Warm-up on the Scottish Hills

Last June, we flew to Scotland. This is one of my favourite countries that I have visited many times. I was on my way to Greenland and thought a short sojourn there, visiting my Scottish friends and climbing some of the iconic peaks of the NW would be a good prelude to the more vigorous trip in Greenland.

We flew into Edinburgh via Heathrow on 25^th June. From there we took the train at Waverly to Aviemore, to be picked up by our good friend Frank Johnstone and whisked to his lovely house in the Scots Pine forest at Bridge of Garten. Frank and Liz are fantastic hosts and we have stayed with them many times, enjoying their great company, the peace and quiet at the Boat and rambling off to climb peaks in the Highlands. We spent a day winding down before setting off on a lovely mountain bike ride to Nethy Bridge, Forest Lodge, and the Pass of Ryvoan to Glenmore Lodge and back to the Boat. The weather was splendid so we went over to the Torridon on 29^th.

The Torridon Mountains lie to the north of Glen Torridon in the NW of Scotland. There is a triumvirate of iconic peaks – The Horns of Alligin (in Gaelic “Jewelled Mountain”), Liathach and Beinn Eighe. These were new peaks for me and on a previous trip, I'd climbed  “An Teallach” peak to the north of Loch Maree. Fantastic country – I could not wait.

We arrived early and set up camp in the campground near Torridon village. It’s a beautiful spot and not over-run with “Freedom campers” as has happened in NZ. Frank dropped me off at the Alligin carpark. It was a beautiful day, cerulean, blue sky and warm airs. I set off up the Coire Mhic track and branched off up the Allt a’ Bhealaich to the start of Sgurr Mhor, the first peak on the Alligin ridge system. It was a stiflingly hot day as I reached the steep slopes of the mountain. It must have been at least 30’ as I puffed my way up the first steep rise. I reached a sort of plateau of stunted sere grass and rocks. There are 3 summits on the range, which are easily traversed.

On the ascent of Sgurr Mhor, I met a teacher from the Lakes District and we spent half an hour discussing my pet topics of conservation and tourism. He was ecstatic about the area and described them as the “Lungs of the UK” something I could identify with. Sgurr Mhor is a fine viewpoint and I stopped for lunch there, admiring the splendid vista of Liathach to the north and the upland of mountains and lochs to the west known affectionately as “The Great Wilderness”. The peak is 986m high and a “Munro”. An easy ridge took me to Tom na Gruagaich, the second Munro on the ridge. Looking back, the Horns were indeed an impressive sight. It was an easy descent back to the car park where Frank picked me up.

Next day Frank dropped me off below Beinn Eighe. I started early to avoid the killing heat. These are tiered, sandstone mountains, the most spectacular in the UK. There were another 2 Munros here – Spidean Coire nan Clach (993m) and Ruadh stac Mhor (1010m). I started up the steep climb on a path up Coire an Laoigh before the rising sun lit up the face. I literally flew up the climb before it got too hot. On the crest of the ridge were a stone cairn and grassy flat area. There was a terrific view to Liathach, which appears as a giant monolith to the west. The path now bore away to the right up to a rocky slope to Spidean summit. To the north was a splendid view to Slioch across Loch Maree. Descending this a winding path led down and over several bumps to the grassy mound of Coinneach Mhor.  To the NW were the “Triple Buttresses” and “Sail Mhor”. I now descended to a col and started up Ruadh stac Mhor, which lies off to the side of the main ridge. Here, I stopped for lunch. Descending back to the col, a narrow gut leads down to a loch in the impressive corrie of Mhic Fhearchair. I stopped at the head of the loch for a dip in the cool waters and felt much refreshed. Then it was a long walk out through Coire Dubh Mor to the road end. 

On 3^rd July, Frank and I drove over towards Achnasheen and biked up a 4WD track to Loch Fannick. Here, we cycled west to the head of the loch to a nameless Graham that Frank wanted to climb. There are 224 Grahams in Scotland. These are peaks between 2000-2500 feet high and Frank was cleaning up on the few he’d not climbed to date. We parked the bikes in the heather at the base and ascended the easy, east ridge to a plateau and the far summit. On the way, we startled a herd of deer. From the summit, there was an impressive view of the Torridon Peaks far to the west. We saw a Golden Eagle and Golden Plover on the descent. Back at the car, we continued on to the Torridon campsite as Frank generously offered to take me back to climb Liathach. 

On 4^th July, Frank dropped me off at 6.15 am at the bottom of the track in Glen Torridon just east of Glen cottage. It was a lovely clear morning and the sun had not risen and the south face was still in shade and cool. I quickly mounted this 1000m climb to arrive on the ridge just west of Bidean Toll a’Mhuic. I stopped for a few minutes admiring the dramatic sandstone ridges of Beinn Eighe and the ridge to Spidean a’Coire Leith. I turned right and reached the summit of Bidean and then retraced my steps along the ridge and continued the winding ridge to Spidean. This is a Munro at 1055m. This was a rocky summit and there was a big descent before the Fasarinian Pinnacles, a long castellated ridge linking the peak to the second Munro, Mullach an Rathain. I stopped for lunch enjoying the warm airs and great views from the summit. 

 

The descent was easy and soon I came to the famous pinnacles. I climbed across the first one and picked up the path on the south side that skirted the other cliffs. It was very exposed in places but easy and nothing of concern. Beyond the pinnacles, the path led up to Mullach an Rathain at 1023m. There was an ineffable panorama of Loch Torridon below all the way to Skye on the SW horizon. The descent was on an eroded path down a steep loose, scree slope back to Glen Torridon. I had just reached the road when a nice lady pulled up and gave me a lift back to Torridon village. She was a climber and told me of her bivvy on Liathach, the previous night. I had a drink at the wee store in the village and then walked back to the campsite to await Frank who had gone off to knock off another Graham, a “Top” at Slioch.

On 7^th July, Belinda, Frank and I drove over to Garve and biked over to Loch Vaich to climb two nearby Grahams. It was a 43 km round trip on the bikes on a very rough stony track and a non-descript ascent of two hag-covered rounded hills. It was a cool day and not nearly as warm as my previous climbs. On the way out we met 2 men beside their 4WD vehicles, a support team for the Highland Walk Charity. I think it was to raise money for disabled servicemen. We stopped for a pleasant chat and I commended them on a great cause.

This was the last hill I climbed and felt fit and well to tackle the rigours of Greenland. A few days later I flew with Bruce Farmer to Nanortalik in Greenland to meet a major test in the wilderness of SW Greenland.  

Acknowledgments: To Frank and Liz Johnstone at Boat of Garten for your hospitality and great company, to James Baxter for your visit, to Craig and Elizabeth Hunter for looking after us in Musselburgh and to Bruce Farmer for coming with me to Greenland.