July 2003

Introduction

When no other plans emerged for a summer mountain trip, with some misgivings I booked a week’s hillwalking with a guided group. The trip was organised by North-West Frontiers in Ullapool. We were to be based in Struy, at the bottom of Glen Strathfarrar, and hoped to enjoy what the brochure described as a “strenuous” walking holiday.

I have mostly walked the Scottish hills alone or with a friend. On the few occasions I’ve joined a group it has been either to learn new skills or, as on Skye, because I thought the technical difficulties were more than I could handle on my own. For me, there’s no doubt that having a guide/leader to take responsibility detracts from the mountain experience by reducing its intensity, and this has to be offset against any advantages – and this week there were advantages. Transfers to and from Inverness, and all the logistics of the week, were sorted for us, including the day we took a boat up Loch Mullardoch to save a long walk in. And with a guide who knew the area well we didn’t need to spend time route-finding, so we could move that much faster.

But I think the biggest advantage on this occasion was just being part of a group. These are big hills, and the approaches are long. We did some long and tiring days. I know that walking solo, morale can easily drop, and I’m sure I wouldn’t have achieved as much if I’d been walking alone or with just one other person. Coming down from Maoile Lunndaidh on Friday, knowing that once we reached the bridge by the loch we still had an hour and a quarter’s walk to get to Monar Lodge, the road, and the minibus, I thought how easy it would be to feel very lonely and isolated on one’s own in this vast scenery. So on balance, yes, this time at least it was better to have been part of a group.

Diary

So there we were, 8 punters – sorry, clients – and our guide. He was Ben Lowe* [see footnote], and we were, in alphabetical order, Ian, John, June, Ken, Mark, Sandra, Tom, and me. All of us were unrepentant Munro baggers – except Ken, who, it turned out, had climbed them all several times, along with everything else in Scotland that raises its top more than a metre or two above the surrounding landscape.

Munros in bold, tops in normal text. All grid references have prefix NH, and are on OS 1:50,000 series sheet number 25.

Sunday 27 July – Glen Affric

Tom a’ Choinich – Toll Creagach West Top – Toll Creagach.

Sunny and warm early on, showers developing later. Clear on the tops, with good views, except in the showers. Setting the pattern for the week, June led us off at a cracking pace with Sandra close behind. Today Mark clocked up his 50th Munro.

From CP by bridge at 215242 and return: 16km; 1110m; 5h03′

Monday 28 July – Glen Strathfarrar

Sgurr na Fearstaig – Sgurr Fhuar-Thuill – Creag Ghorm a’ Bhealaich – Sgurr a’ Choire-Ghlais – Carn nan Gobhar – Sgurr na Ruaidhe.

A good path up from the road in the glen, eventually sweeping round the head of the corrie to the col. Some steep descents and long trudgy ascents. Picked up a good path by the stream on the way down. White lichen shining like newly-painted waymarks on the rocks. Sgurr a’ Choire-Ghlais was my 100th Munro.

From junction at 223392 to junction at 283386: 17km; 1560m; 5h55′

Tuesday 29 July – Loch Mullardoch

An Scocach – An Riabhachan West Top – South-west Top – An Riabhachan – North-east Top – Sgurr na Lapaich – Carn nan Gobhar.

Danish Karl operates a boat up Loch Mullardoch during the summer until the stalking season: we all managed to squeeze in. A long climb up An Scocach to start, but a much better mountain than expected. An Riabhachan was Tom’s 200th Munro. By the time we got to Sgurr na Lapaich, most of us took just under half an hour to trudge up the steep grassy slope from the col to the top, but Ian raced ahead to be chased and overtaken by Ben. Could it be he felt his status as Mr Superfit was at stake? As we started the final climb of the day from the col below Carn nan Gobhar an eagle sailed effortlessly from the rocks near the summit above and disappeared over An Riabhachan.

Boat to landing at 141312, return to dam at 220316: 20km; 1740m; 8h13′

Wednesday 30 July – Glen Strathfarrar

Not an official rest day, but I declined an easier day with the group who headed for a local Corbett. Instead, I walked up Glen Strathfarrar taking photos. The rest of the gang were in the Cnoc Hotel bar when I got back there about 4 o’clock.

Thursday 31 July – Glen Affric

(Carn Eige) Sron Garbh – Stob a’ Choire Dhomnain – Carn Eige – Mam Sodhail – Mullach Cadha Rainich – Sgurr na Lapaich.

