- Guided Hillwalking Across the Scottish Highlands

Black Mount Munros

by JohnKing

In mid-March I was leading for Steven Fallon Mountain Guiding in the Black Mount Hills south of Glen Coe. On Saturday 14th March I led a group up Stob Gabhar near Bridge of Orchy on a mild, murky day, then on Sunday 15th we headed round to the Glen Coe Ski Centre to ascend the popular Munros, Creise and Meall a’ Bhuridh. After an unpromising start, the day turned into a fine late winter day with some excellent snow conditions. You can read my full write-up of the days and see more photos on Steven’s blog here!

Our team ascending Meall a’ Bhuiridh on our way back to the Ski Centre

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Loch Laggan & Loch Lochy Munros

by JohnKing

In mid-November I was leading for Steven Fallon Mountain Guiding in the Central Highlands. On Saturday 16th November I led a group up the Munros Creag Pitridh and Geal Charn above Loch Laggan on a stunning early winters day, then on Sunday 17th I was out on the Loch Lochy Munros with another group in more mixed, but still enjoyable winter conditions. Overall it was a successful 4 Munro weekend. You can read my full write-up of the days and see more photos on Steven’s blog here!

En route to the summit of Sron a’ Choire Ghairbh – Sunday 17th November 2019

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Cairngorm, Ben Macdui & Winter Skills

by JohnKing

At the beginning of the month I was working for Steven Fallon Mountain Guiding in the Cairngorms. On Friday 4th January I led a small group out over the plateau to Ben Macdui where we emerged from a mild, grey day to a temperature inversion. We had unbroken sunshine and stunning views for the rest of the day! Then on the 6th, another mild day for early January, we were up on Cairngorm practicing winter skills. You can read my full write-up of the days and see more photos on Steven’s blog here!

Sgor an Lochain Uaine & Braeriach from Ben Macdui – 4th January 2019

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Ben More Assynt and Conival

by JohnKing 0 Comments

During Sunday and into Monday a big thaw set in across the Highlands causing significant melting of what was very extensive and deep snowcover. However, with the temperatures plummeting again on Tuesday the snowpack had consolidated and the avalanche hazard was low. This was combined on Wednesday with the promise of sub-zero summit temperatures, very little wind and bright sunshine. Forecasts don’t come any better and with the day free I decided to go for a day’s personal mountaineering with Ben the dog. We headed northwest to Inchnadamph to tackle Ben More Assynt and Conival, hills that I’d visited a couple of times before, but never in winter. As we headed north and west we were treated to amazing views of all the hills. An Teallach looked particularly good, but the view of Ben More Coigach was really special!

Ben More Coigach from Loch Cul Dromannan early on Wednesday Morning

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Winter Magic in the Fannaichs!

by JohnKing 0 Comments
Sgurr nan Clach Geala in winter

An alpine looking Sgurr nan Clach Geala from the slopes of Carn na Criche

Summits: Meall a’ Chrasgaidh (934m) | Sgurr Mor (1110m) | Sgurr nan Clach Geala (1093m)

Time: 9hrs 20mins

Sunday’s forecast was looking good from several day’s ahead. I had agreed to get out in the hills with a friend and we had a chat on Saturday night about where to go. It was difficult to choose with so many options. It looked like a day where you could pick your hill, any hill! In the end we decided to go for some old favourites of mine in the central part of the Fannaichs range of Wester Ross, Northwest Highlands.

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Can’t Believe it’s January!

by JohnKing 0 Comments

Yesterday was a good day up Am Faochagach, a Munro in the Beinn Dearg group in Ross-shire. We took a route following a winding ridge from the Glascarnoch dam. This gave a nice high-level route with easy walking on heath type terrain, although it was a little boggy in places reaching the ridge.

It was sunny and clear in the morning with a nice inversion before some dense cloud swept in from the west, just in time for us to reach the summit!

View from Am Faochagach

Good views from Am Faochagach with a Morning Inversion

It never felt cold though and the snow cover is really sparse. Winter gear was left in the car and it felt more like spring. Mainly snow is only left on the flanks of ridges or up on north or north-east faces. A cold blast is due this week though, so fingers crossed for some winter!

