Beinn Alligin

The Horns, Beinn Dearg and Beinn Eighe from Sgurr Mhor

Cuillin ridge on Skye in distance from Tom na Gruagaich

Eagle passes over Tom na Gruagaich

Tom na Gruagaich

The Horns and Slioch in the centre behind

Liathach from Tom na Gruagaich (Beinn Alligin)

Baosbheinn from Sgurr Mhor (Beinn Alligin)

Descending to the Horns of Alligin

Beinn Dearg from the Horns of Alligin

Looking back to Sgurr Mhor on the walkout

Head of Loch Torridon looking to the Corrie Lair Munros

Thursday, 14 May 2015
Ascent:       1140 metres
Distance:    11 kilometres
Time:          5 hours 38 minutes

m       Tom na Gruagaich    922m    1hr  46mins
m       Sgurr Mhor               986m    2hrs  50mins

Beinn Alligin is the third of the great triptych of Torridon hills along with Liathach and Beinn Eighe. It sits overlooking Loch Torridon with views to Skye and the Applecross hills as well as providing a superb balcony to observe Liathach and Beinn Eighe. Mark had selected Beinn Alligin as the second mountain after Liathach yesterday that he wished to climb on this short farewell tour to the Torridons before he moved south to the Lakes. We were blessed with near-perfect weather: clear blue skies, a gentle cooling breeze and excellent visibility. We parked by the bridge near Torridon House and decided to climb the hill in a clockwise direction: Tom na Gruagaich first, then Sgurr Mhor and thereafter the Horns of Alligin.

On all my previous visits I had climbed the mountain in the other direction and always after a walk earlier in the day on Slioch, Maol Chean-Dearg, Beinn Eighe and Fhion Bheinn respectively. We had also pondered about climbing Beinn Dearg, the magnificent adjacent Corbett, but decided early on the ascent that this was a day to savour a relaxing saunter around Beinn Alligin.  The thought of climbing the murderous slopes of Beinn Dearg in the heat of the afternoon would ruin the day.

Although a fairly steep ascent, it was no problem to tackle the much-improved path to Tom na Gruagaich to start the day. We began less vigorously than on Liathach the day before and found an easy rhythm passing a couple with three well-trained collies and then coming across two pathmakers from the National Trust. They were repositioning giant slabs that had slipped down the slope in the winter rains. On a day like today, it seems like a perfect job but they had to slog up the hill for an hour with spades and crowbars before starting work. We chatted to them about their work, they covered all the National Trust mountains in Glencoe, Glen Shiel and the Torridons with a team of four. They worked with easy grace, the woman extracting the displaced rocks and the man levering the sandstone blocks into place.

We continued the climb alongside a rushing, gurgling burn and passed the last patch of winter snow just below the flatter summit plateau. We walked out to Meall an Laoigh, an 893m cairn that gives a wonderful viewpoint over to the Applecross hills, Skye and the Sound of Raasay. It was an easy walk over the loose scree and grass to the impressive cairn of Tom na Gruagaich. Days like this do not occur very often on the Scottish hills so we soaked in the views and chatted to other couples as they arrived at the summit.

The walk around to Sgurr Mhor involves a steepish descent over loose scree and rocks and then an ascent over an intermediate top before arriving at the airy summit just after the cleft in the rock that gives such a distinctive profile to Sgurr Mhor. It was time for lunch and then some photographing the surrounding hills. The Corbett of Baosbheinn across Loch a' Bhealaich was especially impressive, as were the views of the Horns of Alligin and Beinn Dearg to the east.

There is a steep descent of 200 metres from the summit to the start of the Horns of Alligin. We met a couple of older walkers from Stratford on Avon who were sweating their way up. We had plenty of time but we decided to undercut the Horns, we had both traversed them on several previous excursions. We continued to the end of this path before starting the very steep descent down the southeast face of the horns. The constant jarring from jumping down rocks was hard on my hip, which I had injured running earlier in the week, and on the walkout along the well-made path my limp became noticeably worse, it was no good complaining, Mark normally waits for no one on the hills. But he did as we crossed the raging burn that cascades down Coire Mhic Nobail and then strolled through the beautiful but short copse of native forest to return to the car park. It was still only 4 p.m. and we still had the sheer pleasure of driving past Loch Torridon and then up the Glen to Kinlochewe. By 5 p.m. I had a pint of Orkney beer in hand at the Kinlochewe Hotel bar and my sore hip had slipped my memory.