Sgurr na Ruaidhe - Carn nan Gobhar - Sgurr a' Choire Ghlais - Sgurr Fuar-thuill route, 19 July 95 (1 of 1)
All I can say with certainty (12 years on) is that the trig point photo must have been taken on Sgurr a' Choire Ghlais! (Olympus Trip)
The road up Glen Stathfarrar is private and the gates are (or were) only open to the public between 9.00 am to 6.00 pm - so these four Munros have to be climbed at a bit of a canter. To make matters worse the visibility was extremely poor on the day and there was no path or fence to aid route-finding along the complex 7 km ridge between first and last peaks. I arrived at the gates at 9.00 am on the dot and completed the route with about 30 minutes to spare. As I was not fully fit at the time, I was quite proud of that!
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Hillwalking journal entry for the day:
Wednesday 19/7/95
Sgurr na Ruaidhe - Carn nan Gobhar - Sgurr a’ Choire Ghlais - Sgurr Fuar-thuill
24 km, 1550 m: 7.3 hrs
Conditions: Dull, wet, windy and misty
Base: The Heights of Inchvannie, Strathpeffer
Map and starting point: OS Sheet 25, GR 283386
<<<<>>>>
Despite the less than encouraging forecast and my poor state of health (later diagnosed as Laryngitis!) I decided to take on a relatively demanding 4 Munro route, in order to make up for lost time earlier in the week: the Glen Strathfarrar hills. I had rung the “keeper of the key” a few weeks before-hand to ensure that the arrangements for access to the glen were still as specified in the guidebooks; namely that the glen was open to public traffic between the hours 09:00 to 18:00 hours on this day of the week.
I arrived at the gate at 09:00 hours on the dot and after being issued with a pass by the keeper - who again emphasised that I must be out by 18:00 hours - I shot off down the glen at great speed in order to maximise the time available to complete the route. I parked by the start of the stalker’s path to the east of the Allt Coire Mhuillidh and set off at about 09:30 hours.
As I made my way up the track by the side of the allt, I started to worry about the time factor: allowing 30 minutes for changing and the drive back up the glen at the end of the day, this would mean having to complete the route in under 8 hours, which was just 30 minutes over the Naismith estimate. As this estimate did not allow any time for food stops or route finding delays arising from the poor visibility, and as I almost always lagged behind Naismith on the longer routes (probably due to the fact that the formula does not allow for delays arising from steep descents), the prospects seemed rather bleak - especially taking into account the poor state of my health. I had a quick look at the map and decided that a more realistic target would be the 3 most easterly Munros bounding Coire Mhuillidh, leaving the final hill for a lazy day next year.
I followed the track and then the path (which continued for much further than indicated on the map) up to about the 500 m level on the SW shoulder of Sgurr na Ruaidhe. After filling my bottle at the burn with peaty and bitter water - the last available before gaining the ridge - I set off on the long slog up to the summit, with the rain now falling and the cloud descending. I was overjoyed to beat Naismith to the top by over 45 minutes, and began to think that the 4 Munros might still be on!
With visibility down to about 50 m I took a bearing and set off WNW towards the first col. There was not a trace of a path and the route was contra-intuitive, causing me to stop more than once to confirm the bearing. I eventually arrived about 50 m to the NE of the target col. This initially caused some confusion as the mist exaggerated the apparent scale and distance of the east face of Carn nan Gobhar, and I just could not relate what I could see with what I was expecting to see from the map. However, I eventually realised where I was and after gaining the col, successfully navigated my way to the summit over trackless terrain in 3 further stages, really enjoying the challenge. I was again cheered to find that I was still ahead of Naismith by 40 minutes, and so stopped for a short rest and brief snack.
Back south across the summit ridge and then to the SW, with the wind now blowing quite strongly. The terrain was confusing in the mist with the ground appearing to rise rather than fall and so I kept to the right-hand edge of the plateau so as to pick up the swing west to the next col. Thence to the Sgurr a’ Choire Ghlais summit without rest, to find 2 massive summit cairns and an OS pillar. I was now reasonably confident that I could bag the final Munro and still get back to the car in time.
Thus I headed off past the more northerly cairn down the NW ridge, which was rocky and narrow in places. I became confused again in the mist when the ridge levelled off for a few 100 m at the 1000 m contour, but this was resolved by reference to the altimeter and map. I finally reached the col-proper and then set off for the penultimate climb up Creag Gorm a’ Bhealaich. I began to feel tired for the first time that day but after a short stop half-way up, I carried on till reaching the top.
With just a further 100 m to climb I felt re-invigorated and soon reached the summit of the final Munro of the day, 4 hours and 40 minutes after setting off from the car, ie still 10 minutes ahead of Naismith. I felt proud of this achievement, as the entire 7 km length of the complex summit ridge between the first and last Munros had been negotiated under wet, windy and misty, conditions with no guidance from walls, fences, paths or fellow walkers.
After a short rest I jogged down the gentle slopes to the west and with some relief eventually spotted the largish cairn marking the start of the stalker’s path down the coire to the south - it was now just a question of putting one foot in front of the other.
I followed the path till it dropped below the cloud base and then re-filled my water bottle from the burn and stopped for a rather late, but very enjoyable, lunch break.
Thence a pleasant enough walk down by the Allt Toll a’ Mhuic to the glen and thence an uneventful 6 km slog along the road back to the car - politely refusing an offer of a lift with just 200 m to go! Back to the gate by 17:00 hours, ie with 30 minutes to spare.
Despite my poor state of health and the bleak conditions I had enjoyed the challenge. The only regret being the total lack of views, resulting in the photo-record of the route being limited to snaps of a few be-misted summit cairns!
