• Saturday 28th – Sunday 29th May 2022

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We were up in Glencoe for another weekend ticking off some more Munro’s we’ve still to undertake in this area.  The ones left are more off the beaten track which is ideal.  As much as I love Glencoe, it has become very very touristy.  The A82, what I used to call the ‘Glencoe Mountain Road’ is just so busy now, as well as every layby.

I’d much rather get lost in the mountains away from it all.  However, just to be clear, it is still very beautiful and the drive through is stunning so I cannot fault anyone for coming here to admire the view and feel a little bit of Scotland in all her glory!

We stayed overnight at the same ‘secret spot’ we had found the previous weekend, secluded in the forest.  Friday evening saw us undertake one of the other routes we had not done the previous week, which was called the ‘hill route’, this took us up through the forest to a view point which then came down to the Lochan we had walked around before.  The evening was beautiful so we walked around it once more.

Saturday saw us off to summit Sgòr na h-Ulaidh which some say is the forgotten Munro amongst the Glencoe peaks as it is out of sight for most of the road through the glen.  Its bulk is slightly obscured from view behind the imposing character of Bidean nan Bian.  However this mountain is meant to give a great day out with amazing views, if weather conditions are right, and today weather conditions were right!  

We parked in a small layby which gave us views up the valley of Glencoe.

From here we could not see our Munro of the day.  We had to walk a bit on the very busy road (A82) before we came to a track which we followed uphill and this then took us into a small forest.

From here we crossed over a very beautiful stream over a small gorge, before coming to some private houses, and of course we had the Aonach Eagach out in full view to add to the glorious surroundings.

This is one stunning mountain which dominates the views and encompasses one of the finest ridge walks in Scotland and enables you to also bag two munros. 

We undertook this ridgewalk a year or so ago and my goodness what an experience she was! 

Sgurr na h-Ulaidh possibly gets but a brief passing glimpse in comparison when driving though the glen, but this is one rough mountain with lots of character of it’s own and it too looks mean but attractive all the same.  Its name is derived from Gaelic meaning ” peak of treasure” and I’d agree.

The ‘path’ (I use that term loosly) follows the east bank of the Allt na Muidhe for quite some time before it crosses the burn and we headed up towards the Bealach Easan.  This is all the way upwards on steepish grassland for quite a while.

Eventually we hit the Col between Meall Lighiche and Sgor na h-Ulaidh.  Then things got a whole lot steeper just when we thought they couldn’t. 

There is actually a good deal of very steep, pathless going on for a while. The ascent up to Sgòr na h-Ulaidh from the bealach is exceptionally steep on grass and rocks and requires you to keep an eye on your feet! 

We just kept aiming uphill towards the crags.  Eventually the gradient began to ease as we made our final ascent to Corr na Beinn.  Views from here were stunning, we could see all the way over to Mull.

After taking in our surroundings and catching our breath we followed a grassy ridge which then climbed steeply again for a short distance.

The summit cairn of Sgòr na h-Ulaidh is perched on the edge of the crags and views were amazing.  We could see Loch Etive, Ben Nevis as well as many more peaks. 

After taking it all in we walked a short distance before beginning the steep descent of the northeast ridge. The upper section of this is very rocky but there was a slight zig-zag path to ease the going. 

We then went upwards once more to the top of Stob an Fhuarain which gave us some more great views.

From this top, we descended to the bealach by heading across the Aonach Dubh a Ghlinne ridge.

Then from the bealach we headed directly downhill over grassland into Gleann Leac na Muidhe.  Eventually we reached the bottom, joined our original path alongside the stream which would take us back to our track and back to our van.  Another great day on the hill. 

Hope you enjoyed the video above 👆❤

We decided to squeeze in another munro on Sunday before heading home so we chose the straightforward Munro, Beinn Fhionnlaidh, still in the Glencoe area.

We had parked up overnight in the forest by Glen Creran so we were ready to hike as soon as we were awake.  From the van we followed a path which took us past the very beautiful Glenure Lodge. As we continued along the path we reached a pine forest and  eventually left the path and went upwards on a rough track. 

The rough track soon disappeared and we then continued our route uphill on steep and very boggy sections, surprise surprise! Im actually getting slightly fed up traipsing through wet bogland but I guess it’s a given as we are now off all the “touristy hills’…but still, come on give us a slight break!

The summit is not visible until your practically on it we later realised, so we just continued to climb and climb taking in the views which were wonderful, we could see all the way out to the sea.

Eventually we got a bit of respite as we traversed the hillside before coming to a couple of beautiful lochans which we went around before climbing uphill once more. 

The ‘path’ steepens until the final approach to the summit is reached but this is after we had reached several false summits!

Eventually we saw the cairn and made our way to the top. We had fine views from here both out to the sea and inland towards Glencoe and Glen Etive.

The return route to Glen Creran was back by the same outward ridge, with continued excellent views down the glen and out to the sea but unfortunately we had to revisit the whole mess of wet boggy grassland which we just basically trode through to get it over and done with (or should I say “I did”!).

Although Beinn Fhionnlaidh is classed as a straightforward Munro and it only took us just over 5 hours to get up and down, I actually felt it to be long…maybe the bog got to me this time!

Hope you enjoyed the video above 💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿⛰.