2000

Beinn Eighe. Quite a few times before – when passing through Glen Torridon – I had seen its scree flanks and had wondered what the northern corries of that giant hill might look like. Now in the late morning of a beautifully sunny late September day Stephanie dropped me off at the car park close to where the Allt Coire an Anmoich crosses the road from Torridon village to Kinlochewe. Vigourously I walked up the well-maintained path into Coire Dubh Mor from where – after an hour of walking – I caught my life’s first glimpse of the Pinnacle Ridge of Liathach’s Meall Dearg. Wow! Soon I reached the fork of the path and continued around the steep flank of Sail Mhor to the entrance of Coire Mhic Fhearchair. The Tripple Buttress is so beautiful from Loch Coire Mhic Fhearchair – I paused and marvelled at it. What a corrie!! Soon I had made my way around the loch and started the ascent of the south eastern corner of Coire Mhic Fhearchair where a succession of pools makes for interesting walking. Once above the pools I started the slog up the scree gully during which I met a friendly group of hillwalkers on their way down from Beinn Eighe. When I had reached the bealach I continued to the summit of Ruadh-stac Mor. I took in the views over the plateau stretching out to the north with remote Baosbeinn and its neighbour Beinn an Eoin being just two of the interesting hills protruding from that flat area of high land bordering Loch Maree. Alas, I had to go on since time was scarce: Stephanie was to pick me up from the car park in Glen Torridon in three hours time and I wanted to see more of this grand hill. So back I went to the bealach above Coire Mhic Fearchair and further on to the plateau of Coinneach Mhor. Turning eastward along the main ridge of the hill the bouldery crest, with the rock changing from quartzite to red sandstone and back, soon took me to Spidean Coire nan Clach – the second munro of the day. Again I paused and looking over the vast expanse of Corrie Ruadh Staca I took in the views of Ruadh-stac Mor where I had been a little more than an hour ago and which looked so distant from here. In the other direction the continuation of the ridge to Sgurr Ban and Sgurr nan Fhir Duibhe looked very intersting and rocky. But the day was comming to a close so I turned round and went back along the ridge for a few hundred metres and then walked down the steep path into Coire an Laoigh which brought me back to Glen Torridon at five o’clock. From the plantation at the end of this path I walked back to the car park along the road and Stephanie and Fiona picked me up after I had had some time to look at the corrie of the hundred hillocks on the opposite side of the glen. Beinn Eighe is certainly worth another visit – its eastern parts or the cliffs of Sail Mhor call for another day spent leisurely on this beautiful Torridonian giant. This hill is second to none in Torridon and is only equalled by Liathach who has a very different albeit fascinating almost alpine character.

1991

Start an einem teilweise bewölktem Tag. Langer aber schöner Anmarsch durch das Tal zwischen Beinn Eighe und Liathach. Nach kurzem Aufstieg, auf dem Wrackteile eines vor langem abgestürztem Flugzeugs zu sehen waren – befanden wir uns im wunderschönen Kessel mit den Triple Buttress. Hier rasteten wir um anschließend den Kamin mit sehr brüchigem Gestein zu besteigen. Oben auf dem Bealach trafen wir einen Fotografen, der mit einer Mittelformatkamera auf besseres Wetter wartete. Wir bestiegen den Ruadh Stac Mor. Anschließend Weg zurück und auf den Coire nan Clach . Von dort nachdem wir den richtigen Cairn gefunden hatten nahmen wir den sehr steilen Abstieg durch gefährliche Geröllfelder. Toller Berg, tolle Tour.