Mullardoch Munros
23 June 2007
This walk involved climbing the four Munros on the north side of Loch
Mullardoch and was for the benefit of Tony who had only five Munros
left to climb and Kay who had only four mainland Munros to do.
Unfortunately for Kay she had already climbed Sgurr na Lapaich and
Carn nan Gobhar.
Access to these mountains was along the unclassified single track road
from Cannich along Glen Cannich to the dam at the east end of Loch
Mullardoch. There was ample off-road parking just before the dam.
Tony had arranged for Carl the boatman to take us along the Loch to
West Benula, which is located at the junction of the streams Allt
Coire a'Mhaim and the Allt Socrach.
Carl was a bit concerned about the level of the loch as in ten years
he had never seen it so low. Apparently Hydro Electric was reducing
the level to carry out repairs to a tunnel.
On leaving the boat at West Benula, in the rain, the first hurdle was
to cross the soft sandy soil, normally under water, before passing the
side of the remote West Benula Lodge. I think it is possible to rent
this Lodge but there is no access to it other than on foot or by
boat. Once beyond the Lodge we walked up the path on the north side
of the Allt Coire a'Mhaim, as the first shower of the day ceased.
There were a number of cattle grazing near the Allt Socrach so it is
good to see that some Estates are using hill ground for these beasts
which were mainly cleared from the Highlands in the late eighteenth
century to be replaced by sheep. Now the sheep have also gone so
that Estates can concentrate on deer. The only downside from the
cattle is the deep holes they make on the paths with their hooves.
After a couple of kilometres the path disappeared and we crossed the
stream, then some peat and boggy ground to the south-east ridge of An
Socach. This was followed by a steady climb into the cloud with the
corrie edge forcing us further west until we eventually reached the
summit trig point where we took our first break. However it was a
bit cold on the summit so we didn't stay long before we headed down An
Socach's east ridge, which changed direction several times and in
places dropped steeply.
Once at the low point on the ridge we climbed onto the West Top and
the South-West Top of An Riabhachan, both Munro Tops before the easy
and gentle ascent of An Riabhachan.
A further cairn was located further east before the descent of Creagan
Toll an Lochain. On this walker's path I almost stood on a young
ptarmigan chick which squealed and ran off down the path and into the
cloud. There was no evidence around of its parents or other
siblings. On the descent it appeared that the cloud may break and
as it was reasonably sheltered we stopped for lunch in anticipation of
some views. However we were disappointed as the cloud did the
opposite and actually thickened.
On finishing lunch we were in the process of packing up when we heard
voices and two walkers appeared heading west. The had come up from
Innis an Lochiel at the head of Glen Strathfarrar but were only
climbing Sgurr na Lapaich and An Riabhachan before returning to their
vehicle to get out of the glen before the gate at the entrance to Glen
Starthfarrar was closed for the night.
At the bealach below Creagan Toll an Lochain we commenced the climb of
Sgurr na Lapaich's south-west ridge. I think this was the hardest
part of the day for Tony and Kay who required a few stops en-route to
the summit trig point. The descent from this Munro was initially
rather awkward as it was over some large boulders but eventually we
found a reasonable path which we followed to the Bealach na Cloiche
Duibhe.
The ascent of Carn nan Gobhar, Tony's penultimate Munro, was
relatively straight forward and we took our final break here before
crossing to a slightly lower but more substantial cairn and descended
towards Mullach na Maoile. Not long after leaving this second cairn
we spotted a mountain hare, a dottrel and its young and a ptarmigan
before emerging out of the cloud. Here we saw another couple of
walkers who were headed uphill with their backpacking gear.
The descent over Mullach na Maoile was relatively easy before we
headed own its south-east ridge which was fairly steep and with some
rocky outcrops which were not shown on the map. Eventually we
reached the rough path along the north shore of Loch Mullardch and
walked long it, in the rain, to the dam and the end of the walk.
There were several other cars now parked beside the dam, the occupants
still out on the hills we had climbed. Tony had arranged for the
boat for 8am as according to Carl others had booked the boat at 9 and
10am but from previous experience the earlier the start the better as
this walk taking in all four Munros on the north side of Loch
Mullardoch is a fairly long day.
Tony had his last Munro in Glen Coe planned while Kay had a trip to
Skye booked for the following week to try and bag all twelve Munros on
the Island, which would leave her with three left to bag.
Time taken - 9.5 hours.
Distance 21 kilometres.
Height climbed - 1685 metres.
Photographs, of which there only a few due to poor visibility, can be
seen at:
http://www.caledoniahilltreks.com/gallery07/mullardoch_june_07/index.htm
Lindsay
www.caledoniahilltreks.com