Remote Bagging

Last weekend Ann & John decided to make use of a reasonable forecast to delve deep into the area west of Linn of Dee on an overnight camping trip. Deciding an early start on Saturday would do, we duly woke to pouring rain instead of blue skies. So after a less tan early start we got up to Braemar where it was even wetter. Luckily the toy shop now has an excellent cafe which proved a perfect spot for some last-minute stalling.

With time running out and overheard reports of sun 30 minutes south, we geared up and did the cycle into White Bridge and were rewarded by the rain stopping. The original plan had been to cross the Geldie Burn but two days of rain had left it quite high and it was enough watching a foreign backpacker tackling it. Fed up with sodden boots on just about every walk this summer we decided to head up to Geldie Lodge to see if it was crossable there. It wasn’t, if anything it was worse. 

 

Towards Beinn Bhrotain from near Geldie Lodge

This brought on a change of plan. Instead of the grand circuit we had in mind we decided to press on over the watershed to the Feshie and follow it upstream. A short steep pull up an attractive little corrie got us to the northern slope of Beinn Bhreac, possibly the most remote Corbett, and a fine camping spot at 750 m.

Along the Feshie

Impressive peat-topped moraine

Tent up just before sunset

A chilly night meant we were too buried in our sleeping bags to hear the early alarms so didn’t wake until the sun turned the tent into a welcome oven. After a quick breakfast we did the dash up Beinn Bhreac with minimal gear as we lost the sun to a cloud sheet. Yet another forecast for a good day that that was turning out wrong. A fine summit though, and we contemplated that we were probably some of the most isolated folks in the country at the time.

 

Heading up Beinn Bhreac, Cairngorms behind

Summit of Beinn Bhreac

Chair-like cairn on An Sgargsoch

Heading back north we collected the tent for the ascent of Carn Ealar, Normally considered pretty remote itself, crossing it on the way home felt a bit odd. Then came the big drop and 300 m back up to An Sgargsoch, another prized remote bagging target. The choice of descent routes was tricky; out north to the Geldie and hope it had dropped or east along the Bynack Burn and a certain soaking lower down the Geldie but not far from the bikes. In the end we went for the middle route – a traverse of the undulating ridge between to two other options. This proved generally easier going than we had feared and soon got us to our river crossing. What an anti-climax. It had dropped 20-30 cm and we got across dry. A fine end to a pleasant little trip and great to be in the tent again.

Rum

Back to the blog with a report from last month of a trip to Rum over the Aberdeen holiday weekend. John & Ann had been waiting for a suitable weather window for this trip for a few years and this was our chance. John had never been into the hills on Rum despite sailing around it and anchoring there dozens of times. The only complicating factor was that the skiing was still excellent and we didn't want to give up on that. So a compromise was reached with us skiing on Aonach Mor on the Friday, then over to Rum first thing Saturday for a little backpacking trip around the island.
 

Warming up on Spikes

Up onto Stob an Chul-Choire

Aonach Beag looking tasty

First we headed out west and over the rounded Orval in warm sun- quite a contrast to the steep snow of the previous day. Not the most exciting walk but superb views, and our first two eagles of the trip. We descended to Harris and found a good spot as far east as possible, just off the end of the raised beaches. This was to maximise our chance of getting a sunset, which looked just possible from the azimuth data. We were well rewarded.

 

Rum from campsite near Arisaig

Canna from Orval

Easy going on Orval, Skye behind

Rum Cuillin from Orval

Harris sunset 1

The next day it was up early for a traverse of the Rum Cuillin. It lived up to its reputation as a cracking day out, the only downside being that we got fairly dehydrated in the warm dry air with no water up on the ridge. The 2l that we were each carrying wasn't enough for such a big day out and the first stream on the way down was welcome relief.

Morning visitors to the tent

Sgurr nan Gillean

The rest of the ridge

Towards Ainshval

Traversing the twin summits of Trollaval

Hallival and Skye from Askival

The Askival Pinnacle

Harris sunset 2

We got back to the tent just in time for another spectacular sunset and a welcome sleep. The final day was a walk out on the landy track to the centre of the island before a sneaky ascent of our final Marilyn on Rum, the featureless Mullach Mor. This gave us more good views before a descent to Kinloch and a very interesting tour of the castle.

Happy Easter

Not being organised enough to get away on the Thursday we were restricted to doing something further east on Friday. The choice was a Cairngorm ski tour that started well in clear sunny conditions but the cloud rolled in as we got to the plateau. Not fancying a navigational test we bailed on the plan to go th Macdui and stuck to the round of the Northern Corries. Great descent off Cairn Lochan but the snow in Lurchers was a bit slabby.

