Blog Posts in Category: Scotland

After three days of walking and seven Munros our legs were starting to feel fairly tired. As the weather for the rest of the week is looking somewhat more unsettled we decided to have a short day and climb our local Munro, Moruisg. We woke up in the morning to a surprise covering of snow, which made the walk into the mountain very attractive. The walk is very short, but with lots of ascent over a short distance. As we finished the steep section of the ascent we were greeted by a very strong and cold wind, this combined with the intermittent low cloud cover felt far more like Scottish winter than the last few days! The summit was very cold, so other than a brief photo we didn’t spend much time there before heading back down as quickly as possible. On the way down the cloud lifted and provided us with some stunning views of the local mountains, we could even see the grand Glencarron estate house which we are staying in on the descent.

With yet another stunning forecast we decided to make the most of it in Torridon by getting up high and doing a long walk. As we had previously done the classic ridges of An Teallach, Liathach and Beinn Alligin we elected to do a horseshoe involving Beinn Liath Mhòr and Sgorr Ruadh. It ended up being a longer day than we expected, but it was absolutely amazing. We made quick progress up the valley to the ascent up to the ridge on Beinn Liath Mhòr. The ascent was very steep and felt like very hard work after the previous few days. Once we were on the ridge it was fairly cold in the wind, but we had stunning views of the hills above Torridon. We made fairly slow progress along the ridge as there was a mixture of rock and snow and we had to take our crampons on and off a few times. The final ridge up to the summit was amazing with stunning views of all of the mountains above Torridon. The descent to the col before Sgorr Ruadh took a while and we considered our options as we. Read the full article…

After a big day on the Ring of Steall we wanted a shorter day before we headed up to the North West for the rest of the week. We decided to tick off a Munro where Becky had previously climbed one of a pair. We headed to Chno Dearg which is above Fersit and from the guidebook sounded like it had a fairly horrible and wet approach. Thankfully the bog at the bottom was frozen solid, and all of the slopes up to the summit were covered solid neve which enabled quick progress to be made up to the top. As we approached the top the wind picked up and slowed our progress slightly. The views from the top were absolutely fantastic, we could see the Ring of Steall which was nice after completing it the day before. Looking east we could see the Ardverikie Munros and Creag Meagaidh and looking to the North we could see all the way up to Torridon. After a quick descent we again managed to cross the bog with dry and clean shoes and then enjoyed a stunning drive up to Torridon.

As the Ring of Steall has been on my wish list for a long time as it is one of the classic mountaineering routes around Fort William. I have been saving it for a good day, and we certainly had that! Over the past few week I have been eagerly looking at the weather and watching as huge amounts of snow arrived, then a large thaw happened and then a big high pressure built which was bringing cold air to Scotland. This lead to conditions where all of the snow which remained was frozen as solid neve, and the snow line went all the way down to 450m! Due to a long drive up from Bristol the evening before, we elected to start at 9am despite knowing how long the route was. As we were putting our walking boots on at the car we were in a bitterly cold wind which was whistling down the valley, which was frankly unpleasant. Thankfully as we ascended up into Glen Nevis the wind reduced, but still remained and kept us fairly cool. Soon we had crossed the wire bridge and were at the. Read the full article…

After an aborted attempt at the Tarmachan Ridge due to the car park being an ice rink and having a downhill entrance we had to reassess our options. As Becky is Munro bagging we had to find a single munro which she hadn’t previously climb and which wasn’t too far away. In the end we settled on heading up north to climb Gael Charn, which is an isolated Munro in the Monadhliath. Based on the forecast and the description, combined with the wind hitting the van in the car park, I wasn’t expecting brilliant day out. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised, as the boggy approach was frozen solid and apart from at the summit we were below the cloud for the whole day. Once we got to the snow line the going was quite difficult as the snow was unfrozen and wet, but we made reasonable time to the summit. The views on the ascent were stunning, it was just a shame that we couldn’t see anything from the summit. From the summit we made a quick descent into the freezing wind, and managed to get back to the car just. Read the full article…

With the forecast far to warm to consider doing any winter climbing, it was back to Munro bagging for the last three days of our Scotland trip. On the first day we headed up to the Drumochter Pass to climb Beinn Udlamain and Sgairneach Mhor. The weather was beautiful, if not a little windy and throughout the day we were treated to fantastic views in every direction. On the second day the forecast was particularly uninspiring with extensive hill fog, lots of wind, warm temperatures and some drizzle. Due to this we elected to complete the second munro out of a pair which Becky had climbed one of previously. We made very quick progress up to 900m due to the high snow line, and there being a stalkers track most of the way up. Unfortunately once we left the first col the snow cover made for hard walking and the thick hill fog meant we were walking on a bearing and pacing to navigate. After an age of seeing only the red needle on the compass and trying to work out if I was going up or down we eventually made it to the summit,. Read the full article…