13th May 2006

' Weekend in Glenfinnan ~ Day 1'

Author: Andy Wallace

Glenfinnan
~~~ Circular Walk ~~~

Starting Point : Car Park
Click-here for Glenfinnan Map

© Andy Wallace - www.andyfellwalker.com

I'm on my way to Scotland, the forecast says there is the possibility of snow showers on the tops so I'm taking my winter rucksack, crampons, ice axe and all. The drive north wasn't too bad, it got a bit cloudy around Loch Lomond but it was a lovely evening when I arrived at Corpach near Fort William. There was a fine view of the sun setting on Ben Nevis as I stretched my legs with a wee walk by the side of the western end of the Calendonian Canal that was complete with pleasure craft and a fishing boat.

When I was packing my bag I was also thinking that it could get warm; in my haste to make sure I took my shorts I forgot to pack my walking socks and tracksters so I'll have to improvise somehow if it isn't warm enough. On Saturday morning we were all awake early and set off as soon as we were ready on a bright and sunny but slightly chilly morning. We started at the small car park at the entrance to the Glenfinnan Estate, following the track up the Glen by the side of River Finnan and being watched by Red Deer as we walked under the impressive Glenfinnan Viaduct.

It's a lengthy walk by the side of River Finnan, it takes about an hour before you get the view of Glenfinnan Lodge in its splendid location on the hillside ahead. After you cross a bridge there is a signpost to "Bothy" and nearby is the Corryhully Bothy; it has electricity and running water - for a bothy it is just too luxurious for words so I won't try to describe how much luxury there is. You continue walking on a good path past an attractive pool with a small waterfall and shortly afterwards at the top of a small rise there is an eye-level cairn. This I thought was the start of the path northwards towards Sgurr a' Choire Riabhaich but while I was changing the batteries in my camera the others had not seen the cairn and walked past it.

I had to run and only caught them as they stopped to check the route; after some discussion we agreed that the cairn was the start of the path we should be on. Rather than walk back to it we took the Scottish approach and headed straight upwards towards the skyline. It was fairly steep over lush and sometimes wet vegetation but it wasn't too long before we reached the obvious path. It is a Munro bagger's path rather than a walker's path, it goes nowhere near the ridge in making the quickest and easiest route towards the summit. This was Sgurr a' Choire Riabhaich, a broad rising ridge getting more rocky and rugged as we got higher and to be fair the crest in some places would be a bit too rugged to walk along.

There was a good view of Druim Coire a' Bheithe - the less rugged ridge that would be our descent route later on, there was also a good view of the corrie of the ridge that we were going to walk. The path eventually started to aim for the ridge on a zigzag route and along the way we passed a curious looking upright boulder, nothing unusual in itself but it looked like it had a bonnet of grass growing on its ancient top. The reasonably graded path eventually reached the skyline where the going became much more rugged, too rugged to follow the ridge all the way. The path started to bypass the final section of the ridge by contouring around to the left but soon, after turning right, it provided an interestingly steep climb to the summit of the ridge.

The weather was bright and sunny although the breeze was pretty cold, it seemed that I might get away with wearing my shorts. Then we had a level but rocky walk along the continuing ridge, having to occasionally clamber over layered rocks; we generally followed a line of old fence posts except where they were more adventurously positioned on exposed outcrops. After a final rocky scramble we eventually arrived at the summit of Sgurr nan Coireachan; it has the most horrible looking triangulation column I have ever seen, it reminded me of a concrete car park bollard.

There was a good view of the wrinkly outline of Rhum and the smaller Eigg, with Ben Nevis and Bidean Nam Bian to a lesser degree standing head and shoulders above their surrounding hills. There were many other hills easily recognised in the clear conditions by the regular munroists who were with us. The descent was quite steep but fairly reasonable except for an awkward rock step requiring the use of the fifth point of contact, followed by a less steep walk over bare rock slabs.

Once you stop descending there is a long undulating ridge to walk over Meall an Tarmachain and on to Beinn Gharbh; the views were sunny but there was a chilled wind blowing around my legs. The view back to the rugged flank of Sgurr a' Choire Riabhaich showed it to be a fine looking hill and over to the east we could see an area of showers that would hopefully stay where they were. The final undulation then took us to the end of the fence posts where we turned left, up to the excellent viewpoint of Sgurr Thuilm; the breeze had become very cold and there was a slight snow flurry while we were admiring the view.

We then had a long grassy descent down the broad ridge of Druim Coire a' Bheithe, the lower we got then the steeper the ground became. It was awkward enough trying to keep your balance whilst trying not to stand on the many frogs underfoot but on a wet day the steep muddy sections would be a real problem. The long walk back to the glen was followed by a longer walk by the side of the river back to the car park before having a wee wander around the Glenfinnan monument and admiring the view along Loch Shiel. The monument is surrounded by a wall with brass inscriptions in English, Gaellic and Latin commemorating the time and place when Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard and rallied the clans in 1745.

Andy Wallace