Glen Affric
5 - 7 June 2007
The start of this walk was the car park at the end of the public road
at the west end of Loch Beinn a'Mheadhoin in Glen Affric approached
from the village of Cannich. From this car park we took the track on
the north side of Loch Affric to its west end where we followed
another track that led to the Alltbeithe Youth Hostel which was our
accommodation for two nights.
The next day we departed early from the hostel and followed a path up
the west side of the hostel building, across to the Allt na Faing and
into the cloud. The path, which was being improved, continued up the
side of the Allt na Faing to the bealach east of Stob Coire na
Cloiche. At this point the cloud above broke and we had a cloud
inversion as we climbed the west ridge of An Socach. On this ascent
we saw a white rainbow, a phenomenon that I had never seen before.
We had some really terrific views as we ascended An Socach and from
its summit. Numerous tops appeared above the cloud and the
visibility was excellent. On the return to the bealach the cloud
bubbled up again. At the bealach we met fellow hostellers who were
later to confirm sightings of the white rainbow.
Quoted message said:From the bealach we descended steeply down the side of a gully. The
plan was to follow a bearing to Loch Coire nan Dearcag but this wasn't
possible due to numerous rocky outcrops which forced us lower than I
had wanted but we eventually reached the Abhainn a'Choilich which was
followed back uphill to the partially weed covered Loch Coire nan
Dearcag. At the loch we walked on a bearing to the bealach south-
west of Carn na Con Dhu and once again out of the cloud.
We climbed to the summit of Carn na Con Dhu as the sun broke through
and the cloud covering the mountains started to burn away. A short
and in places rocky descent was next before the gradual climb to the
summit cairn of Mullach na Dheiragain. Here we sat in the sun having
a leisurely lunch looking at the surrounding mountains, including
across the glen to An Socach where we had the earlier cloud inversion.
About half an hour after arriving at the summit of Mullach na
Dheiragain we headed back to the bealach where we met a solo walker.
Quoted message said:From the bealach the ascent of the north-east ridge of Sgurr nan
Ceathreamhnan commenced and shortly thereafter we spoke to a second
solo Munro Bagger heading for Mullach na Dheiragain. Higher up the
ridge it narrowed and became a bit steeper and rockier but eventually
we reached the summit cairn where we stopped for another break. This
was my client's 280th Munro, only four more to go. We had views of
numerous mountains, across to the Islands of Skye, Rum and Eigg. We
could even see the Skye Bridge.
However the break was short lived as the midges were out and being a
nuisance so we headed down Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan's east ridge and
over the Munro Top Stob Coire na Cloiche to its bealach with An
Socach. On the descent, for future reference, I looked for a more
suitable route to Loch Coire nan Dearcag and thought that probably
east of the summit of Stob Coire na Cloiche would be a better descent
route to reach Mullach na Dheiragain.
Quoted message said:From the Stob Coire na Cloiche / An Socach bealach the descent to
Alltbeithe Youth Hostel was the path used earlier that day. The
evening was spent speaking to a guide from another company who was
taking a group through Glen Affric to Morvich.
The final day we returned to the car park at the west end of Loch
Beinn a'Mheadhoin. On this occasion we took the track along the
south side of Loch Affric and had some good views of the Mam Sodhail
Tops as the early morning mist lifted.
Time taken:
Day one - 3.25 hours.
Day two 10.45 hours.
Day three - 3.25 hours.
Distance:
Day one - 13.5 kilometres.
Day two - 20 kilometres.
Day three - 13.5 kilometres.
Height climbed:
Day one - 50 metres.
Day two - 2100 metres.
Day three - 50 metres.
Photographs, some of which are worth a look as they show the cloud
inversion and white rainbow, can be viewed at:
http://www.caledoniahilltreks.com/gallery07/affric_june_07/index.htm
Lindsay
www.caledoniahilltreks.com