KYQ4: Sgurr Ruadh

Fuar Tholl from the Path to Coire Lair

Thursday 19 September 2024

Ascent: 1022 metres
Distance: 19 kilometres
Time: 7 hours 24 minutes

Sgorr Ruadh 962m 4hrs 26 mins

It was a late start, we had both walked until the late evening the day before and Anna had only arrived at the house at 11pm. We spent the morning over a lazy breakfast and getting to know each other before sorting ourselves for the walk. We started out at 11:30am for the 30-minute drive to Achnashellach. It was another miraculously perfect day as we set out to cross the railway line and begin the walk through the Caledonian pines and gurgling burn that makes Coire Lair one of my favourite walks. I had been warned by Anna that there would be lots of stops for photos. Drifting off the path to admire a waterfall or rock formation was a rare pleasure. We chatted with a couple of mountain bikers descending the steep rocky path that had etched its way into the bedrock. We eventually reached the junction where one path led to Beinn Liath Mhor Ridge, one headed west across the burn to Fuar Tholl, and another went into Coire Lair.

Today, we took the latter path because Anna had only one of the Munros to climb. It allowed us to imbibe the scenery and dawdle along enjoying the architecture of nature that enclosed the corrie. It was another 5 kilometres to the lochan at 650 metres which is the start of the Sgorr Ruadh ascent. We stopped for a very late lunch. Two women had been bathing just before we arrived and they came over and chatted for a while. A different sort of conversation that would never have happened if I had been with male friends. The number of women on the hills is one of the most significant changes to hillwalking since the 1980s. The two women had decided it was too late to climb Sgorr Ruadh having had a reinvigorating swim after climbing Beinn Liath Mhor.

We bade them farewell and headed up the slope towards Sgorr Ruadh. We soon found the path that eased upwards before reaching a flatter section. There is a slightly higher ledge in the opposite direction from the summit, it provides a balcony view to eulogise at the views of Liathach and Beinn Eighe. It is one of my favourite views of the Scottish mountains and has been the photo for my blog banner since my last visit on a February day 10 years ago. Having explained this, I was urged to pose for photos, something I normally avoid but there was no sense arguing with Anna. At least she didn't have her SLR and her iPhone seemed less threatening, that was before I saw what she could do with a sharp lens and a sharper eye.

It was 5pm by the time we emerged at the summit, the golden hour according to Anna. Time for more photos so we dallied on the summit for quite a while absorbing the splendid views. The warm rays of the sun were cancelling out the evening chilling of the air. There are very few days or places on the Scottish hills as good as this. Eventually, we began the descent of 300 metres to Loch a' Bhealaich Mhoir. The massive face of Fuar Tholl was tempting but the light was fading, our timing had been perfect for photos but would result in us finishing the walk in the dark before arriving back at Achnashellach. We found our way across some burns and boggy ground to eventually join the 3-kilometre path that leads back to the junction of paths at 360 metres.

Crossing the rushing burn to regain the main path in dimming light was possible with walking poles and steady feet before the final couple of kilometres down the rocky path. Anna's headtorch was needed for the final section through the forest and we were down just after 8pm, We could have been a fair bit quicker but we had enjoyed every frame of the walk with a couple of long stops and lots of time to be inspired by the very best of mountain scenery.