Jump to content

Hillwalking Thread


Recommended Posts

Not been hillwalking for a while so decided the get the walking boots on yesterday, decided on Beinn Dearg and after a misty cloudy start got to the top just as the weather brightened up. No real long steep ascents just a long haul from tilt car park should've took a bike perhaps but good to be out on the hills again.20190813_120006.thumb.jpg.0cd02da6a2415ffd19eef65ffd172a97.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, Empty It said:

Going to applecross for a few days anyone suggest any decent hills to get great views?

The view from the top of Sgurr a' Chaorachain  (a Corbett) is sensational on a good day. The benefit of this is that there is basically no climbing to be done if you are at the top of the Bealach na Ba already....It's also an easy hill in an area full of tricky stuff...

Other than that - Bheinn Bhan is fucking hill porn - but it needs a bit of experience to do any of the fun routes IMO - not sure how much you've done in the past...

4_1_2l.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The view from the top of Sgurr a' Chaorachain  (a Corbett) is sensational on a good day. The benefit of this is that there is basically no climbing to be done if you are at the top of the Bealach na Ba already....It's also an easy hill in an area full of tricky stuff...
Other than that - Bheinn Bhan is fucking hill porn - but it needs a bit of experience to do any of the fun routes IMO - not sure how much you've done in the past...
4_1_2l.JPG&key=0bc1e3612bce373f650f90a74e5ae13e64209561b8d012bc4c243d00c29d3480
Not a great deal but will definitely be looking out for this
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Empty It said:

Managed to take in some decent hills whiles away, not sure of names though 20190820_134746.jpeg20190820_124039.jpeg

I'm pretty sure it's Sgurr a' Chaorachain - did you do it from the top of the Bealach na Ba road?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've always got a few trips pre-planned - bucket list stuff like @ThatBoyRonaldo's (brilliant) Suilven trip above - that are waiting for my time and decent weather to coincide. This happened at the weekend when the trip to climb Ben Aden was finally a go-er. Ben Aden is regarded as a classic but is as hard to reach a mountain as there is in Scotland  - it's a proper expedition. For "fun", I also added two more remote hills - the Corbett Sgurr a Fhurainn and the Munro Sgurr Mor - to the trip. In order to solve the issue of actually getting into and back from these hills in a couple of days, I used my packraft to remove the obstacle of Loch Quoich.

IMG_20190825_104503-2.thumb.jpg.509cf4241e2c0616669548cc42bfcf76.jpg

The climb onto Sgurr an Fhurainn was fairly easy as there was an old stalkers path that made it fairly pain free. The views of the west ridge of Gairich was nice from the summit.

1460640197_KnoydartAug19-024-3.thumb.jpg.ef94efa990a1e2c647fa04adddfbcac0.jpg

I last climbed Sgurr Mor about 10 years ago and it was probably the most miserable day I've ever had on the hill (10 hours of rain, having to crawl onto the summit due to mad winds, getting trapped in Glen Kingie due to the river being in spate) - so a bit of unfinished business there. This time, it was perfect weather but climbing up the steep ridge in that sort of heat with a v heavy pack was a fucking killer - I had about 100 rests on the way up and pretty much collapsed in a heap at the summit. The views to Ben Aden, Luinne Bheinn, Ladhar Bheinn (and my planned campsite at Lochan Nam Breac) were amazing and I lay about up there for a while.

963126763_KnoydartAug19-027-2.thumb.jpg.dc0fc0ab494fc207235c7f766d0951c2.jpg

My plan had been to follow a stalkers path down to Loch Quoich and paddle along to the head of the Loch - but the problem was that the loch wasn't there. Someone had pulled the plug at the dam at the other end of the Loch to the point that the western 3km shown on the OS didn't exist. This turned what was going to be an easy paddle into a fucking nightmare walk through a massive swamp. It took hours and my sense of humour had failed massively at this point. It was a weird place - buildings that had been submerged when the Quoich was enlarged for Hydro were visible again, as was a forest of dead trees. 

I was delighted to arrive at one of the best hidden gems of the west highlands - Lochan nam Breac - where I'd always wanted to camp. If it were in any way accessible, it would be a busy place. I arrived just as the sun was setting behind Luinne Bheinn and I had just enough energy to get the tent up and get some water. Definitely one of the best places I've ever pitched my tent.

487171490_KnoydartAug19-035-2.thumb.jpg.d9269d45f287dbb4be1aaece898c91f5.jpg

1677464224_KnoydartAug19-070-2.thumb.jpg.ba311fadea64223bdeebb2455fff220b.jpg

A good night's sleep later and I headed up to Ben Aden. It's a pathless, complex hill that would be a nightmare in low cloud and it took a while to pick my way up the NNE ridge - lots of scrambly stuff and quite fun. I was actually pretty elated to make it the summit of this one as I'd wanted to do it for years and it was great to finally be there. Being able to see Loch's Hourn, Nevis and Quoich (and all the mountains around them) from one spot was unforgettable - highly recommended if you can deal with the massive arse-ache to get there..

428081944_KnoydartAug19-060-2.thumb.jpg.476e79253b77cf46f92dedb93011d3a7.jpg

"All" that was left was to get back to the tent, pack up and make it to some water to get out. Even though I was knackered by this point, the paddle out was a real highlight - lovely conditions and the wind was behind me all the way. 

MVIMG_20190826_153547_1-2.thumb.jpg.e9f8faaea09fc089dfadb66efdfaf0aa.jpg

 

Edited by Swello
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Florentine_Pogen said:

That looks fantastic, Swello. emoji108.png

Just out of interest, when the pack raft is deflated and folded, what does it weigh/how cumbersome is it ?

It weighs a couple of kilos - think a 2 man backpacking tent in terms of size and weight. the paddle breaks into 5 pieces and weighs about 500gms and there is an inflatable life vest which is fairly negligible. You definitely notice it but the advantages of being able to cross lochs and use rivers far exceed the pain of carrying it. I try to keep my other kit minimal to make up for it.

I took this pic a couple of years back of my basic gear for this sort of trip - the packraft is in the blue drybag, my 1 man tent is in the red. 

DSC03819.thumb.jpg.945e37767eb771bfabd6e41348ea07ad.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have any folk climbed Ben Ledi of late? 

It used to be one of my Dad's favourite to walk, so I said to him we should do it in September. However my only fear is the other month we did around 20 miles of the Corrieyairack Pass and he was absolutely fucked. Just want to make sure that there is a decent enough path to follow for when I have to carry his body back down. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, LondonHMFC said:

Have any folk climbed Ben Ledi of late? 

It used to be one of my Dad's favourite to walk, so I said to him we should do it in September. However my only fear is the other month we did around 20 miles of the Corrieyairack Pass and he was absolutely fucked. Just want to make sure that there is a decent enough path to follow for when I have to carry his body back down. 

 

It's a good path all the way - the middle section was being repaired when I last climbed it about 18 months - 2 years ago, so I can't imagine there will be any problems. Biggest problem is trying to get parked at the bottom on a nice day...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Swello said:

It's a good path all the way - the middle section was being repaired when I last climbed it about 18 months - 2 years ago, so I can't imagine there will be any problems. Biggest problem is trying to get parked at the bottom on a nice day...

Cheers for the reply, really appreciated. 

WIll have a look at the parking situation. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...