Glenfinnan

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Section 10b Sgurr a'Bhac Chaolais 885 Buidhe - bheinn 885 Beinn na h-Eaglaise 804 Beinn Loinne 790 Sgurr Mhic Bharraich 781 Beinn nan Caorach 773 Sgurr a'Choire-bheithe 913 Sgurr an Fhuarain 901 Sgurr nan Eugallt 894 Ben Aden 887 Fraoch Bheinn 858 Sgurr Cos na Breachd-laoidh 835 Sgurr Coire Choinnichean 796 Beinn na Caillich 785 Ben Tee 901 Sgurr Mhurlagain 880 Meall na h-Eilde 838 Geal Charn 804 Meall Dubh 788 Streap 909 Bidein a'Chabair 867 Carn Mor 829 Sgurr an Utha 796 Beinn Bhan 796 Meall a'Phubuill 774 Braigh nan Uamhachan 765 Section 4 Section 9 Section 10a Section 11 Return to Corbett index Return Home.

Loch Beoraid from Sgurr an Utha Sgurr an Utha 796m 2610' Udder Peak Streap 909m 2988'  Climbing hill  Braigh nan Uamhachan 765m 2513'  Uamh Cave. Cave Brae Map

Sgurr an Utha 796m 
Sgurr an Utha.

Passing through Glenfinnan, most eyes are drawn towards Loch Sheil and the monument, but behind the viaduct other steep yet retiring hills rise in the usual tangle of crag and tussock grass. To the west is Fraoch-bheinn, with its slightly higher summit top Sgurr an Utha just out of sight. Sgurr an Utha is a good idea for a short day, being near the road, but be warned, its as steep and rough as all the other hills in the area, so expect a good day.

Glenfinnan is renowned for two things above all else: The raising of the standard at the start of the '45 and the railway. Utha features strongly in the story of the rebellion. Below its slopes the Prince raised the standard after travelling up Loch Sheil, and he was to spend his last nights in Scotland at Meoble on the other side of the hill, broken by a summer of hard trekking as a fugitive, soon to leave behind a ravaged land for an exile in obscurity. Although a romantic figure widely used to promote Highland tourism, few can forgive him for his incompetent handling of the campaign, and ultimate defeat leading to the ultimate destruction of the Highland culture. Coach tours 'follow' his story and legend, but few follow the footsteps of the Prince in the Heather, as it is a long and lonely road. Poor general and politician he may have been, nobody can doubt the strength and courage of Charles Edward Stewart as a hillman, His story crops up all over Section 10b and beyond.

One hundred and fifty years after the momentous events above, the railway arrived. A station was built to serve the now depopulated area and a steamer service to Acharacle, down the loch. To facilitate climbing the pass to Loch Eilt a high viaduct was built across Glen Finnan, McAlpine's concrete viaduct, one of the first to use this material, is still giving good service and carries a steam service in the summer season. It is said that a horse is interred in one of the piers, the cart was backed too far when dumping the rubble core.

The hill is easily accessible from either Glenfinnan, or from the A830 west of Glenfinnan at a point marked 'cross' on the OS map. This is the march of the Glenfinnan Estate, and the hillside is forested up to this point. The hill is steep on all sides, the north face above the hidden pass of Gleann Donn being particularly precipitous. Sadly as is all to often the case, there are no major crags, but short scrambles are found everywhere. From the station, now a museum, (I once slept in the waiting room, when the station was manned), a steep pull gains the Fraoch-bheinn plateau over Tom na h-Aisre. I was to use the other approach using a new track to gain the west ridge of Fraoch-bheinn.

A good low level day, but not an easy walk is to follow the tarred road to Glen Finnan Lodge, marked as Corryhully on OS maps. Behind this suburban detatched house, known to hill goers as the 'Barratt House' a narrow defile, aptly named Chaol-ghlinne, forces its way behind Sgurr an Utha and leads to the lovely Loch Beoraid. When I walked this , there was a faint path as far as the lodge at Kinlochbeoraid and a better path along the North side of the loch. From the powerhouse at the outflowa boggy path leads over to Lochailort for the train back. This path climbs steeply through a fine bouldery birchwood. Under these boulders is a genuine Prince's Cave. C.E.S. waited here for a boat out at Loch nan Uamh. It is known as MacEachine's Refuge after a Glen Borrowdale man who guided the Prince through these hills. It is quite an elusive howff. If clear the view of Utha from here is very fine.

A shorter walk is to cross the poor path to 'cross' on the A830, the usual starting point for the Sgurr.

