KYQ4: A' Ghlas Bheinn and Glomach Falls

Falls of Glomach

Friday, 6 June 2024

Ascent: 1269 metres
Distance: 27.5 kilometres
Time: 7 hours 36 minutes

A Ghlas-bheinn 918m 3hrs 10mins
Falls of Glomach 331m 4hrs 38mins

It was another magical day with added heat from the September sunshine. John was to climb A'Ghlas-beinn and Beinn Fhada with Keith, I had decided to give Beinn Fhada a miss, I had been up a couple of years earlier and made a long intended walk to the Falls of Glomach instead. We parked opposite the Morvich campsite and began walking to Gleann Choinneachain, which bisects the two Munros and leads to Bealach na Sgairne. The path rises steadily through woodland first and then on the open hillside crossing the fast-flowing burns that drain the northern corries of Beinn Fhada. We were joined by a young woman walker from Edinburgh and we learnt of her progress towards completing the Munros, she had climbed 216 and saw A'Ghlas-beinn as a warm-up for her climb of Liathach tomorrow.

We halted at Bealach an Sgairne, we had once contemplated dropping over to Sgurr nan Ceathramhnan from here to add another three Munros to the usual walk of A' Ghlas-bheinn and Beinn Fhada. Our ambitions have been moderated since those crazy days of Munro bashing. The temperature was soaring as we began the steep and relentless 400 metres ascent to A' Ghlas-bheinn, it is now the lowest Munro following the sad demotion of Sgurr nan Ceannaichean and Beinn a' Chlaidheimh. We caught a couple of walkers ahead as we sweated it out before dropping at the summit and drooling at the magnificent vistas in all directions.

After a lazy lunch stop, Keith and John returned south to the bealach and headed for Beinn Fhada whilst I spent 10 minutes rebuilding the cairn before beginning a romp down the crags to the north of the hill and over to the Falls of Glomach path. I had done this walk in the opposite direction on my previous visit. It has a lonely but mellow wildness as you navigate through the pathless undulating landscape, several deer were grazing close to the lochans. The heat had brought out the flies in huge numbers, I retrieved the midge spray but to little avail. As I scooted down the hill, the path was invisible from the convex slope of Meall Dubh and I was getting concerned until the path appeared complete with a woman returning from the Falls of Glomach.

We slipped into an easy conversation, she was a photographer and had hoped to capture some shots of the Falls but the lighting had not satisfied her photographer's eye. I always speak to passing walkers and sometimes stop and chat for a few minutes but this became a long and fascinating conversation with someone who clearly loved the Scottish hills, seemed to have had a life of adventure and was wedded to outdoor pursuits. She had 16 Munros to reach her compleation and, as is often the case, they were all in remote locations. She felt it would be useful to do these with others but she was not in a club. I suggested that my friend Keith might be able to guide her to some of these, he has guided dozens of others from his walking club to Munro compleations over the years. She seemed interested and gave me her name, Anna, and phone number and asked me to get in touch. The conversation was one of the joys of hillwalking, meeting like-minded folk who inspire you to keep going, although when she recommended a book 'Fit at Fifty' that shows how you can keep improving until you are 76, I thought I might have missed the boat.

It was with some regret on my part that we were going opposite ways. I started on the path down to the Falls of Glomach, it was a pleasant stroll at first before a series of zig-zags descending 200 metres to the top of the falls. There is a final boggy section through long grass and then just the glorious gushing Abhainn Gaorsaic as it approaches the precipice and plunges 150 metres into the dark cool abyss. I sauntered down the path for 50 metres to take some photos, you can never capture the sheer force of a waterfall but I was probably 90 minutes later than Anna and may have secured better lighting later in the afternoon. After twenty minutes or so I began the long walk back. I reached the high point of the path at 508 metres and took a break to decide whether I would have time to climb the nearby hills of Suie Dhu and the Graham, Carnan Cruithneachd, which was 3 kilometres away over boggy ground. I figured it would add an hour and a quarter to the Graham (Fiona) and I had arranged with John and Keith to meet back at the car at 6:30pm. It was already 4:15pm and after dropping from Carnan Cruitheachd there would be a 7-kilometre walk back to the car. I decided against it, I have no great desire to do all the Fionas so, unusually, I took the lazy option.to get down by 6:30 instead.

The path back from the high point of the Glomach path was rougher than I remembered. The compensation was the north-facing slope of A' Ghlas-bheinn which is scored by dozens of burns that serrate the hillside and were highlighted by the low-angled evening sun. Even reaching the track through the forestry plantations left me a walk of 5 kilometres back to the car. I then received a message from Keith that they would not be down until 7:30pm. I could and should have climbed the Fiona.

I made it back to the car by 5:45pm and after visiting the campsite to see if drinks were on sale, they weren't, I trudged another two kilometres to the Pitstop cafe, formerly known as the Jacobite. A beer and some chips helped me while away an hour in the warm late evening sun whilst the sound system played an appealing collection of Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac and similar music. Another sun-filled day was forecast for tomorrow, life was good.