KYQ4: Beinn Dearg (Torridon) Last Corbett

The Final Corbett

Bein Dearg and Stuc Loch na Cabhaig from the south ridge

Route Map

Friday 3 June 2022

Ascent: 970 metres
Distance: 17 kilometres
Time: 5 hours 31 minutes

Stuc Loch na Cabhaig 889m 2hrs 19mins
Beinn Dearg 914m 2hrs 40mins

This was the long-awaited attempt to finish the Corbetts on Beinn Dearg, the highest Corbett at 914 metres. The impressive Beinn Dearg hides its rugged Torridonian beauty behind Liathach and Beinn Alligin. It was a mountain that had inspired me in 1989 when I started bagging Munros and I was disappointed to find that it had been demoted from Munro status by a surveyor's measure of just 20 centimetres. When I retired I decided to complete the Corbetts and attempt another Munro Round. Corbetts had always been an occasional appendage to climbing Munros, apart from the classics like Foinaven and Arkle, the Arran hills and local hills like Ben Ledi and the Cobbler that were regular outings long before 1989.

I had arranged for my most regular walking partners to accompany me and it would require an early start for the drive to Torridon, I had arranged to stay at a cottage in Achnore on Loch Carron. Keith, my old hill running partner, arrived at 7:30am, he would be completing his fifth round of Munros on Skye, and that would be our second objective of a three or four-day trip. John and Gregor arrived on Thursday evening to complete the party and we shoehorned ourselves and the usual bags of walking equipment and food into my car. The weather forecast was perfect for the next four days although the journey as far as Dalwhinnie was in the early morning cloud. By Aviemore, we were in the sunshine and we stopped at the Tarvie cafe just before Garve, a locally run roadside halt that sells coffee and snacks at reasonable prices.

We made it to the start of the walk by the bridge over the Abhainn Coire Mhic Nobuil by 12:30pm. The car park was full, something I had never witnessed in 7 or 8 previous visits. It was the bank holiday for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and ideal walking conditions provided a good excuse to escape the wall to wall coverage. With SUVs and camper vans so much more evident nowadays, the capacity of car parks is much reduced. We squeezed into a place a hundred metres back along the verge behind a row of other cars that had been forced out of the car park.

I had been warned that the steep climb to Beinn Dearg and the tricky south ridge made it one of the harder Corbetts but the experienced company and weather allayed any worries. We reached 450 metres at the top of the path that follows the gap between the Horns of Alligin and Beinn Dearg and stopped for some food before starting the 400-metre relentlessly steep slopes to Stuc Loch na Cabhaig, the northern top of Beinn Dearg. The views of Liathach, Beinn Alligin and the Flowerdale Forest were mightily impressive. We dallied for a while, days like this are for savouring and time was on our side.

It is an easy walk over to the summit, a drop of 70 metres to a bealach and a climb of 100 metres with Liathach, my favourite Munro, providing the backcloth. The flattish summit was bathed in the warm June sunshine, a few photos were taken and we spent 15 minutes before Gregor set off to retrace the ascent route and climb Beinn Alligin via the Horns. Keith returned that way to the path a few minutes later to look for the sunglasses that he had lost on the ascent.

John and I continued along the south ridge towards Beinn Eighe to sample the grade 5 scramble down three chimneys. In the warmth of the day, they provided pleasant exercise. I had wanted to continue to the end of the ridge at Carn na Feola but John was not keen, so after passing the steepest rocky slopes we found our way down the flank of the hill alongside a burn, it probably would have been easier to have continued to Carn na Feola to find a less leg jarring descent. We arrived at the good path that runs alongside the burn around the back of Liathach, I had used it twice before after climbing Liathach in order to reach Beinn Eighe and the magnificent Triple Buttress in Coire Mhic Fhearchair. This time it was in the opposite direction, a 5-kilometre walk back alongside the rippling burns and waterfalls on the Abhainn Coire Mhic Nobaill. We met Keith at the confluence of the two paths, unfortunately, he had not found his sunglasses. We arrived back at the car exactly as Gregor ran over the bridge having completed the Horns of Alligin and the two Munros since he ran off the summit of Beinn Dearg.

It was approaching 7pm and we had a 90-minute journey to the cottage at Achmore on Loch Carron. We attempted to get a meal at Lochcarron but the hotel bar was stowed out so we returned to cook some food. Gregor, Keith and I celebrated completing the 224 Corbetts with a beer. We would be having a long day on the Cuillin Ridge tomorrow and agreed to make an 8 a.m. start.