Beinn Dearg Group

The Beinn Dearg Group from Am Faochagach – some snow surviving high on north and north-east facing slopes.

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New Year in the North-West

by JohnKing 0 Comments
Walking into Kernsary

Walking into Kernsary from Poolewe

Last week I returned north to Scotland on the Sleeper with my partner and her mum. It was refreshing to be back in the Highlands after the hustle and bustle of central London! After shopping in Inverness we were headed for the west and after a brief lunch stop in Beauly, we made all haste for Gairloch.

It was great to be back in the north-western Highlands, but for our first few days we were storm-bound with sheets of rain, severe south west winds and unseasonably mild temperatures. The hills were almost completely cleared of snow. I did get out for some walks and runs but mountain-based activities, particularly of a wintery variety, were a no go. It was a shame to end 2016 this way after a year of many adventures!

Then, late on Hogmany, a cold front swept down from the north and early 2017 has so far seen a completely different kind of weather and a welcome drop in temperature. There was even a brief clearing that allowed us to bring in the bells on Big Sand beach, whisky in hand, under a sky full of stars with the milky way a clear bright streak across the sky.

New years day there was some nice sunshine amongst scattered hail showers. I went for a run over to North Erradale from Big Sand, which was really wet underfoot in places, then in the afternoon we drove over to Poolewe and took a walk in toward Kernsary. This was a lovely, calm walk by the River Ewe with great views of the snowy Fisherfield, Letterewe and Torridon Hills. We stopped by a river for coffee and shortbread then walked back just before it got dark. Very civilised!

I got up my first hill of 2017 in on the 2nd. I chose Beinn a’ Chearchaill as it was one of the few hills in the range between Flowerdale and Glen Torridon that I still hadn’t done. It is famed for its summit views of the Torridon hills, in particular the spectacular Coire Mhic Fhearchair on Beinn Eighe. There was none of that today though as I entered the cloud at around 500m. It was very wintery with fresh snow from about 300m and the wind chill on the top was significant. The conditions made for good navigation practice and, regardless of the lack of view, the summit area of this hill is really quite a surreal landscape. This would be a good hill to go back and do again on a clear day.

In the end it turned out to be a shorter walk than I expected so I also got a sunny walk along Gairloch beach on my way home. Then in the evening I managed another wee walk on Big Sand beach. I had this mile long expanse of sandy beach all to myself as I watched the final light of the day fade behind Longa Island. It is such a privelage to have places like this on the doorstep.

Gairloch Beach

A lovely afternoon for a walk on Gairloch Beach

On the 3rd we were storm bound once more and after a morning 5k, it was time to turn my attentions back to work.

Then, yesterday it was time to head back to the east coast. But not before a wee trip to Torridon! The weather was much improved with light winds, cold temperatures and the cloud above summit level. Not much snow around yet, but the views of the hills were great, particularly Liathach and Beinn Eighe. Both of these long ridges make excellent mountain days and Liathach offers one of the best ridge scrambles in the north west. Looking forward to getting back up there soon.

Liathach in early January

Liathach from Glen Torridon

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What a week!

by JohnKing 0 Comments

This has been a busy week for me in the Scottish mountains. With cold, clear conditions holding on through midweek and then warmer, clear conditions at the weekend, all coinciding with the true end of my summer season’s work I was able to get out 5 of the last 7 days and continue my preparations for my winter ML assessment.

On Monday morning I left the house completely undecided as to my itinerary for the day. I really wanted to do a route up a grade I snow gully out west but I feared it would just be an epic battle through powder snow. Mid-journey I decided to redirect toward Ben Klibreck, a hill much closer at hand and which, although I had been up it several times before, I had never seen the view from. The weather forecast was promising full sunshine all day. Surely this time I would see a view from the summit!

What followed was still an epic battle through powder snow on the slopes of Cnoc Sgriodain and Carn an Fheidh, reaching a high point of 808m for the day and the view from Ben Klibreck eluding me once more.

