Date: Saturday 10th November 2018
Company: Myself and Ann-Marie
Distance: 12.7km, Ascent: 875m
Time: 5Hrs 35Mins
On Friday evening, I attended the WalkHighlands meet at the Torridon Youth Hostel. Several beers and one seriously large whisky were consumed. That evening I agreed to meet Ann-Marie at 08:00 on Saturday morning for an ascent of Beinn Liath Mhor. Alas, a number from the meet had already left to ascend both Beinn Liath Mhor and Sgorr Ruadh from the Achnashellach side at 07:15 so by the time Ann-Marie arrived we were too late to accompany them. I therefore decided to ascend Beinn Liath Mhor from the Torridon side.
We drove a few miles to the Beinn Eighe car park where we were welcomed by a friendly stag.
Click here to see a map of the route undertaken
Getting so close to a wild stag was really special.
Friendly stag:
Friendly stag:
Myself with the stag:
After spending some time speaking to and admiring the beautiful stag we commenced our walk crossing the road and taking the path leading to and beyond the Ling Hut.
Heading towards the Ling Hut:
Beyond the Ling Hut we continued to follow the fairly good stalkers path which I had last walked in 2009 to ascend the Corbetts, Sgorr nan Lochan Uaine and Sgurr Dubh. My one and only previous ascent of Beinn Liath Mhor and Sgorr Ruadh was also from and back to the Beinn Eighe car park.
Photographing Liathach and Beinn Eighe:
While the weather was not as windy as it had been the day previous on Beinn Damh, it was wetter. Thankfully most of the showers skirted by.
A passing shower:
The quality of the track deteriorated as we progressed along it. We eventually left the track to take to the hillside via grass slopes and sandstone slabs.
Ascending Torridonian sandstone slabs:
On approaching the summit of Beinn Liath Mhor the wind was quite strong. Before ascending the final quartzite slopes we stopped for a drink and to put on some extra clothes before battling the elements to get to the top.
Heading towards the summit of Beinn Liath Mhor:
The final ascent was much easier than it looked. There is a good path to follow up through the quartzite blocks and boulders.
Final ascent of Beinn Liath Mhor:
On reaching the summit we stopped to take several photos and then returned to below the quartzite where it was less windy.
View from the summit of Beinn Liath Mhor:
View from the summit of Beinn Liath Mhor:
I now ruled out also ascending Sgorr Ruadh as had we done so we would likely be walking out in the dark. I was also looking forward to getting back to chat with others from the group and Sgorr Ruadh would always be there for another day i.e. the day after
. View during descent:
On eventually getting back to the car park, it was great to again meet our friendly stag. I now realised it was being friendly to get some food. Meeting the stag was definitely the highlight of the day.
Would you like some chocolate?
How about a carrot?
We then returned to the Torridon Youth Hotel where we met up with around fifty other members of WalkHighlands.