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| Sgurr an Utha from Drum na Brein-choille |
Thursday 4 May 2017
Ascent: 747 metres
Distance: 8 kilometres
Time: 3 hours 1 minute
Sgurr an Utha 797m 1hr 50mins
At last a dry spell of weather with a high pressure over Scandinavia giving Scotland blue skies, low humidity and a chilling easterly wind. These are the best of walking conditions so John and I arranged to travel to Morar to climb two of the remotest Corbetts after each of us had climbed separate remaining Corbetts as an aperitif. I dropped John below Braigh nan Uamhachan, next to Gulvain, and drove on for an extra 6 miles to Sgurr na Utha. I had passed the steam train travelling to Mallaig from Fort William just before dropping John so when I parked at the top of the incline at Cross beyond Glenfinnan, I walked down to the railway line to take some photos of the locomotive as it steamed up the incline. I was soon joined by a photography boffin from Bolton who was on a 3-month post-retirement tour of Scotland.
The locomotive had stopped and then must have lost steam at Glenfinnan so we had to wait about 40 minutes before the distinctive sound of the Stanier Black Five locomotive echoed up the glen. It was almost noon before I grabbed my rucksack for the short excursion up Sgurr an Utha, The track that begins just east of the bridge at Cross rises steeply and after about a kilometre forks to the right and climbs up to 500 metres. From here it is a pleasant climb upwards at first and then along a knolly ridge before the final climb to Sgurr nan Utha. There were splendid vistas back to Ben Nevis across Loch Eil and, as I alighted on the final ridge, the Glenfinnan Munros and Streap were impressive peaks. Knoydart, Skye and Rum were all visible and the nearby Loch Beoraid shone an azure blue.
I had made reasonable time on the ascent and gave myself 15 minutes to enjoy the views and take a few nibbles. I had arranged to meet John at 4pm so began the descent just after 2pm and took a direct line back to the track. It was a surprisingly easy descent over grass with only a few outcrops to avoid. The track took me down quickly and I was back at the car park where a couple of Highland Council road workers had coned off my car in the new car park. They were about to seed the land alongside but more ominous was a tar machine standing by to presumably put the final layer of tar where my car was standing.
The steam train rattled past on its return from Mallaig, almost freewheeling down the incline. I drove down to the junction with the A861 to collect John but I was early so sat in the sun for half an hour. We then drove to Neptune's Staircase on the Caledonian Canal at Banavie where we met Keith Adams. He was nearing completion of his third round of corbetts to add to almost five rounds of Munros and four rounds of tops. The remote Loch Arkaig duo of Corbetts, Carn More and Bidean a' Chabhair, were his main remaining obstacle.
We had an early tea at the Bar/restaurant by the canal before setting off on the long single track road to Loch Arkaig. It was a doubly difficult journey as the Scottish motorbike trails were taking place by Loch Treig and dozens of bikers were heading towards us at speed on the single track road. Then we had the arduous 13 miles of the single track roller coaster up the length of Arkaig. We packed our rucksacks and at about 8pm began the 5-kilometre walk to the A'Chuil bothy so we would be ready for an early start in the morning. The bothy was closed because a party of volunteers were restoring it, so it was as well that we had taken tents. It was a warm night and too early in the season for the midges to have emerged.
I had made reasonable time on the ascent and gave myself 15 minutes to enjoy the views and take a few nibbles. I had arranged to meet John at 4pm so began the descent just after 2pm and took a direct line back to the track. It was a surprisingly easy descent over grass with only a few outcrops to avoid. The track took me down quickly and I was back at the car park where a couple of Highland Council road workers had coned off my car in the new car park. They were about to seed the land alongside but more ominous was a tar machine standing by to presumably put the final layer of tar where my car was standing.
The steam train rattled past on its return from Mallaig, almost freewheeling down the incline. I drove down to the junction with the A861 to collect John but I was early so sat in the sun for half an hour. We then drove to Neptune's Staircase on the Caledonian Canal at Banavie where we met Keith Adams. He was nearing completion of his third round of corbetts to add to almost five rounds of Munros and four rounds of tops. The remote Loch Arkaig duo of Corbetts, Carn More and Bidean a' Chabhair, were his main remaining obstacle.
We had an early tea at the Bar/restaurant by the canal before setting off on the long single track road to Loch Arkaig. It was a doubly difficult journey as the Scottish motorbike trails were taking place by Loch Treig and dozens of bikers were heading towards us at speed on the single track road. Then we had the arduous 13 miles of the single track roller coaster up the length of Arkaig. We packed our rucksacks and at about 8pm began the 5-kilometre walk to the A'Chuil bothy so we would be ready for an early start in the morning. The bothy was closed because a party of volunteers were restoring it, so it was as well that we had taken tents. It was a warm night and too early in the season for the midges to have emerged.
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| Ben Nevis over Loch Eil |
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| Sgurr Thuilm and Streap from the summit |
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| Route down |
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| Loch Beoraid from the summit |
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| Knoydart and Skye from the summit |
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| Black Five approaching Cross summit |
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| Ben Nevis |
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