Walk Report: The Central Mamores
More from my Scottish walking diary:
Sunday 24th July
Another brilliant days walk in excellent weather; the cloudy start looked ominous, but thankfully the clouds soon rose above the summits and by early evening it was a bright sunny day, once again. As it was a Sunday there were no buses to take me down Glen Nevis so I had to walk there, this time using the forest tracks to avoid the traffic on the road. The Ralph Storer walk that was the inspiration for todays walk was Route 22 but I'd altered his plan significantly. Storer started the walk by going up Sgurr a'Mhaim, but I did that yesterday necessitating a change of plan. On leaving the wood I took the path near by the lower falls and followed the river keeping to the southern bank even when the going got very rough and I had to clamber over the cliffs on the southern side of the narrow gorge, Eas an Tuill. It would have been infinitely more sensible to use the path on the northern bank, but that was far too sensible and boring! It may have been nerve-wracking at times but it was tremendous fun, especially when I was standing on the cliff face looking down into the gorge at the people on the footpath who were looking up at me. It made me feel so daring!
Once through the gorge I passed the spectacular waterfall, An Steall, in it's picturesque setting and followed the footpath that zigzagged up Coire Chadha Chaoruinn and then up to the top of An Gearanach, the first Munro of the day. There now followed a narrow ridge over An Garbhanach, which was every bit as fun as I expected. A drop and a climb led to a very proper looking hill called Stob Coire a'Chà irn, which apparently is a Munro despite not appearing to have enough re-ascent. It shows what I know! A stiff climb was now ahead of me as I climbed the steep rocky northern face of An Bodach. After a look around the summit I reflected that this was my third Munro of the day and my last in the Mamores. As I descended the western ridge I looked around me at the fantastic rocky scenery. They had provided some very enjoyable walking over the last two days and now I had just one hill, a Munro top, Sgurr an Iubhair, to go. There has been some good walking in this area and I'm sorry to leave it. I'll have to return here so I can finish off the eastern Mamores that I've had to leave out this weekend; it'll feel like coming to see a friend.
Descending the last hill, Sgurr an Iubhair, I took the path I should have taken yesterday down Coire a'Mhusgain. It was now much later than it had been yesterday as I followed the interesting path as it weaved down the narrow valley back to the bus stop, but once again I had missed the bus so an hour's walk back to the youth hostel in the hot early evening sun was necessary. Tomorrow I'll be travelling to Aviemore, spending some time in my favourite city, Inverness, on the way before walking to the Cairngorm youth hostel.
Sunday 24th July
Another brilliant days walk in excellent weather; the cloudy start looked ominous, but thankfully the clouds soon rose above the summits and by early evening it was a bright sunny day, once again. As it was a Sunday there were no buses to take me down Glen Nevis so I had to walk there, this time using the forest tracks to avoid the traffic on the road. The Ralph Storer walk that was the inspiration for todays walk was Route 22 but I'd altered his plan significantly. Storer started the walk by going up Sgurr a'Mhaim, but I did that yesterday necessitating a change of plan. On leaving the wood I took the path near by the lower falls and followed the river keeping to the southern bank even when the going got very rough and I had to clamber over the cliffs on the southern side of the narrow gorge, Eas an Tuill. It would have been infinitely more sensible to use the path on the northern bank, but that was far too sensible and boring! It may have been nerve-wracking at times but it was tremendous fun, especially when I was standing on the cliff face looking down into the gorge at the people on the footpath who were looking up at me. It made me feel so daring!
Once through the gorge I passed the spectacular waterfall, An Steall, in it's picturesque setting and followed the footpath that zigzagged up Coire Chadha Chaoruinn and then up to the top of An Gearanach, the first Munro of the day. There now followed a narrow ridge over An Garbhanach, which was every bit as fun as I expected. A drop and a climb led to a very proper looking hill called Stob Coire a'Chà irn, which apparently is a Munro despite not appearing to have enough re-ascent. It shows what I know! A stiff climb was now ahead of me as I climbed the steep rocky northern face of An Bodach. After a look around the summit I reflected that this was my third Munro of the day and my last in the Mamores. As I descended the western ridge I looked around me at the fantastic rocky scenery. They had provided some very enjoyable walking over the last two days and now I had just one hill, a Munro top, Sgurr an Iubhair, to go. There has been some good walking in this area and I'm sorry to leave it. I'll have to return here so I can finish off the eastern Mamores that I've had to leave out this weekend; it'll feel like coming to see a friend.
Descending the last hill, Sgurr an Iubhair, I took the path I should have taken yesterday down Coire a'Mhusgain. It was now much later than it had been yesterday as I followed the interesting path as it weaved down the narrow valley back to the bus stop, but once again I had missed the bus so an hour's walk back to the youth hostel in the hot early evening sun was necessary. Tomorrow I'll be travelling to Aviemore, spending some time in my favourite city, Inverness, on the way before walking to the Cairngorm youth hostel.
posted by David Keates at 11:25 pm
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