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Glen Affric. |
Glen Affric.
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Section 11 Section
12 |
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| Carn a'Choire Ghairbh | 865m | 2827' | Coire Garbh, Rough corrie | Map |
| Aonach Shasuinn | 889m | 2901' | Englishman's Ridge | Map |
| Sgurr Gaorsaic | 839m | 2600c'* | Horror Hill! (It's quite pleasant realy) | Map |
This hill is a far top of the well known Sgurr nan Conbhairian group, and can easily be done with the big yins from Glen Affric. It is the first top of a mighty horseshoe of peaks to the south of Glen Affric and for this reason is probably a well frequented hill. The northern and western slopes are forested, and due to a program of regeneration the plantations are being replaced by pines grown from Scottish seed stock.
Quick access to the hill can be made by a pony track up from the western end of Loch Affric. This covers some very steep ground in a very easy fashion and affords some great views over the loch towards the lost 'Munro' of Sgurr na Lapaich. If coming up from the road end there is a path up from the pinewoods around the Allt Garbh which leads on to the east ridge. This path leaves the forest road opposite White Cottage, which before renovation into a holiday cottage was a handily placed bothy.
My ascent of this hill was whilst on Munro bagging duty. I was after far flung Beinn Fhionnlaidh , at the head of Glen Cannich. It was in the days of easy rail transport and I had hitched up off the overnight train to Spean Bridge. The Commando Monument was a good hitching spot, and I had got a lift to Ceannacroc Bridge in Glen Morriston. From here it is possible to get over the hills to Glen Affric and then I could use the youth hostel as a base to get over to the awkward Beinn Fhionnlaidh. The bonus of this route is that there are two wanted Corbetts in the way.
After crossing Aonach Shasuinn and the boggy glen of the Allt Garbh I was faced with hauling my pack up sodden slopes to the low point in the east ridge. This was a grassy steep slope and jolly hard work. At the ridge at 700m, I was able to leave the pack and make easy progress up the wide rocky ridge to the summit knoll. The last part was wet snow, it was Easter, and rain showers had started. I got no view. Descent was by the steep pony track which started near where I had left the monster pack. Walking up Glen Affric was wet but pleasant as a fire was almost certainly awaiting me at Alltbeithe.
Now I believe the place has been tidied up a bit and is locked in the winter , the vandals have seen to that, but until recently it has provided a fastness against some wild winter weather on my trips into the area.
From Alltbeithe I got the Munro on a glorious day. Despite the remoteness the hill was busy. The Easter holidays are for many the only time that this most of awkward of bumps can be gathered in. Eventually I found my way down Glen Elchaig and arrived at Dornie. 60 miles for one Munro. Truly a far flung hill, but what a tramp.
This monster whaleback lurks to the east of Carn a Choire Gharbh, and rpresents the last big hill before the moors of Glen Morriston to the east. Like its neighbour across the Allt Garbh it is often climbed from the road end in Glen Affric via the stalkers path at White Cottage, and they can easily be fitted into a day together. A long approach from Coire Dho in the south is another way in and is highly recommended as this is a fine glen backed by the Sgurr nan Conbhairean group which are spectacular from this side, unlike the uniform slopes you see from the road in upper Glen Moriston.
An Easter morning saw me lugging in a big pack up the long stoney track up Coire Dho from Ceannacroc Bridge, bound for Glen Affric and the wanted Munro of Beinn Fhionnlaidh. These were in the good old days of overnight trains, so I did not have to worry about carting up a ton of metal with me. It also meant that I could pop out of the sheet 25 wilderness at any place I wished, as it happened I turned up at Dornie.
After a good start where it services the hydro-electric scheme in Glen Moriston, the track becomes rather rough in places but follows the alder lined river before eventually stopping at a locked hut below An Reithe, (the tup). Here there are fine views up into the corries , one of which has a shelter stone that housed Charles Edward Stuart when on the run. Glen Cannich was the northern most point of his wanderings before leaving for ever from Lochailort. The site of the howf is shown on the maps but would probably take some finding. It is reputed to be a fine doss.
