Fraochaidh, a Corbett near Ballachulish.
The articles I have read in relation to this Corbett suggest climbing
it from Ballachulish in the east due to forestation in the west.
However as I had climbed this hill from the east on a previous occasion
I wanted to try a different approach. It looked like there may be a
route through the forest from Glen Duror and the distance was a lot
shorter.
The start of the walk was at the end of the public road in Glen Durur,
just off the A828 Fort William to Oban road. We then walked east
through the forest on a good track with marker posts. At a footbridge
we crossed the River Duror and followed a good path, still waymarked,
uphill through the forest. At the highest point on this path, after a
few minutes of searching, we found traces of a rough and sometimes
muddy path, which continued uphill through the forest. The route had
pieces of marker tape attached to a couple of the trees to assist in
route finding.
Once out of the trees we headed up the ridge which is rather contorted
and eventually reached an old fence and followed the fence posts to the
summit. Although fairly bright, outwith the forest, we identified
some of the surrounding hills, took a few photographs and headed
downhill following the ascent route as it was rather windy.
This is a suitable route for climbing Fraochaidh, despite the condition
of the path through the upper part of the forest but ensure you know
where it emerges from the forest for the return route as it is well
concealed by large fir trees.
For photographs taken on this walk see:
http://www.caledoniahilltreks.com/galleries/fraochaidh_may06/index.htm
For statistics see:
http://caledoniahilltreks.blogspot.com
Lindsay
www.caledoniahilltreks.com