On the way up Cairngorm

Cornices on Cairn Lochan

Ann carving a nice set of teles

We then headed west to camp at Roy Bridge in a chilly -6. Saturday was stunning and we headed off west to the edge of Knoydart for Spidean Mialach and Gleouraich above Loch Quoich. Great day out with fantastic views.

Spidean Mialach

Gleouraich from Spidean Mialach

Gleouraich

Another similarly chilly night in the tent got us to Sunday and a big day out; The Ben by the CMD arete. The slog up Carn Mor Dearg wasn't too bad and the arete was almost easier than in summer – just a snowy knife edge about the width of two feet for the most part. The consequnces of a slip would have been worse than summer though, with pretty hard snow on both sides, a fact happily ignored by the woman we met wandering along in a pair of yak trax and no axe!

 

North Face of The Ben

Heading off onto the CMD arete

On the arete

The final night was a balmy -2 and we were fortified by a fine bar supper. On Monday we fancied something a bit easier so went for the half day of the Corbett of Beinn Bhan south of Loch Arkaig. Not all that interesting in itself but a cracking viewpoint.

Cold and windy on Beinn Bhan

A Bugger of a Bagger!

A solid forecast for a sunny weekend saw Ann & John brave the 4 hour drive to Kintail despite the Grade 5 midge forecast. The objective was a bagging trip of the grand day out that is the horseshoe of peaks centred on Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan. We camped at Morvich on a very pleasant evening, quite different from the semi-blizzard conditions last time we were there on the Hogmanay meet. And the midges were no worse than a 2.

Next morning an early breakfast got us to the car park at Killilan by 8am, cycled-up for the 11 km approach to Carnach. The first part of the walk was a bit wobbly after getting off the bikes but we soon got stuck in to the steep and trackless ascent of Mullach Sithidh. 

View down Glen Elchaig from above Iron Lodge

The Mighty Stob Fraoch Choire (R)

This was heavy going in the warm temperatures and was made worse but having to veer into the boggy corrie to fill up with water. Once higher on the ridge, in the breeze and with the going improved, we picked up the pace and were soon on the first bag of the day, the Munro of Mullach na Dheiragain. After a well-earned first lunch we wandered along the undulating ridge to begin the 300 m ascent of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan and met our first other people of the day. That started a trend, with about 15 in the next ½ hour. The ascent was a bit of a grind but worth it to get back to one of my favourite summits. A short but interesting traverse got us to the lower western top for a better view and second lunch.

Mullach na Dheiragain from Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan (try saying that after a pint!)

Summit of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan

Then we descended the North Ridge, which is a great outing over two decent Tops in a fine setting. This got us to the second bag of the day, the Murdo of Stob Fraoch Choire. For those of you who don’t know about Murdos, see the blurb below. They are named after the character Murdo Munro – he’s a bugger of a bagger, from the sadly-missed The Angry Corrie. This was my final Murdo and a source of some frustration, having passed within a couple of hundred metres of it a few years ago whilst Top-bagging and not been bothered to climb it. It is one of the mythical Seven Summits, peaks of sufficient prominence to be Murdos but neither a Munro Summit nor Top.

A bugger of a bagger....

Mountain anorak status assured (I don’t know of any other Murdoists, although there must be some around) we began the hot and sweaty descent through the increasingly rough bog to Carnach and an easy bike ride/roll back to the car.

Our 11 hour day had taken it out of us so the next day we just headed up to the Plockton area for a relaxing swim in the sea. Nothing too exciting but all very pleasant….

Snorkelling with Skye in the background

Crab-tastic!

Fishy goings-on

Extract from: http://bubl.ac.uk/org/tacit/tables/murdos/index.html

“In recent years the word Munro has become synonymous with Scottish mountains over 3000 feet, yet anyone who has climbed all 277 Munros will be aware that numerous 3000-foot summits are not counted as Munros. The list of 517 Munro Tops might therefore be regarded as a natural progression, but few of the 1300+ Munroists have gone on to climb all of these. Perhaps most of them have simply had enough, but those with an appetite for more will discover the Munro Tops to be an unsatisfying assortment of major mountain summits and minor bumps. Many Tops are awkwardly distributed for a natural walking route yet are not distinctive enough to warrant a special trip. The list of Murdos provides a much more rational and appealing extension to the Munros.

A Murdo is a Scottish peak over 914.4 metres high (3000 feet) with a drop of at least 30 metres (98 feet) all round. The 444 Murdos comprise all 277 Munros, 160 of the most significant Munro Tops and seven additional summits. The list of Murdos shows the drop from each summit and so makes it easy for hillwalkers to collect the most rewarding 3000-foot summits without having to bother with the less significant tops.”

