• Friday 2nd June – Sunday 4th June 2022

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Beautiful things don’t ask for attention 💙

A good weather front was being predicted so there was only one real destination on our list for this weekend – TORRIDON.

Torridon has to be one of my favourite spots in Scotland. It’s rugged, it’s handsome, it’s harsh, it’s mountainous, it’s off the beaten track and to me it just sums up Scotland. To get a good dry day here is unique and believe you me we’ve been trying. Since purchasing our van in August 2021, this is only our 2nd time coming here with the van – sums it up enough I guess!

We arrived late Friday evening with the intention of leaving for around 08.30am next morning. On driving through the glen we soon caught sight of what was to be our Saturday hike, An Teallach, and she certainly grabbed our attention. Ow my goodness, what a mountain or should I say massif because this is not just a single mountain.  From here the ridge walk which we also wanted to undertake looked impassible, impressive but definitely impassible.

We have specifically been putting of this hike until we were guaranteed a clear sky kind of day as this is meant to have amazing views, its also one long day on the hills but most importantly its meant to be one cracking experience.

We parked up in a layby whereby we could begin our walk next morning as we had read this could take 10 hours or more for a complete traverse (which we were doing) and with an ascent of over 1000m from sea level so every bit of mountain would be hiked!

We were up and away by 08.30am sharp, taking the track up the wooded Gleann Chaorachain on the roadside opposite our layby. We climbed past a waterfall then from here we were on to open ground.

Straight from the start I was enjoying this hike, it felt different. We climbed and climbed until eventually we started to catch a glimpse of the glorious sight of An Teallach.

This fabled mountain it has been said is perhaps the most impressive in Britain.  And after witnessing it today in stunning weather I couldnt agree more.  In an area often nicknamed the “great wilderness”, views go on for miles, the scenery is dramatic.

We reached the summit of Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill after a final, very steep ascent and we were rewarded by such beauty.

This truly was stunning and I think I can say this now has to be my favourite spot in Scotland…right here, on top of this mountain, on this very spot taking in this view, it could not be better.

I simply gazed, lost for words, across to the wonderful, dramatic, thrilling and jagged pinnacles of Corrag Bhuidhe.

Any day on top of a mountain is a great kind of day for me but today felt pretty special, a different level.

I didnt want to move as this view would never be beaten but we still had a long way to go so we continued to move forward, eyes wide open, towards our 2nd Munro, Sgùrr Fiona, on this amazing sunshiny day, although up here the wind had picked up and temperatures had dropped.

Everything continued to be enjoyable even the steep ups as views were spectacular but my goodness An Teallach with its spiky back held my attention for sure and the rest of the landscape was just an added bonus!

After undertaking the two Munro’s of Bidean a’Ghlas Thuill and Sgùrr Fiona we could either turn around and head back down the way we had came or we could undertake this amazing high level ridge traverse.

On looking at the route across the ridge who could resist those jagged pinnacles or scrambling up Lord Berkeley’s Seat?

So we undertook the full traverse which involved an amazing scramble to say the least over the Corag Buidhe Pinnacles, an airy set of spires with drop offs 500m and 800m either side, whilst bagging the two Munros of Bidean a’Ghlas Thuill and Sgùrr Fiona, it was juat fantastic.

An Teallach has quite a reputation and is known for being one of the best-looking mountains in Scotland, or in the British mainland for that matter and I for sure would agree. She is without doubt one of the most impressive group of hills I have seen and is certainly one if not my favourite, this did not disappoint.

From beginning to end (well apart from the very last 40 minutes which involved having to walk back to the van on the main road) this was one great day and a definate walk to remember.  Loads of photos taken but most importantly loads of memories created.

Hope you enjoyed the video above as much as we enjoyed this hike 💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿⛰.

Next day if our legs were still working we were off for another long day on the hills as we wanted to get the most out of this fabulous weather. We were off to undertake the Beinn Dearg Circuit, sumitting four Munro’s.

We started off early as this could take us between 9-11 hours and we wanted off the hills at a decent time as we needed to head back down the road for work the following morning.

We had stayed overnight in the car park where our walk would begin. Early next morning we had began our walk on a forest track which took us through Inverlael Forest. Eventually we exited the forest and from here we were onto a fine stalkers’ path for the approach (and return) taking us up Gleann na Sguaib which was very beautiful indeed.

Height was gained gradually, on an excellent path left above a burn and views to Beinn Dearg ahead were stunning.

As we walked we admired the impressive cliffs across the glen as we reached Coire Mathair Lathail, we crossed a stream before our ascent up to Lochan Lathail and what a spot this was. This alone was worth the hike in as it truly was a very beautiful spot. We climbed slightly further to reach Bealach an Lochain Uaine, with some more small lochans and this was our junction for several of our routes.

Our first Munro was going to be Beinn Dearg. This Munro was steep and very rocky and had one massive stone wall running all the way up. Soon we were climbing very steeply beside the wall and up over some bouldery ground and views back over the bealach were beautiful.

The ascent felt quite strenuous as it went on for some time until it eventually eased. We had to pass through a gap in the wall to eventually reach the summit cairn. We admired our view of countless mountains. From here we had to retrace our steps but this time we descended very steeply.

After climbing this hill I was intrigued by the wall. Who on earth would build such a thing and why. So after our hike we researched it only to find it was a ‘famine wall’ built by destitute people for food in the 1840’s!

Whenever, wherever I walk in Scotlands mountains there are often reminders that you are walking through history, some sad and painful, whether it be the remains of solitary houses standing remotely in glens where everyday must have been a struggle way beyond you can comprehend or this wall climbing steeply up this remote and wild mountain.

Our second Munro was Cona’ Mheall. After reaching the end of the stone wall we passed right by the small lochan and then followed a rough path that traversed the slopes of a hillock before we descended a bit to reach a lower bealach.

From here there are wonderful views into Coire Ghranda with its fine loch.

The ascent of Cona Mheall is on a grassy and scree open slope with a final boulder-field summit which I never really mind as I hop to and from boulders. We finally reached the small cairn and were rewarded with some awesome views across the Coire to the cliffs of Beinn Dearg. After having a bite to eat we retraced our steps back down to the first bealach and then back to Lochan Uaine.

This time we ascended a ridge taking us away from Lochan Uaine. Other than continuing to climb straight upwards this led us pretty quickly and easily to our third Munro of the day, Meall nan Ceapraichean.

From here we began our descent to our final Munro of the day and on catching sight of it, it looked very far away indeed. We soon realised, it was!

We headed downwards on stony, bouldery ground for ages before we found a ‘path’ that desended us further on to a bealach. On looking back up at where we had just descended from it was steep and long, no wonder it took us so long to get to here.

The climb up to Eididh nan Clach Geala was on mostly grassy slopes and I was glad to reach the top. We hit the first cairn, the true summit, but looked over and saw a second cairn so we walked over to that as it had an amazing viewpoint. From here we could see the mountains of Coigach and Assynt, with my favourites Stac Pollaidh and Suilven being very prominent indeed.

It was time to head back down as we still had a long walk back out.

We descended down the ridge before dropping steeply to join up with a stalkers path coming down from Loch a Chnapaich, it felt like we had managed to get down to this point very quickly indeed. We continued to follow the stalkers path downhill until we rejoined our original path which would take us outward through Gleann na Sguaib, then from here we went back through the forest before eventually reaching the van.

This fantastic four had provided us with another massive day on the hills but a rewarding one indeed. And now for the long drive home!

Hope you enjoyed the video above 👆🤞.