13 Munros and some other lovely hills (part 1)

Summer 2007      Ardmair and Gairloch


Having completed the farthest north Munros in 2004, we decided to return to Ullapool to continue where we left off - the Deargs and the Fannaichs.  So it was that we found ourselves heading up the A9 on Thursday 12th July to Ardmair Point, one of our favourite campsites, just north of Ullapool.


It turned out to be a fortnight of pretty good weather, and we had some great walks.  As I'm trying to catch up in this blog,  I'll just describe them in very brief terms just no, and maybe return to fill in some detail once I have complete those last 50 Munros! 
(At the time of writing, I have 42 Munros to go.  Tomorrow, we head off up to Kinloch Rannoch, so, weather permitting - and if the snow is not too deep and soft - the 2010 Munro season is about to get started!)

15th July  
Beinn Dearg and Cona Mheall


Cloudy day, but cleared in the afternoon.  Made good use of bikes up through the forest from Inverlael.  Good stalkers' path made progress easy.  


Anne on Cona Mheall (right)


Rough summits with good views in all directions.  Bizarre dry stane dyke on Beinn Dearg. 

Retrospect of Beinn Dearg from Glen Sguaib in the late afternoon (left).


A good long day:  7km cycle, 17km walk, 1250m climbing, 9 hours.


Especially appreciated the bikes as we sped back down the forest road to Inverlael.


Munros 202 and 203.

18th July    Cul Mor

Damp morning, but cleared up in afternoon, so a short outing required.  

Cul Mor, and its subsidiary summit, Creag na Calman, were the target.  Not the most exciting of the Coigach peaks, but a good viewpoint.  

Lovely stalkers' path (again) lulled us into a false sense of security as it stopped abruptly on a very boggy shoulder.  Still, it got drier further up, with a pavement of flat sandstone slabs round the north side of the coire, and dry grassy slopes between the two summits (above).

Dramatic sandstone cliffs (left) dropped away below our feet as we admired the views of Suilven, Stac Polly, Cul Beag and Ben More Coigach.   

Hey, they don't have to be Munros to be worth climbing!

19th July    Ben More Coigach

We woke up to a beautiful morning, with the sun shining on the slopes of Ben More Coigach across the bay from the camp site.  However, we wanted to do a traverse over all its main tops, so that meant a long drive round: 6 miles NE to Drumrunie, then 12 miles NW to Achnahaird, 3 miles S to Achiltibuie, then 5 miles SE to the road end at Culnacraig! And how far were we now from the campsite?  Only about 5 miles "as the crow flies"!

Anyway, there we were at 11.15am, and set off along a narrow path behind the houses, gradually rising across the moor to the foot of a waterfall plunging down a ravine from the hanging valley above.  A steep climb up alongside the fall, then began a delightful ascent winding in and out of the sandstone outcrops to reach the seaward end of the ridge of Garbh Choireachan, with wonderful views out to sea (above).

We enjoyed the scramble along the ridge of sandstone tors (above left), then across gentler grassy slopes to the summit of Ben More.  

Many guide books have routes to Ben More which ignore the ridge we had just come along - I can't understand why!  It's the best part of the mountain by far.

From the summit, we continued over some rocky outcrops on the grassy plateau, one of which was adorned by an intricate stone sculpture (right).  Is it still there, I wonder?

A little hard work took us down and up to the Fiddler (left) - a superb vantage point for the other Coigach peaks.

Now 4.30pm, and with legs tiring, we continued across the heather, grass and rocks to the final top of the day, Cairn Conmheall, a lonely pulpit looking out across the moorlands to the NW and the Summer Isles (below).  

Eventually, we picked up our rucsacs for the last time, and trundled down the steep heathery slopes back to the car.

An excellent day! 

(written 01/04/10)