bloody german munrobagger

Ben More Assynt - The Untold Story

Ben More Assynt and Coigach are really special mountains and the highest in the wild country of Assynt. I already tried to tackle them in 1992, but due to severe weather conditions - heavy winds and very poor visibility - i did not suceed. So this time, it was 1995, i was eager - maybe to eager - not to fail again. Birgit was with me, as in 1992, and maybe my eagerness was making her too quiet. "Nothing's gonna stop me". Yeah, you bet it does.

The Inchnadamph approach is really nice, the climbing steep, but nothing too difficult. Except the fact, that i chose the ascent through a very steep chimney and snowy showers on the ridge, business as usual. The walking though over quartzite stones and scree was hard. But we reached Conival in time and continued to Ben More Assynt. We descended east along a stony ridge and soon arrived at the flat summit. Since i intended to do the traverse over to Carn nan Conbhairean we stayed on the ridge. 

And here the troubles began. While we had views of Dubh Loch Beag in the beginning, it was now completely out of sight. Due to this poor visibility, poor navigational skills of myself and lack of a compass we descended the wrong ridge. But i was too selfish and unexperienced to admit that i had choosen wrong. It was late in the afternoon, we had just a half litre of water and litte food left and i was not able to locate our position on the map. We started to panic a little, we hugged ourself and thought about our situation. We decided to follow the waterstreams down to the river in the distance and follow that river ... there were signs of hilltracks, too. Finally we arrived at the river, followed the stream and decided to cross it. Luckily it was not in spate but none the less difficult to cross, it was quite wide (30m) and there were few stepping stones. But we accomplished that. 

It was now approx. 7 p.m. and we cried of joy as we discoverd that there was a building not to far away, the question was though, was it inhabitated? We approached it and yes a woman opened the door, welcomed us and asked us into the house, without further ado!!!

We were placed along a cosy fire, were served sandwichs and coffee. Later her husband accompanied us and we began to talk. He was the gamekeeper of this estate (the owner at that time was Harrods/Fayet), this place was called Duchally and he wanted us to show where we were on our map. It occured, that we walked beyond the limits of it. After some nice talks (which included the alcoholic habits of swiss hunters) he asked us if we would like to stay the night of if he could drive us to our car at Inchnadamph. We decided not to overstay their welcome and asked for a lift to Inchndamph, which was a journey of 60 kilometres for us and 120 for him! Wow. 

So we entered this old Land Rover and he drove us back. After some kilometres driving we came around a building, which he commented with "This is my neighbour".

Finally we arrived at our car and we couldn't stop to thank him.

Lessons learned

1. If you are not sure about your location and directions, carefully study the map!
2. If you are still not sure, return!
3. Don't try to be a hero!
4. Don't be too proud to return!
5. Have a compass with you!
6. Know how to use that compass!
7. Marry that woman that followed you whereever you went, regardless how stupid you were!*

* We married 1,5 years later  - and still are married and have two lovely children. But we have never been up on a Munro together since that remarkable day in Assynt.

Cologne

No Munros this time, just a little height. We had a nice company event in the Triangle Tower Cologne which gives great views at Cologne. Enjoy.

(download)

Click here to download:

Cologne.zip (743 KB)

