Sunday 20 October 2013

Torridon in September

The plan was to spend 4 days climbing Grahams with Kay and Jane, based at Torridon Youth Hostel. The weather was very mixed throughout, with rain and very strong winds. Nevertheless, we managed to climb 5 Grahams in the 4 days, juggling our programme to suit the daily conditions.
Day one we trudged up the sodden slopes of Carn Breac to reach the summit shrouded in thick mist, so no stop before heading on to Beinn na Feusaige in an increasingly cold, strong wind which made it impossible to spend much time at all on the bare summit plateau. A steep descent west then southwest soon brought us back down into Glen Carton as rain started to fall.

Day two we set off very early to avoid worst of the gale force winds forecast for the afternoon, though these in fact never happenned. Our objective was Beinn a Mhuinidh so
from Incheril by Kinlochewe we followed the track northwest towards Slioch for about 3 km before climbing up heather covered slopes towards a waterfall breaching the cliffs. The going got pretty steep here and any slip would have had consequences, but we made it to a grassy amphitheater surrounded by crags and lochans. From here the climb to the summit was straightforward and views opened up north to Letterewe and An Teallach, west to Beinn Eighe and, of course, northwest to Slioch - fantastic! A long walk south 4km across a fairly damp plateau took us to an easy descent into Abhainn Bruachaig and Incheril.
The third day was a bit of a washout, but we plodded stoically up the grassy slopes that lead to the summit of Meall a Chaorainn in thick mist and heavy rain to tick our 4th Graham.
On day four we made an early start to climb Beinn na h-Eaglaise from the path up the Allt Coire Roill in the shadow of the magnificent Beinn Damh before driving home. The weather was kind to us and we enjoyed good views in all directions. The track as far as the Lochan at Drochaid Coire Roill is excellent and we were even lucky enough to meet a stag with some hinds on the col, though they did not linger long when we arrived.

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