After the rain – A traverse of Beinn Liath Mhor and Sgorr Ruadh

Prologue

 

 

Marie looked out of the car window.

“It’s still raining,” she said.

I nodded gloomily. I looked at my watch, 11.20 am and indeed, it was still raining.

The previous day we had finished our first week in Scotland and had driven from near Killin in the Trossachs up to Sallachy, Kintail. Typically, as we couldn’t get out, it had been a glorious day!

The rain had started in the evening and it had rained all night and into the following morning. It was grey and gloomy and cloud covered the mountains but this morning’s forecast had good and bad news.

The good news was that the rain was going to stop around 11.00 am and the rest of the day would be fine.

The bad news was that this was going to be the best weather day for the foreseeable future, so we had to get out and do something!

I had wanted to complete a traverse of Beinn Liath Mhor and Sgorr Ruadh since we had seen them back in 2018. They are two Munro’s in the rough, mountainous country between Glen Carron and Glen Torridon. Then, the weather conditions had proved to be too much for us, but I thought I had a good plan for now.

According to the guidebooks, the traverse should take around 6 hours 30 mins – not including any stops. With stops for food, map reading photos etc. I thought we could do it in around 8 hours. Plenty of time if we started at 11.00 am!

The weather hadn’t read the script!

Then, at 11.30 am as if by magic, the rain stopped.

By 11.45 am, we were walking through the still dripping woods and up towards the railway crossing at Achnashellach station.

“We should be back down by 8.00 pm.” I predicted

 

Coire Lair and the East top of Beinn Liath Mhor

 

 

Although, it had been five years since we had been here, the route seemed very familiar.

We quickly walked up the forestry track and found the footpath on the left, out of the fenced area. The mountains ahead were still covered in cloud but it did seem to be clearing up. Gradually, one by one, Fuarr Tholl, Beinn Liath Mhor and Sgorr Ruadh appeared from their cloud covering and the day was brightening.

It took us about an hour to reach the entrance to Coire Lair and my first task – check the fording point for the River Lair. I knew that we might need to cross the river on the way back but although we both looked at it from several different angles, neither of us liked the idea of trying to cross it. A number of possible steppingstones were submerged and I didn’t think either of us would want to try and wade across, the overnight rain had added some considerable depth and power to the flow of the water!

“No problem,” I said confidently. “There is another route.”

We returned to the main path and headed for the east ridge of Beinn Liath Mhor, it was clear that there was a path wending its way up through the heather.

“There is another couple up there already.” Marie pointed out.

We continued on for a while but each time we looked, the couple had not moved. At the time, we decided they must have stopped for food.

The path became steeper and rougher and we slowed down but eventually we caught up with the couple who still had not moved.

We said “Hi” as we passed and I wondered if they were ok but they said no more and we continued past them.

The path deteriorated more until it was a broken stream of loose rock and water running through the heather.

I found the best way I could. Behind me, I could hear Marie talking either to me or herself.

“I don’t care what happens, I’m not coming back down this way!”

I had to agree but I was hopeful we wouldn’t need to.

 

 

The steep ground lessened and the heather started to disappear. The grey, quartzite rock became more prominent until we were ascending a rough, rocky slope towards a cairn with a retaining wall, now visible above us on the east top of the mountain.

I had looked back towards the couple we had passed a couple of times but they hadn’t moved from the spot where we had passed them. They just stood watching us and I got the distinct impression they were waiting to see if we could make it up the slope before they tried!

We reached the east top around 2.20 pm, just about 2 hours 35mins after leaving the car.

The views north had opened up to show Beinn Eighe in Torridon and we were constantly looking southeast, over to the view of nearby Sgorr Ruadh.

“It must be time for lunch?” Marie said.

We decided to shelter within the large cairn for lunch.

 

 

Interlude

 

 

There is something else that I need to record – and I do this only because it became such an influence on this day and subsequent days.

At breakfast, we had a hard-boiled egg each. Mine had some unusual colouring on it when I peeled the shell off but when I took the inner membrane off, it was fine. It looked and tasted ok, so I ate it. It was definitely hard-boiled.

During our ascent, the egg began to “repeat” on me and when it did, I felt a little nauseous.

