Today I planned to make an assault on the mighty Beinn Eighe - and what a glorious day it was. The sun was blazing down from the glorious blue sky and there wasn't a single cloud to be seen - it certainly looked like it was going to be a hot one!
After making sure the kids had plenty of water and suncream, we set off along the road to the nearby Beinn Eighe car park, opposite Lochan an Iasgair. James and I left the kids to faff around and gear up, while we made the short drive further along the road to leave the minibus at the end of our route: the car park near the small square of trees at the base of the Allt Coire an Laoigh, opposite Loch Bharranch. With the minibus left there safely, we headed back to the group at the main car park. We set off along the good path around the base of Stuc a' Choire Dhuibh Bhig and headed into Coire Dubh Mor.
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| Heading round into the Coire Dubh Mor, Torridon |
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| Heading through Coire Dubh Mor, Torridon |
It was hot... and there was hardly any movement in the air. Still without a cloud in the sky, we looked up from one side to the other at the Torridon giants of Beinn Eighe and Liathach. The kids were setting a blistering pace yet again and we were soon at the fork in the path, where we paused to take off some more layers, consume more liquid and admire the stunning view through the Torridon Forest to Beinn Alligin and Beinn Dearg; a truly breathtaking sight.
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| Liathach (left) and Beinn Alligin (right) from Coire Dubh Mor, Torridon |
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| Heading around the base of Sail Mhor, Beinn Eighe, Torridon |
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| Approaching the entrance to Coire Mhic Fhearchair, Beinn Eighe |
We took a right and contoured around the base of Sail Mhor towards the entrance to Coire Mhic Fhearchair. Just below the 'lip' of the corrie entrance, I stopped the group and built up what they were about to see and I talked a little about the
Lancaster crash in 1951. We continued up the steps at the side of the waterfall and the most amazing setting lay before us: Triple Buttress. We could see that the group were genuinely excited by it, which was really nice to see. We sat on the slabs at the Northwest corner of Loch Coire Mhic Fhearchair and had our lunch - what an amazing place to be on such a glorious day. As we sat there, I was able to look up and spot the ascent route that lay before us. In the guides I had read, it was suggested that from the corrie the path headed up from the Southeast corner of the loch and followed the smaller lochans up to the col between Ruadh-stac Mor and Coinneach Mhor. But as we looked up at the route I saw that it looked really quite steep and eroded in the corner going up to the col. I didn't like the look of it at all so I decided instead that we should head straight up the side of Ruadh-stac Mor; taking a more direct line of ascent.
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| Coire Mhic Fhearchair, Beinn Eighe |
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| Ruadh-stac Mor high above Coire Mhic Fhearchair, Beinn Eighe |
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| The magnificent Triple Buttress in Coire Mhic Fearchair, Beinn Eighe |
After lunch we began to pick our way slowly through the broken terrain and boulder field towards the steeper slopes that led the way to the summit of the towering Ruadh-stac Mor. I told everyone that it was best that they all went at their own pace up the slope and we would re-group at the top. I also gave them a quick demo of how to zig-zag up the slope and make it a little easier for themselves. It was a tough slog in the heat but the kids did amazing and we were at the top of the steep slope in no time at all. To my astonishment, the view back down to the corrie and through the Torridon Forest was even more spectacular - what a place. From here, the summit was a short walk away so we dumped our bags and headed for the top to admire the views in every direction.
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| Heading up the steep sides of Ruadh-stac Mor, Beinn Eighe |
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| Looking down on Coire Mhic Fhearchair from Ruadh-stac Mor, Beinn Eighe |
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| Tripple Buttress and Sail Mhor from the side of Ruadh-stac Mor above Coire Mhic Fhearchair, Beinn Eighe |
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| Approaching the top of Ruadh-stac Mor, Beinn Eighe |
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| Beinn Alligin, Beinn Dearg and Baosbheinn from Ruadh-stac Mor, Beinn Eighe |
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| Meall a' Ghiuthais from the summit of Ruadh-stac Mor, Beinn Eighe |
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| Enjoying the view from the summit of Ruadh-stac Mor, Beinn Eighe |
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| The group on the summit of Ruadh-stac Mor, Beinn Eighe |
After a good few pictures we collected our bags and headed down to the col and began the climb up towards the grassy slopes of Coinneach Mhor. I decided not to go to the top, as I wanted to get up Spidean Coire nan Clach and time was pushing on. Instead we paused at the bottom of the slope to admire the view of Liathach in all it's glory.
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| Heading along the ridge from Ruadh-stac Mor towards Coinneach Mhor, Beinn Eighe |
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| Heading along the ridge towards Spidean Coire nan Clach, Beinn Eighe |
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| Liathach from Beinn Eighe, Torridon |
We pushed on and the wide grassy slopes soon became a narrow rocky ridge. But the conditions could not have been better and apart from a couple of tricky steps, the summit of Spidean Coire nan Clach was easily reached. The kids coped brilliantly with the situation and exposure - it had worked well with the progression from
Sgorr Ruadh and then
Beinn Alligin.
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| Heading along the ridge towards Spidean Coire nan Clach, Beinn Eighe |
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| Heading along the ridge towards Spidean Coire nan Clach, Beinn Eighe |
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| Heading along the ridge towards Spidean Coire nan Clach, Beinn Eighe |
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| Heading along the ridge towards Spidean Coire nan Clach, Beinn Eighe |
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| Looking back along the ridge towards Liathach and Coinneach Mhor from the summit of Spidean Coire nan Clach, Beinn Eighe |
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| Enjoying the view to the South from the summit of Spidean Coire nan Clach, Beinn Eighe |
After enjoying the views from the second Munro of the day, we headed back along the ridge and down the heavily eroded path down into Coire an Laoigh. I was quite shocked at the erosion and I made sure that everyone stuck to the main path to avoid any further damage.
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| The group descending into Coire an Laoigh, Beinn Eighe |
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| The group descending into Coire an Laoigh, Beinn Eighe |
As we descended down into the corrie, we came across a random loan red deer grazing at the side of the path. It looked very old and rather ragged to say the least! All the kids stopped to take pictures of it and it wasn't bothered in the slightest that we were only standing a few feet away - it was quite possibly demented! We continued to wind our way down the excellent path following the Allt Coire an Laoigh. It was tough going on the knees after a long day but we were soon all down safely at the minibus.
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| The group descending into Coire an Laoigh (and a Red Deer!), Beinn Eighe |
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| Random Red Deer in Coire an Laoigh, Beinn Eighe |
We were all shattered and frazzled but absolutely buzzing after the amazing day we had just experienced. We had been building up to today as the ultimate goal over the past 9 days. Today had worked out perfectly and James and I were over the moon that we had been able to give that experience to the kids and we knew it would be something that they would never forget. One of the best days on the hill so far - amazing...