The weather had broken by today – damp, drizzly, and driech. We went into the cloud as we approached the col east of Sron Garbh, and stopped on this first top to put on all the clothes we had. On top of Carn Eige there was a brief debate about Beinn Fionnlaidh, 2km north. To include it meant a fair amount of extra ascent and descent, including an akle-twisting ascending traverse on steeply sloping ground to avoid re-climbing Eige before heading south to Mam Sodhail. Ben was non-comittal, and we wavered until it dawned on us it was already 2 o’clock. When we worked out that doing Fionnlaidh meant we wouldn’t be back at the hotel until 8 – 8.30, to Ian’s great digust and disappointment we decided to leave it for another time. Instead, we nabbed the two tops on Mam Sodhail’s ESE ridge.

From CP by bridge at NH215242 and return: 24km; 1420m; 8h03′

Friday 1 August – Loch Monar

Maoile Lunndaidh.

A long drive up Glen Strathfarrar to the roadhead at the dam, then an hour and a quarter’s walk along the lochside to the start of the climb. This “level” section adds 145m of ascent in each direction. Everyone felt tired today, and the climb, although easy and on a good path for much of the way, seemed especially hard going. Cloud hid the views at the summit, and we didn’t linger. The lochside walk out was made even more tedious by the worst midge attack of the week, but at least it kept us moving.

From dam at 203394 and return: 23km; 1100m; 6h34′

To summarise . . .

A good haul of Munros – 13 in the week, and a further 10 tops. We were a good group, unusually well-matched for ability and fitness, so we kept together and moved fast – most days! In the end, the week was uneventful, neither any mishaps nor any outstanding highlights. But the weather was mostly good, and the scenery, although too big for my small camera to do it justice, was impressive. The week certainly lived up to its “strenuous” billing!

Total ascent for the week – 6930m

Accommodation

Most of the group were staying at the Cnoc Hotel in Struy, and taking evening meals in the hotel restaurant. The hotel was full by the time I booked, so I stayed the first five nights at the Edmonds’ B&B at Carnoch Farm, joining the rest for the evening meal in the hotel. Thanks to John, Ken and Mark for lifts to and from the B&B. For the last two nights, the Cnoc had a wedding booked, so the group moved out to Carnoch Farm, and I shifted to the Glass Restaurant‘s B&B, also in Struy.

Carnoch Farm

About 5km from Struy on the road (A831) towards Cannich at GR 380360 (OS sheet 26). A friendly welcome and a comfortable, if small room – OK for a single but it would be a tight squeeze as a double. Other rooms are larger. More geared to fishing folk – the Edmonds own 2 miles of fishing on the Glass. Hillgoers are received with a slightly bemused tolerance.

Glass Restaurant and B&B

Here’s a surprising find! Douglas “Dougie” Brown is a trained chef who runs a classy – and not cheap – restaurant in out-of-the-way Struy, and has a few rooms which he lets out for B&B. All the food’s fresh and cooked to order, though sadly with the arrangement I had, I didn’t have a full meal there. 9 marks out of 10 for the breakfasts, though – porridge on request, fresh fruit and plenty of orange juice, and toast in whole slices not triangles. The cooked breakfasts looked good too. I’ve withheld the last mark because there was no wholemeal toast – “no demand”, according to Dougie.

My room was large and comfortable, though basically furnished (no hanging space, only drawers). There’s one en-suite room. But over-riding everything was the friendliness of the welcome from Dougie and his helpers: the invariable answer to any request was “No problem!”. The place is open about 7 months of the year. It’ll help avoid confusion to know that if the restaurant’s web-site is still showing a picture of an older, bearded man smiling at you over the bar, that’s not Dougie but the last owner but one! [Update, August 2015: Dougie has left the Glass Restaurant to start a new venture, The Letterbox in Newtonmore. The Glass Restaurant is now part of the Struy Inn.]

Cnoc Hotel

Although I didn’t stay here and only ate in the restaurant, my impression was of a welcoming and professionally run hotel. The evening meals were good: the only serious criticism being that the menu hardly changed all week. Perhaps their patrons don’t often stay for more than a day or two. For “strenuous” hillwalkers, an occasional pasta dish would have been welcome. Halibut appeared as a special towards the end of the week, but for an area where fishing is a significant activity and source of income, fish dishes were notable by their absence, although the seafood platter starter was consistently popular. The hotel also offers bar meals.

Links

The Glen Affric and Strathglass website is an excellent place to start for information on this area. All three places mentioned in the accommodation section are in here. The Cnoc Hotel has its own website too.

The North-West Frontiers website is here.

*Footnote, 2015 – Ben Lowe

Sadly, Ben Lowe died far too young in March 2015.