The northernmost corrie, Glen Fada lived up to its name and was long. However at its head was the pass over to Carn a Coire Ghairbh and this pass was well placed for a quick packless ascent of Shasuinn. These are often the best backpacking tactics. With a load it's the passes that are the targets not the summits. To collect hills, you go for a nearby pass where gear can be left to allow a lightweight ascent. This route into Affric used two such high cols one per Corbett. It was probably close to the route used to escape to Affric and Cannich used by Charlie.
The route up was steep but easy and followed an old snow patch for most of the way. I even met somebody on the way up. They had come in from White Cottage and had already crossed Carn a'Coire Ghairbh earlier. The summit is in the middle of a stoney dome, and gave a fine view of the nearby Ceannacroc range, but of course no further west. To the east were the other tops of this sprawling mass. Obviously this far east the ice was not flowing and eroding during glacial periods and this hill was relatively untouched under the ice cap. All that was now required was a quick descent to the pack and the long slog up the next hill, Carn a'Coire Ghairbh.
This hill appears as quite an afterthought to the grandeur of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan, and is usualy tacked on to an ascent of that hill, often on the way back to Kintail. Only from across Glen Elchaig in the north does it appear to have any independence and does appear to have a sgurr shape from this direction. From the Kintail hills it is lost against Ceathreamhnan, which towers over 300 meteres above Gaorsaic's flat top.
Sgurr Gaorsaic from near the falls of Glomach.I have had several days on Ceathreamhnan which ranks amongst my favourite hills, and on one of these trips I took in Gaorsaic on the way out to the A87 in Kintail. It was the first weekend after the stag stalking had finished. (NB sporting stalking ceases in Glen Affric after 1999, so this would then be a good hill for late summer and autumn.). Now the refurbished Alltbeithe Youth Hostel is locked in the winter but I arrived on the day the warden was finally leaving, and the building was left open. It was a memorable evening, stags roaring outside, otherwise peaceful, not like some of the stormy nights I had spent there previously.
The hostel is famous for its remoteness, being nearly six miles from the road at Cluanie. Once they had 'near' neighbours at Athnamulloch a few miles down the glen, but only in summer as this was possibly the last example of transhumance in Scotland. When hitching home from Cannich in 1984 I was picked up by a man who drove his cattle up the glen to Athnamulloch every spring, stayed up the glen and drove them back in the back end. Moving the cattle on beyond the hostel was one of the warden's tasks. Another job was carting the gas cylinders on an old milk churn trolly the three and a half miles up from the Athnamulloch track end. The glen path was much more boggy back then. I expect the gas comes in by helicopter now.
Ceathreamhnan was traversed by the usual path behind the hostel and the long east ridge. This time I continued over the scrambly ridge to the West top, this was quite amusing on wet slabby rock. I expect this would be a fine winter problem. Sadly no views, never had much luck here. The name comes from a water meaning quater. This is not often explained. I believe the reasoning behind this is as follows:
Land in the Highlands in the clan era was taxed according to productivity. A good patch was rated as being able to produce enough surplus to buy an ounce of silver. Most holdings were of course smaller, and an ounce was divided into 20 pennylands. A good parcel of land was often rounded to 5d, or a quater oz. Ceatheamh. The hill gets its name as the march of some of these holdings, being a meeting point of so many ridges.
The Falls of Glomach.
Careful compass work took me down behind Gaorsaic to the boggy bealach. A short sharp ascent, long enough to give corbett status, won the flat top. By now the clag was lifting and a fine view opened out towards the west.
If you are looking for the lochan near the summit on a hot day, sorry, it is little more than a peaty puddle.
Bealach an Sgarine from the slopes of Sgurr Gaorsaic. Sgurr an Airgid is the prominent peak on the right.Gaorsaic is moted to the west by a string of lochs, beyond them is one of the finest of passes, the Bealach an Sgairine. The path rises gently from the Affric side but after passing through the Gates of Affric it plunges down a wild glen hemmed in by gullied slopes. This side is well known as a route up A'Ghlas Bheinn and Beinn Fhada, the latter dominating the Affric side with a series of fine scalloped corries. The descent to Kintail is a joy, the view downwards telescoped between a series of spurs. A recommended outing here is to encircle Beinn Fhada, using this pass and the route to the south, via the Allt Granda and Glen Licht.
A* 18th November 2004
