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Beinn Fhada A Ghlas-bheinn Map On holiday with Trisha for a couple of weeks, one in Kyle of Lochalsh and the other in Ullapool. On a fine and sunny Sunday morning I drove from our holiday cottage in Kyle to the car park at Dorusduain (NG980223), set off at 8.53 and, after crossing the footbridge, made my way up the path along Gleann Choinneachain.
After about a mile and a half I reached the spot where the path crosses a stream, the Allt Coire an Sgairne. There I encountered three young lads who were also heading for Beinn Fhada but by a slightly different route. A short distance ahead the path split and where they carried on towards the Bealach an Sgairne I turned south to avoid what looked like a horribly steep scramble up Meall a Bhealaih. The lads had said they only intended doing the one hill today. I warned them that from the map their route looked very steep but they just smiled and carried on anyway… just as I would have done in their boots.
I continued along the southbound track up the glen and to my dismay came to a point where the path began descending again. No climber likes losing the hard-won prize of height unnecessarily so having weighed the choices I decided to chance my luck on a simple, direct slog up the hillside with a view to getting onto the ridge of Meall a Bhealaih. Once on there it would be simple to just walk along it to Bheinn Fhada, I hoped. It proved to be quite a slog getting up the hillside but fortunately it was very dry underfoot as there hadn't been any rain there for some time - virtually none all month according to one person I spoke to. I ascended via a stream bed which was dry now but which in wet conditions would have been almost impossible. It took the form of a steep gully climbing up through a fissure in the rocks; a bit awkward in places even in the dry but at last I got to the top.
There I thought I might have seen the three lads again but there was no sign of them anywhere on the ridge as I started to make my way south. There were some ups and downs en route and it became quite tiring; then, rather annoyingly, I found the ground descending to meet the original path so I probably didn't gain anything from my diversion after all. Once back on the main path the ridge merged in to the Bheinn Fhada plateau, a large, steadily rising, grassy plain that seemed to go on and on. Up and up I plodded and eventually, after bearing to the left, I was able to stagger triumphantly to the summit trig point (12.00).
I was rewarded for my efforts with some great views in all directions, out over the plateau, the length of the ridge and away to the north my next destination, A Ghlas-bheinn. And over all that vista nary a sign of the three lads. It was a bit perplexing where they had disappeared to. What I did see instead, however, was the blue-fleece-clad figure of a solitary walker toiling his way up the slope towards me. This turned out to be a 60-ish bloke from South Yorkshire who conveniently arrived in time to take my summit photo for me. He was a bit taciturn but eventually offered the information that he was up to 220 in the Munro-bagging stakes. He sat down to rest and eat and after ascertaining that he was intending to do the same route as me I left him to it and set off back towards the ridge. I had an easy descent from the summit but once back on the Meall a Bhealaih ridge there were the unavoidable ups and downs to surmount. This interim hill involved a bit of a climb and then at the top the ground just seems to end at the descent point to the Bealach an Sgairne. Here the ground fell away alarmingly - too alarming for me anway.
Describing this point of the route Cameron's notes say 'the descent to the pass is steep and some careful route selection is called for.' What an understatement! I find it amazing that the guides show a direct route forward at all - it looked suicidal to me. Fortunately I had also read the SMC guide which mentions the option of tacking east in search of easier ground. I tacked east and sure enough it was easier - still steep and requiring a fair bit of care and attention but at last I got down to the bealach unscathed. There, sitting and taking his rest, was Mr S.Yorks who had followed a similar ploy but had managed to overtake me somewhere. Fair enough, I had taken my time over it.
As I approached he had his boots off and was busy fiddling with his feet, addressing some sort of sore toe problem, so I left him to it and set off up the side of A Ghlas-bheinn. The initial climb from the bealach was steep but the path is obvious and after much sweat and effort I got over that bit. An eagle flew out over the crags as I was climbing. There then followed a series of ever-ascending crags and hillocks on the way to the summit crag which, when you could see it, seemed forever to be a vast way off. Still, there was nothing for it but to slog on over rise after rise after rise. I reached the summit at 14.30 and shortly afterwards Yorkie arrived to take the second summit shot of the day for me.
We both sat and rested, admiring the views for a while. In the gaps between chatting there was dead quiet. No jets, no car noise, no bird cries, no wind, no tumbling streams. Complete silence. It was very striking. He left the top before me but when I was ready I followed him down the western arm of the mountain. It was a very long descent, mostly over dry, grassy hillside, steep at times, gradual at other times. I headed for the eastern end of a forestry plantation and from time to time I would see my Yorks pal ahead of me, quite a distance away. Eventually I dropped down to the edge of the forest and was able to pick up a track there which led easily back to the car (16.30). I never saw the three lads again - I think the ascent of Meall a Bhealaih from the bealach may have been too much for them and they either returned the way they'd come or switched to doing A Ghlas-bheinn. I was very tired at the end of this trip but fortune had smiled for the weather had held and it had been a fine outing overall. | |||||||||
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