Torridon

13-15 September 2024

7 of us went to Torridon and stayed in the Torridon Hostel: Steve, Ruth, Chris, Ken, Bill, John and Bob. The weather forecast for the weekend was a bit mixed, and the most promising day was Friday, so everyone headed west early to make the most of the trip.

John had a successful but long day doing the 4 Munros in Strathfarrar, made even longer by having to cycle in from the locked gate. There was even some fresh snow on the tops.

Steve and Ruth did it in style and stayed in a hotel on Thursday night and then had an excellent day on Slioch.

Ken and Chris climbed the Corbett Beinn Liath Mhor a' Ghiubhais Li on the west side of Loch Glascarnoch. Although cloudy it remained dry throughout the walk. There was an excellent view towards Beinn Dearg as well as the Fannichs and An Teallach to the west.

Bob and Bill did the Corbett Fuar Tholl in Glen Carron.

We all arrived at the hostel in Torridon at various times on Friday evening. I’d not been to the Torridon Inn for years and was aware that it had gone up market. Some of us decided we’d go and see if we could still get a pint and a meal in the bar, however any thoughts of that were soon dispelled when we were met on arrival by a very smartly dressed maitre d’ standing at a lectern with a full list of all the table bookings for the evening. Fortunately we’d got a fall back option of getting some of the frozen meals available at the hostel, and these turned out to be very good.

The forecast for Saturday was grim – rain and gale force winds, so a low level walk was chosen. 5 of us did a walk from the Torridon Inn along the edge of Upper Loch Torridon to Balgy and then inland to Loch Damh and back. Steve and Ruth did a shorter version of the same walk. Coffee and cake in the café in Torridon village was a good option for the rest of the day.

On Saturday evening we had a very good communal meal in the pleasant surrounds of the hostel, with different courses provided by different people and volunteers to do the washing up.

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The weather forecast for Sunday improved a bit but was not great, particularly on the west side of the country. Steve and Ruth decided to head home, and a variety of hills were done some west and some further east by the rest of us.

On Sunday Ken and Chris decided to stay in Glen Torridon to climb the Corbetts Sgurr nan Lochan Uaine and Sgurr Dubh. The day turned out to be a bit of an epic! Throughout the walk it was blustery with persistent and at times torrential rain. There were also a few navigational challenges due to the mist and knolly terrain especially at the col. The descent from Sgurr Dubh was very steep and great care was needed to pick a way through the banks of cliffs. At one particularly steep section it was necessary to just stay put as a very wet and windy squall passed through. Apart from the main approach path much of the ground was saturated. On the summit of Sgurr Dubh the clouds parted for a few seconds to reveal Beinn Eighe and Liatach. After the walk Chris reviewed the route description in the Cicerone Corbett book which made interesting reading. It states "The ridge between Sgurr nan Lochan Uaine and Sgurr Dubh is complex with many small lochans and small ridges covered with unmapped crags. Navigation in mist could make the hard going even harder as it would be impossible to spot the easiest route through the terrain. This route should only be attempted in clear conditions. Walkers need to be competent at route finding even in good conditions".

John headed east, but maybe not quite far enough east ? - Sun and squelch heading up Beinn a’Chaorainn, but good views over to Loch Treig. Tops were in cloud, didn’t see much from the ridge, northerly compass bearing to find the route over Beinn a’Chaorainn, grassy slopes down to a muddy bealach and then up to climb Beinn Teallach southwards with increasing wind and rain. Heavier rain, lots of squelch and a river crossing to finish, good to dry out on the drive home.