Now, we were having lunch, I was struggling to eat – very unusual for me. I managed to finish my sandwich but only by washing it down with the water I had bought as I was quite thirsty.

I didn’t mention this to Marie, nor did I think much of it myself, at the time I was otherwise ok and pleased to be on such a great mountain in the improving weather.

 

Traverse of Beinn Liath Mhor

 

 

Although we had done the hardest of the climbing, the summit still looked a long way away. We had stopped for around 30 mins while we ate lunch and having left the top, we then had to descend the broad, rough ridge down to the col between the east and middle top. It was frustrating to lose so much of our hard gained height but there was no alternative.

There was some easy scrambling to descend and as we did this, the clouds really began to break up and the periods of walking in the sunshine, lengthened.

The ridge looked long and quite spectacular with its contrasting areas of sunlight and shade but the summit didn’t seem to be getting nearer!

We reached the col and started to ascend the middle top. Marie was moving quicker than me although, I kept stopping to take photos. The views northwards were improving all the time as Liathach came into view in Torridon.

 

 

As I walked, I reflected on the fact that we had decided not to attempt the ridge on our previous visit in 2018, mainly because a strong wind and snowstorms were blowing in from the west on that day. Thank goodness! Traversing into a cross wind with snow on such rough ground would not have been fun!

 

 

We passed over the middle top and descended a short stretch before started our last ascent. The summit was now looking quite close but the grapefruit – sized quartzite scree made the last part of the ridge quite a test.

 

 

Finally, we mounted the final ridge to the huge cairn, seemingly perched on a pedestal at the high point of the mountain. It was almost 4.00 pm as we arrived.

The views all around were beautiful and far reaching, I was sure we could see from the Isle of Skye in the west to the Fannichs in the northeast. The mountains and lochs in Torridon looked fantastic.

 

 

We stayed on the top for some time, taking pictures and enjoying the view but it was time to move on. All the guidebooks warned that the descent route from the summit to the Bealach Coire Lair could be difficult in poor visibility. Luckily for us, that was not the case today.

We left the summit and headed west on the rough ground. In the clear conditions, we could see a feint trail across the rocks ahead, marked with the odd cairn.

As we left, the couple we had seen earlier came into view behind us, heading towards the top. Where had they been for so long?

 

 

We dropped down in a westerly direction, then followed our trail to the left (southwest) towards the obvious red, sandstone slabs we could see. I knew that there was steeper ground ahead and we were looking for a gully as a descent route through the steep rock.

Again, following cairns, we found the top of our descent route.

“Is this the right one?” Marie asked.

I was convinced it was as I could see the small Lochan beneath us – again, as described in the guidebook.

 

 

It looked steep from the top but was not too difficult to descend. I imagine that it would be difficult to find in poor visibility and a “leap” of faith if you couldn’t see far down it.

We reached the lochan and continued around it, again on rough ground, towards the bealach.

We reached the larger lochan near the Coire Lair path around 5.10 pm and stopped again.

 

Sgorr Ruadh and Coire Lair

 

 

I had been feeling ok but now, I found I couldn’t drink my tea and didn’t want anything to eat.

Marie finished the tea and looked up at the summit of Sgorr Ruadh, about 200m above us.

“It’s too late to climb that now.” She said.

I was surprised. “We’re more or less on time!” I replied.

“We’ll be at the top by 7.00pm. 1½ - 2 hours to get down, it would be 9.00 pm when we get back to the car at the latest.”

“We won’t get to the summit before 7.30 pm and it maybe more than 2 hours to get down. What time does it get dark?” She countered.

This went back and forth for a while.

Eventually, Marie decided to descend the Coire Lair path whilst I headed for the summit of Sgorr Ruadh on my own. We don’t like to split up on a route like this but I could see the couple who had been behind us reaching the Coire Lair path and starting to head down. Marie would not be completely alone.

 

 

At the same time, a man in a bright red top was heading up towards us, he was moving quickly and I wondered if he had the same goal as me.

We parted at 5.30 pm. I was determined to reach the summit of Sgorr Ruadh by 7.00 pm and set off up the grassy hillside towards the northwest ridge.

