[Trip Index] [Munro Index] [Home] 20th May 2008   An Socach - Glen Affric Map Another reasonable day, cloudy but dry and with all the tops yet again clear. Having parked in the layby east of the Cluanie Inn I set off at 8.40 along the An Caorann Mor glen. As there had not been much rain of late the going was quite good although once the cart-track section came to an end, about an hour into the trek, the path would occasionally disappear and reappear as it felt fit. It's a long walk up that glen and not overly interesting being mostly level and grassy and devoid of any points of interest; Ciste Dubh on the left and Mullach Fraoch-choire on the right brightened things up a bit towards the far end. The glen stretching into the distance, 15 minutes from the start Nearing the glen end, an hour and 20 mins later - Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan ahead As I came to the end of the glen the slopes of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan rose up impressively before me. The track at that end split into a high way and a low way and I took to the low way which appeared to involve less effort. Then on rounding the northern shoulder of the Mullach the lonely outpost of Alltbeithe, the youth hostel, came into view. I walked towards it along the banks of the River Affric, passing an unattended tent on a small island in the river. To reach the hostel I had to cross the river by means of an old but well-built bridge; the iron uprights looked solid despite its age, and bore wire cables which in turn supported a platform made of old, weather-bleached, wooden boards. The wires were rusty and some side strands were broken but it was sound enough - as I walked over it it swung and bounced a lot. The bridge across the River Affric Alltbeithe youth hostel On the other side of the river I made my way through a load of marshy grass, by-passed the youth hostel and took to the path behind it. This track led east as far as the Allt nan Faing, then turned left and went straight up the hillside. In the upper reaches the terrain was quite varied and reasonably easy going although I was getting a bit weary by now after the long walk-in. Eventually I reached the low point on the ridge and on turning right ascended a rock-strewn interim mound before making my way over and up to the summit (13.00). An Socach summit, Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan to the left Good views including the Affric summits of Bheinn Fhionnlaidh, Carn Eige and Mam Sodhail, all of which I had done in cloud and not seen properly before. I left the top at 13.22 and it was an easy jog back down to the Youth Hostel where I noticed that the washing on the line had been taken in. As I passed I saw a bloke - presumably the warden - sitting inside reading. An isolated existence for there are no roads to this remote outpost. Bheinn Fhionnlaidh on the left, Carn Eige with some snow on, and Mam Sodhail to its right From the hostel I started back on the long reverse trip. This time I chose the high road - it was a bit shorter but some extra effort so I think they're about par. On the way I passed two hippies - one tall with long-hair in a pony-tail and a large droopy moustache; the other short, Don Estelle-ish but also sporting a droopy moustache. It was a bit late to be starting a climb so I think they must have been heading for the YH. I said hello and got a grunt in return. In contrast 20 minutes further along I met another bloke who was very affable. He was from Edinburgh and on his way to the YH to spend the night there before doing An Socach the following day. He told me he was an inverted snob about doing the Munros, in that he was working his way through them but omitting what he thought were the boring ones. After wishing him well I carried on and had an easy but lengthy walk back to the car (17.05).