beyond a false top we dropped to a broad col crossed by a deer fence and this was followed by a surprisingly sheltered climb up the final cone to the trig point where the wind struck us with full force again and we had to embrace the pillar to avoid being swept off the hill.
Our descent route was determined not by any ascetic considerations but purely and simply by the need to get out of the wind. We followed the deer fence northwards and then struggled through the trees to join the splendid forest road which led us back to a second forest walk, one which traces the course of a section of General Wade's military road. We followed this in reverse to complete a rather satisfying, windswept circuit.
We parked where we could on the Diabaig road and went up as directly as the steep upper slopes would allow. Superb seascapes westwards were an ideal excuse for frequent pauses on this arduous ascent. Eastwards the bulk of Beinn Alligin dominated the view but only the lower slopes could be seen. The summit remained obscured in cloud and our own summit bore just a cap of mist, swept aside for one brief moment to offer tantalising glimpses of the Isle of Skye. We left the rocky summit along the gentle east ridge, lined with snow on its northern side. A glimpse of the beautifully situated Loch a' Mheallain tempted us into contemplating a descent and traverse to the north but a violent hailstorm sent us instead scuttling down southwards in search of shelter. It soon passed and to vary the return we continued south to the attractive Loch nan Tri-eileanan with its three islands which are inexplicably omitted from the 1:50,000 map although clearly shown on the old one inch sheet, before striking back westwards to the road and the completion of a delightful short climb.
[An Ruadh-mheallan from Loch nan Tri-eileanan]
We headed east from Kinlochewe but almost immediately left the track and climbed steeply onto the wild eastern plateau of the mountain. The summit looked deceptively close for it was a brilliantly clear day. Beinn Eighe and Meall Ghiubhais looked almost equally close, the old snow which dominated everything over two and a half thousand feet having been retouched overnight with a fresh coat of brilliant white. There were a few violent hailstorms sweeping in from the west but each one was swept away just as quickly to be superseded by blue skies and sunshine.
We were working our way northwards and came eventually to a sizeable stream which we followed up to an attractive lochan. Looking back across it we could pick out two other Elsies, Beinn nan Ramh and Meall a' Chaorainn with the isolated Munro Fionn Bheinn between them, all three looking very white indeed with the sun glinting on the fresh snow. Our hill became more and more snowy as we climbed onto the final steep slopes and left the bog behind.
As we approached the south top Slioch appeared with a tremendous storm sweeping across it and as we passed a frozen lochan and climbed to the higher northern summit the storm struck us. We cowered down by the cairn and in a few minutes it started to clear. Beinn Eighe and the other Torridon peaks reappeared backed by blue sky and towering storm clouds. It look a little longer for the glorious array of peaks northwards to appear through the storm. As the clouds rolled away we recognized with delight the lovely hills of the Whitbread wilderness from A' Mhaighdean to the pinnacles of Sgurr Dubh with Beinn Tarsuinn particularly prominent. Further east as the storm swept away it revealed the smoother profiles of Beinn Bheag and Groban, two more two-thousanders awaiting our attention.
We set off northwards intending to return by Gleann Bianasdail in order to admire the western cliffs of our mountain and take a closer look at the big waterfall above the end of Loch Maree. However after a short distance and a look at the terrain and at our watches we decided not to risk the significant possibility of failing to cross the Abhainn an Fhasaigh. There was a lot more snow on this northern side of the hill including some quite large patches not easy to avoid. Fortunately the snow was soft for we had rather foolishly left our axes in the car. We decided to strike back east and try to come down in Gleann na Muice just where the track crosses the river. A glimpse of Loch na Guailne Idhre in the distance gave us the direction before the next hailstorm struck. We expected it to pass as quickly as all the others but instead the hail turned to heavy snow. Visibility became poor but we plodded on in the same direction and, although we never found the lochan, when we hit the steep edge of the plateau we saw the bridge below as planned. As we dropped down to the path the snow turned to heavy rain in which we trudged back to Kinlochewe to arrive back at the car completely soaked but well content at the end of a very beautiful excursion.
We lost the track as soon as it started to climb from the valley and were soon wallowing up in deep fresh snow. Once on the ridge it was very different however and the swirling snow added to the feeling of walking in the arctic. In fact only a small amount of snow was falling, most of the apparent blizzard was the fresh snow which had fallen overnight whipped up by the strong south-westerly wind. Looking back my companion appeared legless, his lower limbs obscured in driven snow. Towards the top the ridge became quite icy, enough to merit the use of crampons had it not been almost completely flat.