Sgurr na Ruaidhe - Carn nan Gobhar - Sgurr a' Choire Ghlais - Sgurr Fuar-thuill route, 19 July 95 (1 of 1)
All I can say with certainty (12 years on) is that the trig point photo must have been taken on Sgurr a' Choire Ghlais! (Olympus Trip)
The road up Glen Stathfarrar is private and the gates are (or were) only open to the public between 9.00 am to 6.00 pm - so these four Munros have to be climbed at a bit of a canter. To make matters worse the visibility was extremely poor on the day and there was no path or fence to aid route-finding along the complex 7 km ridge between first and last peaks. I arrived at the gates at 9.00 am on the dot and completed the route with about 30 minutes to spare. As I was not fully fit at the time, I was quite proud of that!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hillwalking journal entry for the day:
Wednesday 19/7/95
Sgurr na Ruaidhe - Carn nan Gobhar - Sgurr a’ Choire Ghlais - Sgurr Fuar-thuill
24 km, 1550 m: 7.3 hrs
Conditions: Dull, wet, windy and misty
Base: The Heights of Inchvannie, Strathpeffer
Map and starting point: OS Sheet 25, GR 283386
<<<<>>>>
Despite the less than encouraging forecast and my poor state of health (later diagnosed as Laryngitis!) I decided to take on a relatively demanding 4 Munro route, in order to make up for lost time earlier in the week: the Glen Strathfarrar hills. I had rung the “keeper of the key” a few weeks before-hand to ensure that the arrangements for access to the glen were still as specified in the guidebooks; namely that the glen was open to public traffic between the hours 09:00 to 18:00 hours on this day of the week.
I arrived at the gate at 09:00 hours on the dot and after being issued with a pass by the keeper - who again emphasised that I must be out by 18:00 hours - I shot off down the glen at great speed in order to maximise the time available to complete the route. I parked by the start of the stalker’s path to the east of the Allt Coire Mhuillidh and set off at about 09:30 hours.
As I made my way up the track by the side of the allt, I started to worry about the time factor: allowing 30 minutes for changing and the drive back up the glen at the end of the day, this would mean having to complete the route in under 8 hours, which was just 30 minutes over the Naismith estimate. As this estimate did not allow any time for food stops or route finding delays arising from the poor visibility, and as I almost always lagged behind Naismith on the longer routes (probably due to the fact that the formula does not allow for delays arising from steep descents), the prospects seemed rather bleak - especially taking into account the poor state of my health. I had a quick look at the map and decided that a more realistic target would be the 3 most easterly Munros bounding Coire Mhuillidh, leaving the final hill for a lazy day next year.
I followed the track and then the path (which continued for much further than indicated on the map) up to about the 500 m level on the SW shoulder of Sgurr na Ruaidhe. After filling my bottle at the burn with peaty and bitter water - the last available before gaining the ridge - I set off on the long slog up to the summit, with the rain now falling and the cloud descending. I was overjoyed to beat Naismith to the top by over 45 minutes, and began to think that the 4 Munros might still be on!
With visibility down to about 50 m I took a bearing and set off WNW towards the first col. There was not a trace of a path and the route was contra-intuitive, causing me to stop more than once to confirm the bearing. I eventually arrived about 50 m to the NE of the target col. This initially caused some confusion as the mist exaggerated the apparent scale and distance of the east face of Carn nan Gobhar, and I just could not relate what I could see with what I was expecting to see from the map. However, I eventually realised where I was and after gaining the col, successfully navigated my way to the summit over trackless terrain in 3 further stages, really enjoying the challenge. I was again cheered to find that I was still ahead of Naismith by 40 minutes, and so stopped for a short rest and brief snack.
Back south across the summit ridge and then to the SW, with the wind now blowing quite strongly. The terrain was confusing in the mist with the ground appearing to rise rather than fall and so I kept to the right-hand edge of the plateau so as to pick up the swing west to the next col. Thence to the Sgurr a’ Choire Ghlais summit without rest, to find 2 massive summit cairns and an OS pillar. I was now reasonably confident that I could bag the final Munro and still get back to the car in time.
Thus I headed off past the more northerly cairn down the NW ridge, which was rocky and narrow in places. I became confused again in the mist when the ridge levelled off for a few 100 m at the 1000 m contour, but this was resolved by reference to the altimeter and map. I finally reached the col-proper and then set off for the penultimate climb up Creag Gorm a’ Bhealaich. I began to feel tired for the first time that day but after a short stop half-way up, I carried on till reaching the top.
With just a further 100 m to climb I felt re-invigorated and soon reached the summit of the final Munro of the day, 4 hours and 40 minutes after setting off from the car, ie still 10 minutes ahead of Naismith. I felt proud of this achievement, as the entire 7 km length of the complex summit ridge between the first and last Munros had been negotiated under wet, windy and misty, conditions with no guidance from walls, fences, paths or fellow walkers.
After a short rest I jogged down the gentle slopes to the west and with some relief eventually spotted the largish cairn marking the start of the stalker’s path down the coire to the south - it was now just a question of putting one foot in front of the other.
I followed the path till it dropped below the cloud base and then re-filled my water bottle from the burn and stopped for a rather late, but very enjoyable, lunch break.
Thence a pleasant enough walk down by the Allt Toll a’ Mhuic to the glen and thence an uneventful 6 km slog along the road back to the car - politely refusing an offer of a lift with just 200 m to go! Back to the gate by 17:00 hours, ie with 30 minutes to spare.
Despite my poor state of health and the bleak conditions I had enjoyed the challenge. The only regret being the total lack of views, resulting in the photo-record of the route being limited to snaps of a few be-misted summit cairns!