Glen Affric Trip
3 - 6 May 2007
The lady booking this walk wanted to climb three Munros, two to the
north of the remote Alltbeithe Youth Hostel, and one to the south.
This would involve three days walking basing ourselves at the Youth
Hostel.
Day One
In the afternoon we drove up Glen Affric and parked in the car park at
the west end of Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin. From here we walked along
the undulating vehicle track on the south shore of Loch Affric in warm
and sunny conditions. The area was busy with walkers and cyclists.
At the west end of Loch Affric we crossed the bridge over the River
Affric and continued west along a vehicle track. The track was
fairly rough and undulating in places and could be cycled but this
wasn't what my client wanted.
We eventually reached the idyllic setting of the Alltbeithe Youth
Hostel, which was basking in the sun, with a few deer feeding in the
vicinity.
Day Two
After a night's rest we set off from the Hostel and followed a path
which crossed over to the Allt na Faing. A new area of forestry had
been planted here and fenced off but the National Trust for Scotland
had installed wicket gates and were in the process of upgrading the
path.
Once beyond the new forest plantation we continued up the side of the
Allt na Faing and into low cloud. We soon reached Coire na Cloiche
and the Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan - An Socach bealach. My client had
already climbed An Socach but I wished to take in this summit so my
client was happy to do likewise.
The ascent of An Socach was reasonably straight forward and as we
approached the summit we thought the sun was going to break through
the cloud but unfortunately it didn't happen. After a few minutes at
the summit cairn we returned to the bealach and climbed the Munro Top,
Stob Coire na Cloiche, before commencing the long ascent of the east
ridge of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan. My client had a few wild flowers
to study and name en-route and we also spotted a few ptarmigan.
Once again we thought the sun was going to break through the cloud but
it took to around 50 metres below the summit before the cloud started
to clear. We headed to the summit cairn where we had a cloud
inversion. There were around six peaks peeking above the cloud
including Carn Eighe, Mam Sodhail and Mullach Fraoch-choire. We sat
at the summit eating our lunch and enjoying the phenomenon.
We still had another Munro to climb so sadly we left the summit of
Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan and descended its rocky north-east ridge into
the cloud. Once at the bealach we climbed steadily to the Munro Top
Carn na Con Dhu which was followed by the gradual ascent to the summit
of Mullach na Dheiragain.
There was no point in remaining at this summit as we were still in the
cloud so we returned by the ascent route to the bealach where we met
the first walkers of the day and spotted another ptarmigan. Beyond
that we met a sole walker and his dog descending the north-east ridge
of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan .
After three hours we arrived back on the summit of Sgurr nan
Ceathreamhnan where we spoke with a fellow Hosteller. We took
another break at this summit, but on this occasion without the views
before descending to the Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan / An Socach bealach
and the path back to the Hostel for our final night there. During the
descent the cloud started to break up and gradually rise.
Day Three
The following day we left the Hostel, crossed the River Affric by a
footbridge and commenced the ascent of Mullach Fraoch-choire. It was
a sunny morning but as we were climbing the north side we were in the
shade until higher up. It was a fairly steep ascent but once back
into the sun we had good views into Fraoch-choire and to the mountains
we climbed the previous day.
The ascent continued up a narrowing ridge with some rocky outcrops
which were easily by-passed and we soon came to the summit cairn. We
took shelter at the summit from a cold wind and had something to
eat. We were soon joined by four other walkers who had come up the
south ridge.
After our break we headed down Mullach Fraoch-choire's north-east
ridge, initially fairly steeply and then onto a narrow section of the
ridge. Thereafter it was a pleasant and easy descent until lower
down where we were confronted by deer fences and some awkward terrain
to traverse. However after meandering about for a while we came to a
foot bridge which gave us access to the track on the south side of
Loch Affric. This vehicle track was followed back to the car park at
the east end of Loch Affric.
Day Four
The final day we were joined by another client to tackle the two
Corbetts to the south of Loch Affric. The weather had changed and it
was windy with showers as we set off from the same car park as above
and returned along the south side of Loch Affric as far as the Allt
Garbh and took the path along its east side. The water was running
fairly fast and would have been difficult to cross so we continued up
the east path to near Loch an Sguid.
At this point due to the wind and the volume of water in the Allt
Garbh it was decided that we would change our plan again and only
climb Carn a'Choire Ghairbh so we climbed onto its east ridge where we
disturbed a grouse and discovered it had been sitting on a nest of ten
eggs. We continued along the ridge mainly following some old fence
posts but it was very windy so we tried to stay on the lee side of the
ridge. On approaching the summit we had to remain low and try to
shelter as much as possible, touch the cairn and return to some
shelter as quickly as possible.
The return was back along the ridge to the west side of the Allt Garbh
and back along the side of the Loch Affric to the car park.
Time taken:
Day one - 3 hours.
Day two - 10 hours
Day three - 5.75 hours.
Day four - 6.75 hours.
Distance:
Day one - 13.5 kilometres.
Day two - 24 kilometres.
Day three - 16.5 kilometres.
Day four - 20 kilometres.
Height climbed:
Day one - 50 metres.
Day two - 1600 metres.
Day three - 850 metres.
Day four - 765 metres.
Photographs taken on walk can be seen at:
http://www.caledoniahilltreks.com/galleries/affric_may07/index.htm
Lindsay
www.caledoniahilltreks.com