KYQ4: Torridon Corbetts

Ruadh-stac Beag

Sunday, 6 May 2012

Ascent: 1370 metres

Distance: 20 kilometres
Time: 7 hours 28 minutess

c Ruadh-stac Beag 892m 2hrs 41mins
c Mealle na Gulaibhan 882m 5hrs 14mins

We had stayed in the Gairloch hostel with the intention of walking into Fisherfield camping for two nights and climbing the 3 Corbetts and the six Munros in this remote mountain wilderness. I asked the warden to print off the mountain weather forecasts for the next three days. Snow showers and thunderstorms were predicted for later today, and low clouds and rain on Tuesday, so our plans began to change. It would have been a twenty-mile walk in with diversions over two Corbetts, then the big day on the six Munros before another 15-mile walk out in the rain.

We prevaricated over breakfast before deciding to return to the Torridons. Keith, John and I set out to climb the two magnificent Corbetts that sit below Beinn Eighe, whilst Gregor and Mark decided to climb Slioch. Outside the hostel, the seascapes were wonderful in the morning light, and the crenulated skyline was Skye in all its glory. Driving along Loch Maree, Slioch tempted me like a primaeval fortress, but I had other promises to keep.

The walk up to the Corbetts began at the Nature Reserve visitor centre along gentle footpaths designed for children. I had camped at the old National Nature Reserve campsite as a thirteen-year-old on my first visit to Scotland. I had failed to persuade my parents to let me climb Meall a' Ghiubhas, which lurked above the campsite with two climbers who were camped next to us. I only had plimsolls and a flimsy plastic Mac, so my parents were probably wise. I had to stay at the midge-infested campsite instead and vowed to climb Meall a' Ghiubhas on a future visit. It has taken me fifty years to return, but my obduracy paid off today, and the promise was certainly worth redeeming.

We followed a good path up the burn until the paths diverged, and we took the one less travelled to the left. It took us into a huge stone field bereft of vegetation, and we contoured beneath Creag Dubh, which is the end of the Beinn Eighe ridge, to the head of the glen east of Ruadh-stac Beag. We climbed to the lochan and then doubled back to scramble up the rock-strewn ridge to the summit plateau of Ruadh-stac Beag. We arrived as the sun became ascendant.

It was a summit to savour with exquisite views of the rest of the Torridon hills on a day when the occasional snow showers sprinkled sugar on mountains that have everything other than colour. We had a long, lazy lunch and then pranced about the snowfield that covered the summit of the hill. I briefly entertained descending by the northwest ridge until Keith pointed out that we would have another 150 metres to climb if we went that way, so we returned via our ascent route. On reflection, an extra 150 metres of climbing would have been preferable to the drudge of plodding over 5km of stone fields with increasingly sore toes to reach the foot of Meall a' Ghiubhais.

We crossed the path that came up from the Nature Reserve and passed the well-equipped and hidden Mountain rescue bothy near the high point of the path. We stopped at the foot of the gully below Meall a' Ghiubhais and decided to dump our rucksacks after emptying them of any chocolate or fruit before climbing the 350 metres to the summit and top of the hill. Again, the views were outstanding, including those across to Slioch and Ben Lair as well as the Corbetts of the Flowerdale forest. We jogged back down to the rucksacks and then followed the excellent path back to the visitor centre.

The others were already down Slioch and had gone to the free Nature Reserve campsite at Taagan, so we drove there and put up tents whilst Gregor played football. It was time to reward ourselves, and despite a big hike in prices, we headed for the Kinlochewe Hotel to eat and, in my case, to sample some of the local beers. The evening was clear and cold; the threatened thunderstorms had not transpired, perhaps we should have gone into Fisherfield. What has happened to the mountain weather information service? It used to be so accurate, but has been wrong on several outings recently.