It had been -8C coming out the back of Lairg and many of the passing places on the road were out of bounds to a car with summer tyres such as mine, but fortunately it was quiet and I made it to the bottom of the hills with great hopes of the bog being well frozen.  It was.  But it was also buried deep in the snows and my progress was painfully slow as a result. By the time I reached my high point for the day, it was late, I was physically shattered and a cap of cloud had spilled down from the north covering the summit of Klibreck with more foreboding clouds lurking in the background. I admitted defeat and descended back to the car. This wasn’t any easier a task than the way up, but the views out west to Ben More Assynt were fantastic and the snow-covered spiky outline of An Teallach on the distant skyline totally made up for the fact that I hadn’t completed my day’s objective.

As if to rub it in, I did get an outstanding view of Klibreck once I returned to the car. I feel snow shoes might be something worth investing in!

Ben Klibreck from the road

Ben Klibreck from the road

By Wednesday I was itching to get back out and this time successfully summit a hill. Looking close to home once more I decided to go for Beinn Leoid, a corbett in far north-western Sutherland, approached via 2 lower Grahams.

Circumstances meant I had a late start onto the hills. It was 1030am when I reached my start point.  It was in a narrow valley at the watershed between east and west on the Lairg-Laxford Bridge road and was hidden from the sun, about 100m above sea level and it was still -1.5 with snow on the ground and an icy sheen on the tarmac.

As I set off up-hill, following the route of a stalkers path zigzagging helpfully up the slope, the snow was rock solid and I had to think about whether crampons were required. But soon I burst out of the confines of the glen onto higher open ground in bright sunshine with more deep powder snow. From here I made straight for the summit of Graham number 1, Meall an Fheur Loch.

I reached the summit in about 1 & ½ hours and was greeted with a phenomenal view in all directions. Foinaven, Arkle and Ben Stack out west, Ben Loyal in the north, the full length of Loch Shin in the East and Ben More Assynt in the south. This truly was a winter wonderland!

Enjoying myself on Meall an Fhuar Loch

Enjoying myself on Meall an Fheur Loch

I could also see Beinn Leoid and it was apparent that in these snow conditions I didn’t stand a chance of reaching it on that day. So I settled for climbing the next Graham, Meallan a’ Chuail. This was an even better hill than the first, with a fine ridge leading to the summit. It was also another physically challenging climb, ploughing up deep snow covering a boulder field.

Again the summit view was outstanding and I hung around a while just savouring it.   You could even see Braeriach on the horizon. A golden eagle swooped past about 50m below me.  Perfect!

Beinn Leoid from Meallan a' Chuail

Beinn Leoid from Meallan a’ Chuail

The descent went smoothly enough, and I picked up the stalker’s path back to the road at a small cairn that I’m not sure how I found. The sunset was simply stunning and capped off probably one of my best winter days to date.

On Friday I was headed south. I had a weekend walk planned with my Dad on Saturday and was due to lead a walk with my old Glasgow hillwalking club on the Sunday. But with one last day of cold, clear conditions forecast I had to do a hill en route.

Due to their accessibilty from the A9 I decided to go for the East Drumochter hills. By the time I got down the road it was another late start and it was gone 11am when I was off the A9 and heading up the track. My plan had been to do both Carn na Caim and A’ Bhuidheanach Bheag. However, there was a front due and with my late start and long drive ahead I quickly realised that I should probably settle for one Munro. So Carn na Caim it was.

As I climbed away from the road the views over to the west side of the pass were stunning!

A View of the West Drumochter Hills

A View of the Western Drumochter Hills from the East

Up on the plateau, the conditions were perfect. Albeit I was still wading through deep powder snow with a tantalising crust that kept giving way beneath me. The sun felt warm. The cloud was rolling in from the north-west but above this the Alder hills looked stunning. And further west the Ben even made a brief appearance!

I followed the fence line as it wound over the undulating country. It wasn’t long before I reached the top to be greeted with a view of the main Cairngorm massif rising above a sea of cloud. I stayed a while just drinking in the views and the enjoying the tranquility. This was the first time all day that I had escaped the continual hum of traffic on the A9.

East Drumochter Plateau

Looking South over the East Drumochter plateau

As I decended I entered the cloud that had spilled over the plateau from the west and by the time I reached the car it felt like a completely different day. Mild and grey. Change was definitely on the way.

