Most hillwalkers based in London cut their teeth for the first time in the Lake District or Snowdonia, becoming transfixed by the awe-inspiring views and rugged beauty of the environment; but neither place truly feels wild. The Scottish Highlands provide something different, a sense of grandeur and remoteness that causes that wonderful mix of trepidation, fear, and excitement before heading out into the hills. I’ve spent the last week up in Scotland with my Scout unit, for many, it was their first time in this environment. For all, it provided a memorable and unique adventure.
Day 1 – River Crossings and Bothy Nights
We awoke to the sound of heavy rain on the tent. The weather for that day was due to be abhorrent, with gusts of up to 80mph on the high tops and warnings for flooding on many rivers. This meant our original plan to journey into the Letterwe Forest and spend the night at Carnmore had to be scrapped – there would be too many river crossings on the walk in to make it a viable option. Despite this, John had a new idea up his sleeve: spend the morning relaxing and recovering from the 15 hour drive the previous day and then journey up to Coulags Bothy to spend the night. Following this, we would try and bag the Munro “Maol Chean-Dearg” the following day.
The morning was quite relaxed. We drove down to Lochcarron to pick up some firewood and coal for the bothy and then had lunch by the ruins of a castle. It was quite windy here and reinforced to us all that it was a sensible decision to avoid the high-tops today. After lunch, we drove to the layby where the walk into Corie Fionnaraich bothy begins from.
The walk-in is along a broad fire road for the start, with good bridges fording several small streams. The fire road then becomes a footpath, but it’s still incredibly clear and would be exceptionally difficult to miss. The footpath eventually lead to the side of the river, and a decision had to be made.
The bridge itself was old and rotten – it looked like it didn’t have much life left in it, and if it were to collapse under one of our weights, it would create a very dangerous situation. Initially, a river crossing seemed like the safer option; the river appeared shallow and the flow quite moderate. John briefed us on how to cross and myself, Mia, and Hugo began to work our way across. Immediately, the river was up to our knees – but it was manageable. I did make it quite a bit harder by angling us almost directly upstream – my hood was on so tight I couldn’t see where I was going. John swiftly informed me of my misdirection and I, a little embarrassed, angled the three of us straight across the river. The middle section wasn’t that deep, rarely getting above the knees. Before we reached the other side, a deep channel had to be crossed. This proved difficult – it reached the upper thighs and it was right at the limit of what I’d feel safe doing. Another leader of the trip, Nigel, managed to cross the river solo, a ridiculously impressive feat. From here, the decision was made to crawl across the bridge instead – the river would have proved too dangerous for the smallest members of the party.
The experience gained from this river crossing was invaluable. Not only had we learned the techniques to cross a river safely, but we had also seen a demonstration of the kind of continuous active risk mitigation we should all demonstrate in the hills. Personally, I would have barely looked twice at the bridge – potentially exposing myself to a very dangerous situation. This reminded me that it’s worth looking twice at even seemingly safe sections of a hike; there may be hazards that aren’t immediately obvious that could cause difficulty if ignored.
Upon arriving at the bothy, we enjoyed a relaxing evening. It was my first night in a bothy and I’m somewhat hooked – it was so cosy and comfortable inside, and it made for a great venue for late-night conversations with friends.
Day 2- A Tad Windy!
John had planned for us to loop around Maol Chean-Derag via Loch an Eoin, then assess the wind speed at the pass at NG 930 488 and make a decision about if to try and bag the Munro, the smaller peak, or neither. The initial loop was wonderful, the scenery was rugged and exciting and there was even a small river crossing to ensure that everyone’s boots were thoroughly soaked through! However, the second we headed around the Western side of Loch an Eoin, we were hit by a strong South-Westerly wind of around 25mph. This translates to enough to make your life difficult, but not enough to significantly reduce the speed at which you can progress. However, considering that we were low down and still had some shelter from the surrounding peaks, the prospects of heading up the Munro seemed increasingly unlikely.
After a brief lunch stop, we aimed for the saddle, a tailwind making the ascent significantly easier. Here, the call was made to attempt the Munro, and assess the wind speed on the way up. As we climbed, we made it about 20m vertically above the saddle when we reached the first small shoulder. Here, the wind was really quite strong. I wasn’t far from being lifted, and Joe’s glasses were blown off his face. To continue further would have been stupid, and the decision was made to head back to the pass and to try and get to the top of Meall nan Ceapairean, however, the strong South-Westerly was blowing us towards the cliffs on the Northern side of the mountain, so we swiftly scrapped this plan too and headed down to the bothy to repack and drift back down to the car.
John managed to book us in at a campsite in Aviemore that evening, so we had a long drive through the stunning and remote scenery of the North West Highlands that evening, before a good rest at the campsite.
Day 3 – A Cheeky Bimble.
As we unzipped the tents in the morning, the weather looked clear and calm; a stark change from the gales and rain we had become accustomed to. This weather allowed a few of us to get out into the hills for a bigger day.
Whether looking hopeful – ready for a good day of hillwalking
We piled into the minibus and drove for half an hour down the A9, aiming for a group of 4 Munros just off the Drumochter pass. They also gave a good viewpoint into the Ben Alder Forest – a large wilderness area containing many Munro’s and Corbetts.
Upon arriving at the Lay-by, we put the rucksacks on and started up the climb to Geal-Charn. The climb was simple, consisting of a 500m pull to a large plateau at 850m, then a much more gradual slope to reach the top at 917m. On the plateau, we were lucky enough to see some Ptarmigan, some ground-nesting birds that are common in the Eastern Highlands.
From here, we enjoyed a nice gradual descent down to a saddle, where we met a small lake where we took the opportunity to fill up with some water. Many high-level Munro rounds are notorious for having very few opportunities to re-fill along their course without a significant diversion, so any opportunities to refill should not be missed.
From the saddle, a path rose gently to the next Munro, the gradient being steep enough to warm us up after the brief water stop, but remaining far more comfortable than the eye-watering steep climbs that are the norm in the North West highlands. This leads to a broad ridge, with the summit of A’Mharconaich at 975m. From here, a gentle ridge led us along for around 4km to the summit of our third Munro, Beinn Udlamain at 1011m. The fog cleared as we were at the top, opening up a beautiful view into the Ben Alder Forest and across the rest of the Cairngorms
We headed down to the saddle between Beinn Udlamain and Sgairneach Mhor for a quick lunch. Wraps with chocolate spread were on the menu again – a delicious if not a nutritious bit of hill food. After lunch, we pushed up to the summit of Sgairneach Mhor. Sadly, it was misty at the top so we couldn’t see any of the surrounding hills!
We headed off the North-Eastern ridge and down into the valley, where we enjoyed a rather cheeky river crossing and great conversation along the fire road to the side of the A9.
Here, we yomped along the cycle lane, aiming to get back in the car park in good time so we could be picked up. A warm Youth Hostel and Fish and Chips awaited us…
Overall, it was a fantastic trip. A real chance to escape from the stresses and worries of everyday life and enjoy some remote-rugged scenery along the way!
Oscar Outdoors 