The Laggan Hills: Beinn a’ Chaorainn & Beinn Teallach

The Loch Treig Hills From Beinn a’ Chaorainn

DJ’s mid-summer Munro foray was aimed at wrapping up his unfinished  Munros on either side of the A86 between Spean Bridge and Newtonmore.  And that is exactly what we achieved over a 3-day visit at the end of July. 

For the middle day, we chose these 2 hills which lie immediately N of the Laggan Dam.  They are generally done together but have no convenient high bealach between them so you have to descend below 600m between Munros (Ouch)!  So take some solace from Beinn Teallach being the 2^nd lowest Munro - it could be a lot worse!

Beinn a’ Chaorainn From Beinn Teallach

A further crumb of comfort is the high start (270m) afforded by beginning from Roughburn on the A86.  From here, we took the track that leads through the forestry plantation to open (if boggy) ground beside the Allt a’ Chaorainn.  Then it was up, up….oh, and up… over some fairly tedious grassy slopes - these hills have plenty of them!

Beinn Teallach

Half-way up, the rocky knoll of Meall Clachaig leads to a slight easing of the gradient, but eventually (and it’s a long eventually), the ground becomes more stony and you finally arrive on Beinn a’ Chaorainn’s summit ridge.  The view that suddenly appears across the steep eastern corrie of the mountain’s 3 tops towards Craig Meagaidh is the best of the day. The summit is the middle of the 3 tops and it’s always a relief to get there: Beinn a’ Chaorainn (1049m; hill of the rowan).

 

Descending to the Allt a’ Chaorainn

Any joy was short-lived though as the descent back to the Allt a’ Chaorainn was long and in places steep.  After pausing for lunch (the midges’, not ours!), the 2^nd climb of the day followed - 400m of steep, broken ground in humid windless purgatory!  But at least it put us on top just in time to see a hen harrier taking flight from the summit cairn - a very fair reward for our efforts!  There are 2 cairns; the E one being the higher of the 2 by a short stone:  Beinn Teallach (915m; forge hill).

Beinn Teallach From Beinn a’ Chaorainn

We descended the straightforward easy-angled S slopes of the mountain and re-crossed the Allt a’ Chaorainn without difficulty (it must have stopped raining for a few hours)!  A possible sparrowhawk sighting in the forest supported the slightly unfair notion that the birds we had seen today were perhaps more interesting than the hills we had climbed!  Jon was happy though - a further 3 Munros the following day gave him his clean sweep of the Laggan hills despite cloudy conditions and 3 viewless summits (so no blog)!

Check out my plans for similar walks at: http://www.hillways.co.uk/summer/summer.htm

Sgurr a’ Mhaoraich

Sgurr a’ Mhaoraich

Mid-July saw a continuation of the misfiring summer of 2016 with a  succession of relentlessly wet and windy days in the Highlands.  Consequently, Jennifer’s mid-summer Munro raid on the hills around Loch Quoich, west of Invergarry in the Great Glen was threatening to be a complete washout.  Fortunately, after snatching a hard-fought hill-day (2 Munros) above Loch Treig in slightly less wet and windy conditions, the last day dawned bright and sunny and a quality Munro day beckoned.

The Long and Winding Road to Kinlochhourn

Back we went along the long and winding road to Kinlochhourn and parked just past the northern extension of Loch Quoich.  From here, an excellent stalkers’ path leads from the road up and along the grassy ridge of Bac nan Canaichean.  Without meaning to sound ungrateful, the sunny weather came with an uncomfortable sting in the tail.  Very warm and humid conditions do not make for comfortable hillwalking and that was certainly the case this morning when the strength appeared to drain from our legs.  At times, it felt a bit like high altitude walking and we were forced to pause frequently as we struggled under a hot sun.  Some respite was offered by a light breeze once over the subsidiary top of Sgurr Coire nan Eiricheallach (891m), but it wasn’t much of a concession.

Gairich Across Loch Quoich

Despite the debilitating conditions, the final stretch of ridge between this top and the Munro summit is truly delightful with spectacular views in all directions.  The summit itself came just 2hrs after leaving the car, but it was hard work which the photos don’t really capture.  It is a fine peak though with ridges radiating in all directions and a fabulous view down Loch Hourn towards Knoydart: Sgurr a’ Mhaoraich (1027m; peak of the shellfish). 

The View West From the Summit Towards Knoydart

We descended the same way (easy) thereby taking advantage of the path rather than descending the S ridge and cutting down across the pathless Coire nan Eiricheallach, a route I’d taken on my 2 previous visits.

 So, only one of the Quoich Munros achieved over the 5 days, but it won’t be long before Jennifer returns to finish them off - we just need summer to start taking itself seriously!

Sgurr a' Mhaoraich

Check out my plans for similar walks at: http://www.hillways.co.uk/summer/summer.htm