The next morning I awoke in the central belt under still under grey skies. I drove with my Dad up to Arrochar and we set off to do Cnoc Coinnich. This is a hill which until this year had been classed as a Graham, but after a re-survey it was found to be 762m high and just squeeks in as a Corbett. This change in classification seemed quite noticable on the hill as it was really very busy. There were atleast a couple of dozen people on the hill. Hardly the crowds you see on the likes of Ben Lomond, but much busier than I think the hill would have been if it was still a Graham. We probably were there for that reason ourselves!

But choosing this hill on that day was a good decision well made. As we left the mess of the commercial forestry by Ardgarten the skies started to clear. From the high point on the Cowal Way we follwed the NW ridge of the hill straight to the summit. There was a keen northerly wind keeping conditions cool, but there was a thaw in full swing and we hardly had to cross any snow to reach the summit. We found a lunch spot tucked away below the summit crags out of the wind and here it felt more like spring. Blue sky now dominated and in the clear air you could see as far as Ben More on Mull.

View from Cnoc Coinnich

Looking south from Cnoc Coinnich over Loch Long to the Clyde

On the way down we varied the route a little traversing behind the Brack and descending down into the forestry from the Ben Donich-Brack bealach. It was a bit random but it allowed us to stay high a little longer and enjoy more of the views and warm sunshine.

After another night in the central belt I was headed north once again. I met a group of 12 from the hillwalking club at the Victoria Bridge car park near Bridge of Orchy at 9am and we set off for Stob Gabhar.

The forecast was for a clearing day with dropping temperatures. This didn’t seem likely with dull, grey and mild conditions prevailing but we were hopefull! In any case it was nice to be back in the area. After being the hut custodian of the GUMC hut at Clashgour for several years I am very keen on this wild country heading in towards Glen Etive.

We entered the cloud around 800m with only patchy snow cover. My choice of ascent route was the Aonach Eagach ridge. This is bit more of a formidable sounding name than the reality of the ridge itself but it does narrow right down for a short section giving a nice interesting route to the summit.

By the time we were up here, around 1000m, the temperature had dropped noticeably and, as I had thought, the thawing snow of yesterday was now well consolidated and rock-solid. I felt vindicated that I had insisted that everyone carry crampons but there wasn’t the continuous covering to justify putting them on.

My group were all going well and everyone reached the top comfortably. As if to repay our efforts, the cloud cleared as we were eating our lunch giving spectacular views north and west, fog bows and broken spectres. I have no excuse for not getting any good pictures of this. I suppose it was just a combination of how damn cold it was and just wanting to enjoy the moment that kept my camera tucked away in the rucksack.

For a further variation we descended via Sron a’Ghearrain and Clashgour Farm. This made a nice descent route, although there were some very slippy bridges in the icy conditions! The views west to the Etive Munros were phenomenal.

Once we were down and been for a quick coffee in the Bridge of Orchy Hotel it was time to head home once more after a super week of walking in the Scottish Hills. Let’s hope the cold & snowy conditions return soon.

 

 

 

 

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Winter Assynt – Climbing Cul Mor in the Snow

by JohnKing

With time against me but conditions looking good I decided it would be good to get out west to Assynt and take in the relatively accessible summit of Cul Mor in winter conditions before the thaw sets in at the weekend.  There was much more snow around than I expected, the snow line was around 300m on the way across and there was a slow thaw during the day. It was a beautiful morning, but more of a mixed bag in the afternoon.

I took in an anti-clockwise circuit of the summit and Creag nan Calman.  There was deep, soft snow on the upper part of the hill and tricky conditions in places crossing boulder fields obscured by snow.

It was a good ascent, with stunning views of Suilven, Canisp and the hills behind Inchnadamph. Part of the way I met another John from Ullapool.  It was good to have some company on the way up and I got some good practice higher up breaking trail.

Suilven from Cul Mor

Suilven from Cul Mor

After a nice summit/lunchtime chat we headed different ways and I had to navigate a little to find my way round to and then off Creag nan Calman.  There was a brief break in the cloud giving an atmospheric view of Cul Beag.

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Cul Beag catching some nice light

Picking up the outward route just west of Meallan Diomhain I was lucky to catch some amazing late afternoon winter light, bringing out all the different shades of orange and brown wonderfully and casting long shadows across the land.  Unfortunately some drizzle set in about 1km from the car but it wasn’t enough to dampen a great day in Assynt.

 

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