A Double Munro

This was a novelty: Climbing two Munros in one day but using a car to travel from the first to the second hill. We climbed Ben Hope from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Ben Klibreck from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Ben Hope
transl.	Hill of the bay
pron.	byn hope
status	enjoyed it
class	munro
m. no.	256
region	Coigach to Cape Wrath [16]
metres	927
feet	3042
os map	9
gridref	NC 477501
party	Cord; Frank
date	2009-05
comment	I repeat myself: May 2009 in Scotland was not an extremely dry hillwalking holiday. The day on which Frank and I climbed Ben Hope and Ben Klibreck was a particularly stormy and wet one. But let's start at the beginning. After about two hours of driving through nice parts of Northern Scotland with many miles on single-track roads ( :-) ) we reached the parking a mile north of Alltnacaillich farm on the east bank of the Strathmore River. We climbed the path by the stream coming down the steep western face of Ben Hope. This was fun since the going was quite good, though boggy in places. After 200m we reached a slightly more level section on top of the first tier of crags. From there we still followed the well-trodden path through the distinct second tier of crags. At an altitude of about 500m we reached the steepish but broad southern slopes (or developing ridge) of the hill and trodded up this first grassy, then gravely and sandy stretch of the climb. The gradient became less steep higher up but the very strong north-westerly wind started to become a real impediment to walking. Battling our way upwards we met several other walkers with whom we exchanged a few shouted words: The loudness of our words was not a sign of any bad feelings much rather it was impossible to understand normal speech because of the raging wind. Then, less than two hours after we set out we reached the summit cairn and trigonometry point. A short break in the lee of the stones, no views of anything, no barren plains stretching out to the Atlantic Ocean, no Foinaven, no Ben Loyal, no sunshine reflected from lochs. Nothing, just plain Scottish rain, storm and clouds engulfing us and the hill. Ahhhh! The way back was the way up reversed. We stumbled and were blown over from time to time on the higher slopes. We slithered and slid on the steep descent down the western slopes. The stream by the path had swollen by now. In fact things were quite scenic once we were out of the bad wind. Very soon we were back at the car. This was a no-frills, very "direct" walk, Munro completed, no views, no exciting north ridge. A pity we missed out on all of this. But nonetheless we could see that Ben Hope is a hill with character and unique features. Maybe to be done again on a better day!?
descr.	Ben Hope is a fitting peak to be the most northerly Munro, standing as it does in splendid isolation not far from the northern coastline of Scotland. The west side of the mountain, which overlooks Strath More and the head of Loch Hope, is very steep along its whole length, with two tiers of crags, the higher one forming the edge of the main south-north ridge of Ben Hope. The east side of the mountain has three fine corries, but they are rather remote and inaccessible, and consequently seldom visited. The north ridge is very steep and rocky with one difficult section, but the south ridge is much broader and has no difficulties, and is the usual route of ascent. The route starts at a large shed beside the road just over 2 kilometres north of Alltnacaillich and goes up a path beside a small stream to reach the main ridge 2 kilometres south of the summit of Ben Hope. The ascent of this broad grassy ridge is easy. An alternative route starts from Alltnacaillich and goes up a path beside the burn of the same name. This gives access to the lower part of the south ridge which is followed for its whole length of 5 kilometres, joining the previous route halfway up.
alti-graph

The Cottage for 2011

I found our cottage for 2011 ... a really nice one and really, really remote. Great.

(download)

Click here to download:

The_Cottage_for_2011.zip (30 KB)

