Sunday, 14 May 2023
Scotland 2023: Kinlochewe and the Torridon Hills
The SWC is pleased to announce Scotland 2023 will be based in the small remote village of Kinlochewe conveniently located to explore the Torridon Hills from 14 May 2023 to 21 May 2023. We have secured some group accommodation in a large lodge and some nearby chalets. For more information on the walking in the area, see Torridon walks - includes Shieldaig and Kinlochewe (Walkhighlands). For further information on the trip or to inquire on availability in the group accommodation, contact goepfertkarenATyahooDOTcom.
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BBC iplayer has a nature doc, A Highland Haven, filmed entirely in the area around Kinlochewe. It's fairly slow but those going there might be interested to see the landscape
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00p9210/natural-world-20092010-6-a-highland-haven
It looks beautiful - with some dramatic mountains. The opening comments about the weather are worth noting, however!!
Interested in this. I've been in this area before. Think I have been up Beinn Alligin. Stayed at Gairloch.
Update after Day 1 from Kinlochewe Lodge
After 3 short term cancellations, 32 SWCers are here, in the Lodge and in a few chalets. A record high attendance, we believe.
With the forecast being for a possibility of snow and hail on the tops until noon, combined with sub-zero temps (when including wind-chill), the demand was for mid-level walks or high level ones with a long walk-in and short-ish time spent at high level.
Step forward Slioch, our 'house Munro', visible from the dining room windows and the Mountain Trail from the SNH Visitor Centre down the road.
2 walkers did their own thing.
16 walked the mountain trail, which is well waymarked and is a proper mid-level expedition. It exposed variations in fitness levels just as a normal mountain walk, but everyone came down in one piece.
The 14 Slioch walkers experienced an SWC-trip first, with 1 walker getting injured before even leaving the Lodge, while stuffing his backpack (don't ask). A splint for the disjointed finger was concocted and off we went. 1 1/2 hours of walk-in followed, beautiful at that along the Kinlochewe River, with lots of broom and gorse in flower and loads of old characterful alders, as well as a few cuckoos in earshot.
Then follows a 3 hour ascent (with breaks) from 35m above sea to the summit at 986m. There was a 25 minutes spell of rain, but mostly it was sunny or we had passing clouds. Rain fronts were seen to the south and later to the north, but we never got any more precipitation.
Views were magnificent from the top with its two summits and we quickly moved on due to the fierce wind, on along the crescent ridge to a subsidiary top and then down steeply back to the outbound route.
At the point where the pathless descent rejoined a proper (if initially steep) path, 4 followed a more adventurous descent along a steep stream, leading into a beautiful valley, while the other 10 retraced the outbound route.
Faster walkers then sped ahead, with the group returning to KLE in trickles from 18.30 onwards.
N=32 in weather w=mostly-sunny-or-overcast
Day 3
Dry weather to lunch then clouds rolling in with increasing risk of rain, that was the forecast.
The mountain walk chosen for this scenario was Beinn Alligin, with its steep immediate ascent to the first Munro, which might just be reached before low clouds roll in. An option would then be to continue to the 2nd Munro along the ridge and even over the Horns of Alligin, with their rewarding scrambling opportunities. The latter only in dry weather though.
Seeing that several mountain experienced walkers were doing this option gave the scramble-keen walkers the opportunity to reverse the walk and do the scrambly Horns early on, while still in the dry. So, we split 13 up the Munro, clockwise, and 7 anti-clockwise to the Horns.
After 2 3/4 hours we got to the base of the Horns, where 2 followed the chicken path, 3 went over 1 of the Horns then took up the chicken path and 2 went over all 3 Horns.
Lunch on the saddle between Horns and Sgurr Mor, with fantastic views across to Baosbheinn, Slioch and The Great Wilderness, while out of the wind.
Up onto the Munros, where we had low cloud and no views and drizzle started to develop, which then turned to rain.
The main, out-and-back group got up and down Tom na Gruagaich before the clouds moved in, and their faster contingent finished before the rain started.
10 others walked a short walk around the Lochs Clair and Coulin, and after lunch drove to Gairloch for a nosey.
2 took a day off for feeling tired or sniffly.
Everyone back early at the Lodge and Chalets.
Cuckoo Count: 2
Ptarmigan Count: 1 (heard but not seen, unfortunately)
p.s.: special shout-out to Jimmy, who we bumped into on Tom na Gruagaich (we had seen him on Slioch as well, 2 days ago), while he was doing weighted squats and star jumps, in walking boots and full gear and backpack. Turned out he is preparing for his first serious boxing bout this Sunday by power-walking up Torridonian Hills and swimming in the Loch. You gotta love that, surely?
Day 4
Low clouds all day with very low chance of views from any tops, that was the forecast.
Consequently an array of medium height or coastal walks were offered.
15 drove to Lower Diabaig and did a circular walk from there, broadly along the coast but mostly at a remove, with quite a bit of up and down and some challenging paths, and then back inland along the road across the pass. The road bit was mostly cut out by hitchhiking back and fetching one of the cars though. Rain only towards the end.
2 got dropped off at Loch Clair and walked past it and Loch Coulin and the following waterfall (Easan Dorcha) and back to KLE along forest tracks and over a minor hill, with some challenging paths.
2 walked the Loch Clair/Loch Coulin loop walk.
5 walked either the waymarked Mountain Trail or the Woodland Trail from the SNH Centre on Loch Maree. 2 of those then went swimming in the Loch!