Although snow was forecast for the next day, it was high spring as I put on my, by now, wet boots for Sgurr an Utha . I was starting from perhaps the usual place for such a trip, the parking spot at the Allt Feith a Chatha, on the Mallaig road. I was by now very tired after a long day on Trotternish in fast company, and was looking for a gentle wander around the ridges.

The weather was a big improvement, I had hurriedly packed the tent by Loch Cluanie in heavy rain only two hours previously, now it was sunny and I could hear the year's first cuckoo. A welcome sound, for the first few minutes, but the novelty soon fades, this the ultimate 'brain feaver bird'

I have never seen the 'cross' marked by the OS and the path marked as heading towards Kinlochbeoraid from 877818 barely exists. At first it is a small forestry track dating back to about 1980 when the Glenfinnan Estate built a lot of roads, planted trees and built the 'Barratt House' at Corryhully. The track continues as far as the crossing of the Allt an Utha, where it swings hard right and steeply climbs on to the ridge of Druim na Brein-choille stopping at just over 500m above a prominent step. The original path beyond this point is merely a linear marsh, but gives easier going than the moor, just.

The 'new' road, heading up hill, has by now blended in somewhat and is no longer the eyesore it was 10 years ago. It provides a fast start to the hill and sets up a good wee round of pure Rough Bounds mayhem, without a long Dessary or Scaddle walk-in.

I was able to gain access to the forestry block by crawling through a hole in the gate, there is a stile further along, but all this woodwork is twenty years old now and showing it. The stile did not look compatible with my bulk. The forest block is quite small and had its usual chaffinch-robin-great tit chorus , now augmented by the recently arrived willow warblers. The cuckoo was still calling away.

On completing the switchback road climb, I soon picked up a cairned route along the flanks of the ridge. McNishes please note: The cairns are placed there by the estate for the pony boys during the stalking, they lead to a stance above the corrie, not the tops. Please do not demolish. Keepers don't use paper maps, they have a mental map of the hill and will know each cairn by sight. Silly little hillwalker's cairns are easily distinguished and of course should be carefully dismantled. If in doubt leave alone. ( I once new a Dumfriess-shire shepherd who was lost on his hill after 30 years of farming it. He was saved by a familiar patch of rock, once recognised he was safely on his way off the hill.) The last bit up to the top of Fraoch-bheinn was a confusion of garnet studdied crag and peaty lochan. I could not find any cairns, but presumed a sharp fang of naked pegmatite the top. Now for the sting.

Fraoch-bheinn is magnetic.

I suspected iron in the rock, by its colour, so experimented with my compass. Walking past the summit crag, the needle span alarmingly. It was almost like the Cuillin in the strength of the deflection. I was in thick clag and rain by now and my first two bearings westward to Sgurr an Utha lead me onto the steep north face of the hill. A nervous third attempt led to ground that agreed with the spaghetti on the map and, knolls and lochans appeared just as expected. A 1:25 000 is recommended here.

Utha's summit is unmistakable, a large cairn perched above a steep drop. The summit knoll so much larger than the other knobbly bits about the summit. No compass deviation noted here. Walking about did not change the direction of north. Still misty but the sun was visible, the famed view frustrated. The cairn showed little sign of human visits, but a frog skeleton on top suggested that the hooked beak brigade favoured this high perch.

During the puzzling and at times steep descent of the west ridge, the sun replaced the cloud and a fine view opened up along Loch Beoraid. I remembered that previous Easter trip when I had sweated my way through from Glen Finnan and discovered this place for the first time, or another Easter spent with a hind on the hills to the north of the loch. I also remembered that the hill opposite, Glas Charn was within range and tickable. My day was to be extended, the usual dilemma of convenience and lazyness against a new hill. The hill won out this time. The ridge meanwhile plunges sharply to th pass, easier descent routes are preferred, on either flank. This ridge is made of a particularly silvery rock, rich in mica.

After 4 days on the go, a further 350m climb was quite daunting, but by linking up ridges of perfect pegmatite I was able to gain height easily, adhering to slabs at a high angle amd no need to resort to hands. If only the rock here ran to big crags, usually the ground is broken, but there is a promising crag at 870823.
Glas Charn.

The summit plateau was chaotic, a jumble of sawtooth ridges to be negotiated before the well defined summit block. Again the cairn showed signs of use by birds, but little foot damage. Obviously not a popular top, yet a look at Ann Bowker's photo from 1994 shows that the cairn has grown. The surroundings were fine. Several lochans tucked in the folds, a good view of the Moidart tops strung out to the south, but no Loch Beoraid. A detour being required from the summit. The possible 'missing link' hill of Beinn Garbh failed to duck below the clouds, but the pass of Gleann Donn shows up well from here.