The climb along this long ridge is almost imperceptible but the summit was not in doubt, marked by a small cairn. Although the higher hills westwards had their tops obscured in mist our lower hill and indeed Fionn Bheinn close by, remained clear. [picture] My back-bearing to ensure a safe return in white-out conditions was unnecessary and indeed the storm came to very little, petering out in a bit of drizzle as we returned down the boggy valley Feadan Duchairidh.
As we arrived back at the car the heavier rain began and we felt a deep satisfaction not only at our early start but most of all at having chosen to climb this hill when it offered us a touch of the arctic to spice its basically boring character.
The deciding factor in the decision to turn north was the beauty of the wintery mountains and the lure of a camping spot which should reveal An Teallach in splendid winter garb. In the evening we saw only the lower slopes of the mountain but an early awakening was rewarded by a most magnificent sight. An Teallach stood capped with only a wisp of cloud and decked in snowy raiment from head to toe. The thin crescent of the waning moon completed a panorama of unforgettable loveliness.
We could not have guessed that on Easter Monday morning we would wake to find the motor caravan covered in snow and the roads barely passable right down to sea level. We drove cautiously to Braemore junction and set out on what looked on the map a very short and simple climb. We had spotted cornices on the north side of the hill as we drove up the previous day so we did not follow the track up to the bealach but left it as soon as we had passed Home Loch and struggled through soft snow onto the west ridge of our mountain.
Each short sharp hail shower was followed by brilliant sunshine and stunning vistas of An Teallach and the Fannichs glinting spotlessly white in their cover of fresh snow. We were wallowing up to the knees in places and all of it had fallen overnight for when we had looked at this hill the previous afternoon it had appeared a boring grassy slog. Only higher up was the new snow lying in places on old consolidated snow or on icy rocks giving a few anxious moments as a series of steep rises led up to unfulfilled promises of the summit.
At last the true summit cairn was reached and the south-east ridge lured us onwards with an array of rolling white hills ahead. Before the eastern top we dropped off on steep snow and made our way down to the shores of Loch Feith nan Cleireach. The loch was completely white with snow lying on the ice, a wonderfully wild and wintery spot for lunch. Oddly enough the higher lochan to the west had quite a bit of clear water. Here we joined the track which led us back through the attractive bealach to Home Loch and the car.
It had indeed been worth the diversion northwards for the memories of this single simple walk into a wonderful white wilderness will last a lifetime.
A good track leads up the Allt Fionndrigh to a crossing point, a little awkward today, where according to the map it swings back south to the col between Creag Liath and the ex-Munro Carn Ballach, now demoted to a 'top'. Well this path may well exist but we did not see it for this little side valley was choked with deep snow and overhung by an impressive cornice. Our only sensible option was to struggle straight up onto the ridge and a struggle it certainly was up nearly vertical heather overlaid with deep soft and slippery snow. Once up the steep nose however the ridge flattened considerably and gave easy walking over the north top and a few well frozen peat hags to the summit.
The highlight of this walk was the views, once again glimpsed periodically between sleet showers, of the vast white snowfields of the Monadhliath. [picture] These mountains, often considered rather boring, were certainly at their most alluring today. The south ridge of Creag Liath lured us also, although with some trepidation for the map showed that this gentle ridge would end, as so many gentle ridges do, in a steep and craggy nose. Moreover there might be unseen snowfields and cornices below. Indeed we were soon looking down on a vast patch of snow with a pair of hares in their white winter coats scampering around on it. We dropped off westwards into Gleann Balloch to avoid any possible problems, although it later appeared that the completion of the ridge would have been trouble free. The snow was melting rapidly at lower levels and thigh length boots would have been appropriate for the boggy traverse back round the south side of the hill.
A track leads along the south bank of the River Cononish towards Beinn Dubhchraig which was looking quite magnificent in its heavy coat of snow. We left the track as soon as it had crossed the railway and were soon wallowing through deep soft snow ourselves, sinking in at times above the knee and at others encountering patches of firm and quite icy going. Such conditions are always a bit nerve-wracking with each step an unknown gamble but the discomfort was assuaged by the beauty, not only in the distant panorama of snowy mountains but also in our immediate surroundings. In summer this broad ridge would undoubtedly give rough and boggy going but today the peat hags were filled with drifted snow and edged with miniature cornices. The ill-defined northern top harboured a frozen lochan surrounded by enormous banks of smooth snow drifted up against the deer fences which converge just below the true summit.
The summit was a real surprise, a little dry, rocky and quite narrow ridge standing quite boldly above the surrounding plateau of what must usually be bog but today was trackless and untrodden snow. We did not linger there, beautiful though it was, for a bitter wind drove us to seek shelter back amongst the peat hags for lunch before following our footsteps down the way we had come, the views now largely hidden in lowering mist.
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