I reached it quickly but was surprised there was no path. Then, I saw it further back and marked with a cairn. I turned and waved to Marie who was walking down the coire, she waved back. The man in red was heading up the slope towards me.

I got to the path and followed it as it snaked a way through the outcrops of quartzite rock. The route steepened and entered a field of scree, I started up it and realised I had lost the path!

I looked left and right but no sign of it. Then, I heard a noise behind me, it was the man in the red top.

“I was on a path just now,” I said, “but I seem to have lost it!”

 

 

We had a chat - had we climbed Beinn Liath Mhor, he had said “hi” to Marie as they passed, he was just out for the afternoon to climb Sgorr Ruadh.

“Did you take a look at the River Lair at the ford?” he asked.

“Yes, I didn’t like the look of it.” I replied.

“No, me too.” He said. “I’m going to come back down this way.”

“There is another way in the guidebook.” I said.

I showed him on the map, descend the southeast slope to Loch a’ Bhealaich Mhoir, then follow the stream from there down to Loch Coire Lair and pass it on the left (west) to cross the river and reach the path.

He seemed interested.

We set off up the scree slope. It wasn’t long before we found the cairns again, leading us upwards. The man in red pulled ahead of me quickly and I tried to get into a rhythm on the loose rock. I decided I didn’t like the idea of descending this way.

I gained height and the steep slope started to ease, the scree ended and a path through the rock and grass was visible. It crossed the slope towards a rocky buttress which the man was already climbing.

I headed towards it and started to scramble up the rock.

All of a sudden, I felt a little faint. I stopped, this wasn’t the place to pass out! After a few seconds, I felt ok. I continued to scramble and shortly after, the summit cairn appeared ahead.

I was a bit surprised to see the man in red waiting there, checking his phone.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier.” He said. “There might be a route down here.” He showed me the map on his phone – I think he described a descent of the southeast slope then a different route to the one I had but I’m not sure.

“Are you ready to go now? He asked.

“No, I’ve just got here.” I replied. “I need a drink of water and a rest.”

He headed down the southeast slope and I promised I would follow him soon.

(Upon reflection of this conversation, I wondered how I had seemed to him given what happened later.)

I took some pictures of the summit to send to Marie and looked at my watch, it was 6.20 pm!

 

 

I was amazed! I had not realised I had got there so quickly, I was way ahead of schedule. I sent the picture and sat down for a drink, it was then I realised I had nearly run out of water.

Meanwhile, in Coire Lair, Marie was descending the path slowly. She was hoping to see me getting to the summit but she had lost sight of both me and the man in red quite soon after we reached the northwest ridge.

 

Descending from Sgorr Ruadh - my troubles mount!

 

 

I wanted to have 5 minutes rest before setting off, to make sure I was ok. I knew it would take about 2 hours to descend, so I was hopeful to get to the car around 8.30 pm and I was feeling very pleased with myself. My one problem was a lack of drinking water, which was suddenly seeming more urgent.

I made ready to leave and follow the man in red down the southeast slope. I looked but couldn’t see him anywhere. It was a great view with Fuarr Tholl dominating the scene but I was surprised I couldn't see him as his top had stood out against the green and grey but it didn’t matter. I hadn’t gone far when something dramatic happened to me.

Thankfully, I have never been stabbed! However, I suddenly felt what seemed like a knife to my stomach, I doubled over in shock.

Then, I had a desperate need to get to a toilet.

Obviously, that wasn’t possible on top of a mountain so, I ran down the slope and found a depression filled with rocks to use.

Without going into too much detail… I had bad diarrhea!

By the time I had recovered and buried the evidence, it was 6.40 pm. I was thankful I was alone to spare my embarrassment!

I started to descend the southeast slope. It was a steep grassy hillside, covered with patches of sandstone rocks and on top of that, it was streaming with water as the overnight rain drained off the mountain.

I looked for any signs of a path but couldn’t see any. I tried to stick to the grass as it seemed easier to walk on this than the rocks but the turf was sodden and occasionally collapsed under my weight.

I checked my watch, it had gone 7.00 pm and I hadn’t gone far. I walked back and forth across the slope searching for the best way down but it was slow going. It occurred to me that one of the streams of water I was avoiding may have been a path but none looked promising.