7 walked a circular walk (2 of the 7 did a short out-and-back version) from the Lodge up along the Bruachaig River and then the Glenn Muice to Lochan Fada, beautiful and lonely between high mountains, with shingle beaches framing alpine vistas. This had good tracks and paths up to the Lochan, then the feared crossing of the outflow, which by luck and judgment we all managed without shipping water. Follow a rougher path rising up above a tight rocky gorge, presenting very fine views back down to the Lochan and on down the following valley. Which had waterfalls, cascades and more scenic gorges. This led to the outbound route of the Slioch walk and back to KLE. On this stretch we bumped into 1 other SWC walker, who had done her own shorter version of the walk. The clouds seemed static at about 700m above sea level, so we were never in them, but we did get some spray on the descent. Not enough to get the waterproof jackets out though.
Cuckoo Count: 11! (if not more: on the outbound route, sometimes they were so close after each other that I deducted it might be just an echo of a bird passed a few minutes earlier and did not count those)
Everyone home and dry early therefore, which is just as well, as tomorrow will be the best weather day of the trip and a Big Walk is looming.
Day 5
Forecast weather was for dryness and initially sunny with high clouds moving in later. And that's how it turned out.
10 drove out to the Torridon Inn and walked up Beinn Damh, without incident, but fine views and a post walk break at the Inn.
13 did the classic walk up to the Corrie at the back of Beinn Eighe, with its stunning cirque, Loch and the Triple Buttress.
5 drove all the way to Shieldaig for a couple of short walks and a stop at the pub.
1 took a day off with a cold.
3 conquered Liathach, a long ridge lining the Glen, with several minor hills on the ridge plus 2 Munros and a long Grade 2 scrambling stretch. 1 took the chicken path to avoid the scrambling which is very exposed. 2 took in the optional Munro Top of Stuc a' Choire Dhuibh Bhig and all the scrambling. This was technically not much different from the Grade 1 scrambling on Beinn Alligin, but almost all of it was exposed on two sides, which focuses the mind immensely. Very enjoyable and with stunning views. From the 2nd Munro, it's then 1,000 metres downhill in one go to the road. That was the toughest bit.
Cuckoo Count: 3
Mountain Goat Count: 1 (on the 2nd Munro, completely nonplussed about our appearance)
Mountain Rescue Helicopter going down the glen: 1 (that was before we knew that walker 3 was savely off the exposed path)
Military Transport Plane going up the glen: 1 (1st plane ever that I was above of)
I probably can't put a link to a YouTube video in these comments, but if you search for "Is this the scariest path in Scotland?" on YouTube there is a video of someone doing this ridge who also takes the "chicken path". Based on this, and from my safe desk chair in London, I would say the person who did that option today was the most courageous of the lot...
I am also reminded of a comment from a Russian play we went to see once: "You can't be both brave and smart: you have to choose one or the other". I think the three walkers who did this ridge today were very brave !!!
Just in case the link does work, here it is....
https://youtu.be/hb0LXzY0Kq4
The link works... mixed thanks! Vertigo-inducing just watching.
Day 6
The forecast was for low clouds all day with increasing risk of rain as the day progresses. That's how it turned out.
As has become customary on these trips, on the last day punters want to do some sightseeing, walks that they missed early in the week or just rest. Therefore there were trips to Ullapool (boat trip and viewpoints), Ben Wyvis NNR (butterflies), a local short walk followed by a visit to the SNH Visitor Centre and it's displays and videos and a trip to the famous Inverewe Gardens. There were also 3 people doing a walk.
1 walked the Mountain Trail from the SNH Visitor Centre.
2 walked Beinn an Eoin from the road to Gairloch. This was (as hoped) a brilliant little walk (21 km and 850m ascent on an out-and-back), with a scenic walk-in along an undulating estate track through an area of Caledonian Pine Forest Restoration, followed by a short steep ascent onto the 4 km long ridge. This provided for good walking and stunning views to the left to Loch Maree, Slioch and across Fisherfield to An Teallach, and on the right to Baosbheinn, Beinn Alligin, Liathach and onwards to Beinn Eighe. There was a lot of high cloud, some sun, clouds were rolling picturesquely over the higher ridges of neighbouring mountains and a fair wind was blowing us around. Perfect.
Some rain started on the descent, on and off it stayed with us to the end.
Day 2 (belated report)
The forecast was for a wet start to the day which may or may not improve. It did improve.
The correspondent went to Inverness for a checkup at A&E, while various walks avoiding high ground were walked, details of which are lost in the mist of times.
All in then, not much rain, not much sunshine, quite a bit of low clouds, ie average Scottish walking weather. Multiple walk options every day, with low attendances for strenuous walks though.
Accommodation, location, organisation, catering: very good, with room for improvement maybe on committing to an activity the night before so that the morning takes off smoothly and without delay.
Group spirit and 'everybody chipping in' factor: pretty good.
On the downside, only 2 small walking related injuries, both falls on a path on the descent at the end of walks, one though leading to a nasty hit to the nose.
But also 2 strong contenders for the daftest injury ever on a walking holiday: the already documented ruptured tendon in a finger suffered while stuffing the backpack before even leaving the house (this injury most commonly happens when people change bedsheets, apparently).
Or the guy who got hit on the nose by the lowering boom of a car barrier at Inverness Airport, just after arrival in Bonny Scotland. Take your pick.
Thanks all for a great trip. Day 2 Sandy led two walks sheildag Peninsular.... Very beautiful,sea urchins, crustaceans, clear water. 2nd walk further along loch Torridon around Balgy. (Not sure of the spelling!)
On my extra day spent in Inverness I went dolphin spotting...bottlenose , very large.
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