Strathfarrar Six

Last Saturday an elite team of AMC-ers gathered in Cannich campsite for Ann’s official birthday meet, kept deliberately quiet as it clashed with the club meet that we couldn’t make. Capitalising on the availability of transport the route of choice was the traverse of the fine ridge of six Munros (four Summits, two Tops) on the north side of Strathfarrar.

The Mullardoch hills from the first ascent

Ann, John, Mel, Steve and Morna met Rod (on another early start from home) in time for the charade of the opening of the locked gate that passes for an access arrangement to the glen. Then, cars suitably positioned, we headed up onto the eastern end of the ridge. This seems like the more unusual direction to tackle the route but none of us had done it that way and it has the advantages of getting the bigger climbs over with sooner and better views. The pull up to the first summit was a tad tedious but things improved once we had some more extensive views. There was a lot less snow around than the previous weekend but the biting northerly wind made up for that. 

Final summit in sight

The cloud finally got us

The traverse of the next few hills was very pleasant but uneventful until second lunch on the final summit, when the thickening cloud finally touched ground and the snow started. After marvelling at the unusually thick snow flakes that looked more like cake decorations, we dashed along the final bit of ridge and dropped into the shelter of the corrie, where it was more like summer. Then back to the campsite for a chilly but dry BBQ and birthday cake!

Brilliant Backpack Bagging

A brief window in what is turning into the wettest drought on record allowed Ann & John to make a bagging trip to the Northwest Highlands last weekend, with a target of tackling what many regard as the most remote Munro. Leaving home early on Saturday morning gave us a much easier drive than the usual Friday night performance and we were in Craig by 10.30, despite a stop for second breakfast on the way.

The track in through the tree farm was at least efficient and soon got us to the “interesting” bridge at the start of a stalker’s track up the first Corbett of the day, Sgurr na Feartaig. The path was excellent, just what we needed with full packs and we were on the spacious summit for a slightly late lunch. As predicted, the views were extensive and we were surprised by both the amount of snow and how much less there was on the more westerly hills.

Summit of Sgurr na Feartaig

A short steep descent got us to Bealach Bearnais and the start of the ascent of our second Corbett, Beinn Tharsuinn. By the summit our legs were feeling the day’s 1200 m of ascent but we didn’t have much more to do as the plan was to camp by a lochan just below the summit. This proved to be a fantastic spot, although not quite as sheltered from the easterly breeze as we had hoped. Although not strong, the windchill was a bit nippy given that the air temp was only just above freezing and the plan to bring our ½ season summer sleeping bags wasn’t looking too clever. We ended up sheltering in the tent for the soup course but only slightly behind cue the wind dropped and the clouds cleared, letting us enjoy the rest of the evening’s food outside with a stunning panorama over the west coast from Kintail to Torridon.

Ascent from Bealach Bearnais

Campsite. Lurg Mhor left, Bidean right

Tea-time view to Skye

It had been a while since we had done any sub-zero camping so I had forgotten one of the key rules about being very careful when moving around in the morning. Result – frozen condensation down the back of the neck. Then within minutes the sun hit the tent and brought some much-needed warmth, until all the condensation thawed and started to drip on us.  

A hearty breakfast got us warmed up and on our way by 8am to climb Bidean a Choire Sheasgaich, a very fine hill. After the unusual start of a 200 m descent we faced the imposing N Ridge. I remembered this as having a fairly obvious way up, not because it was easy to find but because it was the only way through the multiple bands of crags. Backlit by the sun, it certainly wasn’t looking very approachable but the route unravelled as we ascended and was straightforward. The views from the top were even better than those the day before as the very clear and cloudless conditions continued, giving us views east to the Cairngorms and west to Harris. 

NE from the summit of Bidean

Panorama of the Torridon hills

The wander over to Lurg Mhor was uneventful but the summit feels every bit the part of “most remote”, especially as we contemplated the very long walk out. Just below the summit we met the only other people of the whole trip, 4 guys who had taken the bike-in option as far as Ben Droniag lodge. We decided to contour Bidean as although not saving us much ascent we thought the descent would be very slow. This worked reasonably well and an hour later we were back at our tent for a lunchtime feast of cheese & oatcakes – yum. Then the real walk-out began – back over Beinn Tharsuinn, down to the Bealach Bearnais and out to the approach track, all in quite hot sunshine. We were feeling a bit frazzled by the car, part sun and part due to the 2000 m of descent we had clocked up. Ticktastic.

East from Lurg Mhor

Scrambling on the way to the east top

Purple saxifrage