As so often , it was possible to swap a rocky ascent for a grassy descent, and it was an easy walk down to the so called stalkers path leading back to the Mallaig road. By now I was very tired, blistered and made heavy work of the short walk down. The bogs were soft on the feet, which was some compensation, if you cannot find the 'path' it usually sticks to the burn. There was nobody about, but prints told of yesturday's party. Did they climb the Sgurr or sneak around the back to the forgotten pass of Glean Donn?

The birds were still singing for the last wooded, weary, quarter-mile, but no cuckoo. On return to the layby a runner was brewing up in his camper van. He had just completed the whole of section 10a in under a week. He was looking forward to a rest day, on Sgurr an Utha! He was aslo the first person I had met, on Easter Monday!

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Streap 909m

Streaps from seen above an inversion from the Callop Glen.

 

Braigh nan Uamhachan 765m

Braigh nan Uahachan from Sron Liath.

"A very interesting traverse which would undoubtedly be better known if the Braigh had the extra height to bring it to Munro Status" so says Donald Bennet in the SMC district guide. He says little else, they rarely waste type on a mere Corbett.

Of course it would need quite a lot of extra height, to get up to Munro level, as the Braigh is very much one of the lower Corbetts, and a 4000' Gaor Bheinn would still be the big draw. Also the quote is quite dated, as any shale bing would be well kent if it were over 914.4m.

He is right of course, this is a fine hill, with character and covering a fair piece of ground. It will never be well known on its own account, its fate is to extend a day on neighbouring Gaor Bheinn or the Streaps. It will always be the junior arm of a horseshoe, the other part of the day, betwixt dark and fair.

Braigh nan Uamhachan, I never did find out the whereabouts of the caves, is a four mile ridge with three tops, it makes a convenient add on for the isolated Gaor Bheinn, to which it is linked by the high pass of Gualann nan Osna. Adding in the Streaps is a harder proposition with the low pass at the head of Glean Dubh-lighe to negotiate. Approaching the pass from the other direction, ie glen walking, you will meet few folk, as Glen Camgharaidh exits along the trackless southern shore of Loch Arkaig. This glen is quite stunning with an old pine wood that survived the Commandos. Once there was a house in the glen, but it has gone now, a forgotten outpost of the old Kinlocharkaig community.

The north is a good approach to the hill. OK lower Camgharaidh is a bit out of the way, but would repay a canoe trip. Most would hop over the straggling north-east ridge of the Streaps from Strathan and cross the upper reaches of Glen Camgaraidh.

The usual approach to the hill is from the more accesable south, and this is the way I went up. I was staying at Nancy Smith's hostel at Fersit, a much missed howf and struggling out by train and hitching to various Lochaber hills. I had got a lift out to Glenfinnan and Braigh nan Uamhachan was just the right size for a short November day. Then the best way in to Glen Dubhlighe was via the derelict Drumsallie Mill on the east bank of the burn, a short boggy path into the open upper glen. Things have changed since then. There is still good parking on the roadside, but Drumsallie is now a new private residence, the occupant was recently in the news (Winter 2000) when he was shot and wounded whilst at work. A better route is up the track on the west bank, which crosses the burn by a new bridge and continues far up the glen. Sadly more of this glen has now succumbed to the forestry. I gained the hill with ease from the glen, now, with the coming of the trees, things may be more difficult. There will be a fence to cross at least.

Easy slopes led onto na - Uamhachan, but no caves, not that I could see much through the drizzle. I was disappointed to find no snow , or hope of snow. November is a month I look forward to, I avidly watch the weather forecasts, hoping for snow, encouraged by memories of University meets at Derry where there was always good skiing. Sadly now, it's nearly always the same grey old November, though an exciting time with the promise of winter to come, untainted by disappointment.

The ridge goes easily, sweeping over grassy Sron Liath, picking a dyke up along the way. It's an easy version of the Glen Finnan Munro circuit, not so steep or rugged, but still pleasantly narrow, especially when craggy slopes fall away steeply around the summit. Now for the privilege of not being tied to a car, a return down the other side of the hill. Not being Gaor Bheinn of the falling stags descent to the open grassy Gleann Fionlighe is quite easy, if you avoid the summit crags. Now the sun finally appeared, low and red lighting up the autumn burnished deer grass, and the deer. Now in the accurately named Glenn Fionnlighe you will most probably come across other walkers as this is the trade route for the Munro baggers, spare a thought for those who forgot that the summit is on OS sheet 41 and have only bagged the south top. For my sins I have only ever seen the North Top of Gaor Bheinn, first footed from Loch Arkaig many years ago.

A rough track leads back to the road to the isles, past tragic Wauchan, towards the forest and road. Good going, welcome as a lift will be wanted before it gets dark, before another warm night beside the Jøtul.

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