KYQ4: August 2025

Shenavall Bothy on arrival at sunset

Beinn Dearg Mhor, my favourite Corbett

Fisherfield Five(Six) Route

Monday, 18 August 2025

I received a phone call at 7am. Gregor had spent the night in the Shenaval Bothy, in Fisherfield, after driving up on Sunday afternoon. He had run the Scottish Half Marathon in Musselburgh, coming third in a respectable 1 hour 9 minutes and driven 225 miles to Dundonnell and then walked into Shenaval. He wanted to know the best way up Beinn a' Chlaidheimh, the recently deleted Munro that was the first of the six Fisherfield Mountains to be climbed today. I had told him that it was a better route than the direct slog up to Am Briseadh. Beinn a' Chlaidheimh is a wonderful viewpoint although there are some crags that have to be negotiated first. He had got that far but had not downloaded a route for the Fisherfield round, could I send him one. Nowhere entices me more than Fisherfield, so I plotted a route from my memory of five previous rounds of these spectacular mountains and sent it via WhatsApp.

I had hoped to reprise the walk earlier this year with John but the aches in my hips and legs had made even my daily local hills a struggle so I had to pass. Fisherfield had been the first two day expedition during my first Munro round in 1990. On a glorious May Bank holiday, we had driven up, climbed An Teallach, slept in the Shenavall Bothy and then climbed the six hills that Gregor was doing today. They took 12 hours including the walk out to Corrie Hallie and on to Dundonnell. All food had been sold in the hotel but they made some sandwiches for us whilst we rehydrated with some beers. We camped on the way to Braemore in my old Good Companions Tent, and climbed A' Chailleach and Sgurr Breac the next morning before heading north.

John and I repeated the jaunt in May 1995 along with Keith for the first day. We climbed An Teallach from Dundonnell and dropped down to Shenavall. I had met W.H. Murray, the celebrated mountaineer and author the night before at the premiere of the film Rob Roy that he had scripted. He signed his book for me and on hearing I was going to Fisherfield urged me to climb Beinn Dearg Mhor as the finest of the Corbetts. We did, along with Beinn Dearg Beag, topping out at 10 pm on a glorious May evening. We camped by Loch Beinn Dearg and then climbed the Fisherfield Six in an anti-clockwise round on another perfect day.

In 2001, Gregor was nearing the end of his Munro round and the two of us went up in August, climbed An Teallach on a dull windy day. We started the Fisherfield round getting as far as the bealach between A' Mhaighdean and Ruadh Stac Mor where we slept in a cave, the wind was too strong to erect the tent. It rained all night and most of the next day and we thought of bailing out but after climbing A' Mhaighdean and Ruadh Stac Mor, we decided to give it a go and managed to complete the round in dire conditions before going to the Sail Mor bunkhouse to recover.

I was with Mark and John in May 2005 on a week when we climbed 28 Munros, starting with An Teallach and then Fisherfield after a camp by Lochan na Brathan below Sail Liath. We started the Fisherfield round at 6 am, in sparkling conditions that continued until we were on the ascent towards A' Mhaighdean. We arrived at the summit as the heavens opened, and it continued nonstop as we went over Ruadh Stac Mor and took the excellent stalker's path back to Shenavall. The tents that were washed out by the fierce rain and sleeping bags had operated like blotting paper. We bundled them up and retreated to the Sail Mor bunkhouse, where a group of French walkers kindly shared their pasta with us.

My most recent foray was in 2013 from Poolewe. I had wanted to climb three corbetts as well, so Keith and I started late afternoon, climbed Beinn Airigh Charr on the way to a camp at Carnmore and then made a clockwise circuit of the Fisherfield Munros and Beinn a' Chaisgein Mor in conditions that were better than perfect. A' Mhaighdean was absolutely stunning in the early morning and late evening light, and Beinn Dearg Mhor looked magnificent, a suitable peak for W.H. Murray. Beinn Lair was in the spotlight of the setting sun and sorely tempting. We had planned to climb it the next day, but heavy rain and low cloud made it seem a sacrilege to climb. We spent the morning walking out in a downpour, my desire to revisit these magnificent mountains was undiminished. Gregor's adventure today became my virtual round of Fisherfield.