What made it worse was that I was desperately thirsty and there were tumbling streams of water everywhere…. All tumbling through the sheep or deer droppings!

I made a firm promise to myself not to risk drinking any of them!

Time passed, I gradually made my way down to the Loch a’ Bhealaich Mhoir, reaching it at 7.30 pm.

Already, my estimate of getting to the car by 8.30 pm seemed unlikely, I pushed it back until 9.00 pm.

I found the stream flowing out of the lochan, it headed down the steep hillside towards Loch Coire Lair below.

 

 

For some reason, I had convinced myself that the going would be easier and there might even be a path.

There was no path and if anything, the terrain looked worse.

The stream tumbled over several small crags, only around 2 meters high but I knew if I slipped and fell over one of them, I could be in real trouble.

I descended slowly taking care with every step. If I tried to hurry, I inevitably stumbled and all the while I got thirstier. I had finished my water on the descent from the summit.

I had to cross the stream several times to avoid the rock and stick to the easiest route. The turf and moss was super – saturated and it covered the loose rocks underneath, every now and then my foot went through to a hole.

Every now and then I felt a little shaky, either through ill health or just dehydration. I concentrated on every step and gradually got down.

By the time I reached the Loch, the sun was low in the sky and I was deep in the shade of the mountain, amazingly there were no midges!

I found the River Lair and easily crossed it, my boots were completely sodden. I reached the path descending Coire Lair and lay on a rock for two minutes to recover. It was 8.30 pm. I pushed my car estimate back until 9.30 pm.

 

 

Somewhere, not too far below me, Marie had been sitting in the sun waiting. She was worried that she hadn’t been able to see me or the man in red. Suddenly, he appeared striding down the path.

Yes, he had seen me on the summit and apparently, he had suggested we descend together but I didn’t think much of his idea, so he left without me! I later wondered how I must have seemed.

Marie had checked her phone but there was no reception in these wild parts so she hadn’t received my pictures, nor could she call me.

He continued on his descent; Marie waited a little longer then noticed a black cloud drifting in from the west. She started down but it started raining before she reached the car.

I had tried to get one last drip of water from my bottle, a moment of pleasure before the thirst returned. I set off down the path, trying to march to a steady rhythm and sang songs to myself to take my mind off being thirsty.

I knew Marie had a bottle of sparkling water in the car, I hoped she had saved my some!

I felt the rain before I realised why it had become darker, “you couldn’t wait until I got to the car”, I said to the heavens.

I continued down. My phone rang, it was Marie.

“Where are you?” She asked.

“Just above the trees.” I replied. “Should be there in 20 – 30 minutes.”

I looked at my watch, it was already 9.20 pm.

I reached the car just after 9.50 pm nearly 3 ½ hours after leaving the summit.

The tortuous descent and my ill health had combined to make the descent incredibly difficult. In future, I would advise anyone to descend from Sgorr Ruadh via the northwest ridge – my ascent route – then return down Coire Lair. Longer to walk but safer and easier.

Having said that, it had been a great day and a fine traverse. Had the River Lair been passable, the stalkers path down to the ford would have been fine. All in all, I was really glad I had completed it, the views were splendid!

 

 

Epilogue

 

Marie had saved me the bottle of sparkling water – I drank most of it!

I decided it must have been the egg that made me ill – Marie and I had eaten and drunk from the same sources, it was the only thing that was different.

I hoped I would recover straight away but I was ill for the following day and only a little better for two days after that. I took many pills and potions with little improvement. Luckily, the weather was poor so I didn’t miss much.

After that, I was a little tired but managed to get out the following day, my digestive problems being a severe inconvenience!

Finally, after 5 days of this I remembered what my grandmother had told me, when I was 5 or 6 years old.

“If you had a bad tummy, a nip of Brandy will see to it!” She had said.

We didn’t have Brandy but I did have Scotch Whiskey!

On the Friday evening, I finished what we had, expecting the next day to have a hangover to accompany my existing problem.

Next day I was fine and my digestive system was cured!

I’m not saying that alcohol is the answer to everything but it certainly helped me in this case.

 

 

Images

View After the rain – A traverse of Beinn Liath Mhor and Sgorr Ruadh Image Gallery - 7 Images