A Very, Very Wet Munro ... M266

An Coileachan
transl.	The little cock
pron.	an kilyachan
status	enjoyed it
class	munro
m. no.	266
region	Loch Marree to Loch Broom [14]
metres	923
feet	3028
os map	20
gridref	NH 241680
party	Cord; Frank
date	2009-05
comment	May 2009 was the wettest hiking season in Scotland that I ever had the privilege of experiencing. This tour proved to be no different from the average squishy, slithering, sleety, soaking standard. Having set our mind on ticking off the four eastern Munros of the Fannaichs we approached the hills from the parking on the A835 between Loch Droma and Loch Glascarnoch which is at the bridge over the Abhainn an Torrain Duibh. On the left bank of the Abhainn we followed the bends of the burn which carried a lot (!) of water indeed. The going was good and the path was sort of dry. Soon we reached the confluence of the Allt an Loch Sgeirich and the Abhainn a'Ghiubhais Li, crossed the first and continued our tramp along the left bank of the latter. We did not (!) use the bridge but climbed further on the deteriorating path. Higher up the burn we managed to cross it and headed over heathery terrain up the gentle slopes of Meallan Bhuide. Well, close to the rounded summit of this hillock the rain caught us and ended the short intermezzo of two hours walking without water coming down (my feet were soaked anyway, so hey, what difference does it make?). Loch Gorm came into view. It nestled nicely between the crags of Meall Gorm and the corrie headwall which lay ahead. We climbed into the hanging corrie above the loch, veered in a south easterly direction and came to the summit slopes of An Coileachan. At the summit sleet was coming down so the short rest was rather uncomfortable. From this first Munro we turned north-west, crossed the area at the head of the corrie of ascent and climbed the grassy slopes, interspersed with rocks, which lead to the very flat ridge of Meall Gorm. The wind now caught us, things became considerably colder and the visibility dropped to 50 meters. At a stone shelter shortly before the summit we added an additional layer of warmer fleece in driving rain. Then the summit appeared, the cairn was touched and we continued immediately on the good path, not without being almost blown over once or twice by the gale. On this ridge we met another group of hillwalking lunatics (Sorry lads! :-))) who did the same tour counter-clockwise. Soon after the top of Meall nan Peithrean the 200m climb to the summit of Sgurr Mor began. Frank raced ahead and I had to hurry not to loose contact. Having already bagged this Munro a few years earlier my motivation only sufficed for plodding on. At the large cairn we took a short summit break and then retraced our steps to where the side ridge leading to Beinn Liath Mhor Fannaich branches off. The steep descent down this side ridge was treacherous since a thin layer of slushy snow covered the grass and the path. Soon the broad ridge made for easy walking. We passed the hunters' shelter, got to the bouldery west face of Beinn Liath Mhor Fannaich and followed the path contouring around the hill to its north side. From there we climbed the last 100m to the summit of our fourth Munro. By now, we both were quite exhausted. But since the car was another seven or eight kilometres off and the weather did not improve we hastened our retreat. Down the very rocky south ridge of Beinn Liath Mhor Fannaich we headed towards the gentler slopes of Creag Dubh Fannaich. From this subsidiary top we struck a more or less direct line towards the confluence of the Allt an Loch Sgeirich and the Abhainn a'Ghiubhais Li. The terrain got flatter and with all the water that had come down and was still falling from the sky we now experienced the disintegration of gentle heathery slopes into pools, rivulets, streams on grass and mossy water traps. One of the wettest pieces of land in Scotland we have ever seen. With some difficulty we crossed the Allt an Loch Sgeirich and reached the path along the Abhainn an Torrain Duibh, which had beed transformed into a raging torrent of peaty water with waterfalls and all. Very nice to the eye but our minds were set on autopilot by now. Then, after seemingly countless jumps over pools and countless bends of the river we finally saw the parking and our car. Soaked and very, very tired we reached the road, peeled off some of the wet layers of clothing and headed off towards our warm and cosy cottage in Letters on the shore of Loch Broom. This was not a great hike, there were no marvelous views, but in hindsight it feels like we did a decent job on a ghastly day in the hills.
descr.	These two hills are at the south-eastern end of the Fannaichs, overlooking the east end of Loch Fannich. A broad ridge connects An Coileachan to Meall Gorm, and this ridge continues north-west to Sgurr Mor and the other mountains of the range. On the north side of this ridge there are several high corries holding lochans which drain north-east down the Abhainn a' Ghiubhais Li to Loch Glascarnoch. An Coileachan is a prominent hill with a fine corrie above the end of Loch Fannich. On the south side of the range the private road to Fannich Lodge is not accessible for cars, so the best approach to these hills is from the north. Leave the A835 road near the head of Loch Glascarnoch and walk up a rough path beside the Abhainn an Torrain Duibh and its tributary the Abhainn a' Ghiubhais Li for about 5 kilometres. Cross the stream to bear south over Meallan Buidhe and continue up the north ridge of An Coileachan. Traverse north then north-west along the broad and fairly level ridge past a stone hut to reach Meall Gorm. Rather than descending the steep north side of this hill, it is better to return along the ridge to the col just before An Coileachan and descend north-east from there to rejoin the uphill route.
alti-graph

MOTD Munro Of The Day. 
M266 An Coileachan. 
Enjoyed it. 
Wer: Cord, Frank
Munroist No. 266 Norman McDonald, 1965. 
http://www.bgmb.de/develop_frank/scothills.nsf/scothills/0820D2D412C8DEC041256801005F1A5F?OpenDocument

269 and counting

MOTD Munro Of The Day. 
M269 An Socach. 
enjoyed it. 
Wer: Cord, Frank
Munroist No. 269 Winnie Reid, 1982. 
http://www.bgmb.de/develop_frank/scothills.nsf/scothills/53CB051727BD0F8241256801005F1BDB?OpenDocument

Sgurr na Ciche, Garbh Cioch Mhor, Sgurr nan Coireachan and Sgurr Mor on 11.05.2010

(download)

Click here to download:

Sgurr_na_Ciche_Garbh_Cioch_Mho.zip (469 KB)

Sgurr na Ciche and his neighbours were Munros which we wanted to climbed for years now, but there was never the right time. This year it was. We stood up at 6 am, took a extensive breakfast and packed our stuff. Then we drove one of the most torterous single tracks roads in Scotland i have ever driven along Loch Arkaig. Hell of a road. Finaly we reached Strahan and prepared ourselfs for a really long day.

The walk through Glen Dessarry is a really nice one, allthough the forestation to the west is not especially eyecandy. We had decided that we won't follow the recommandations from SMC and McNeish and everyone else but wanted to climb Sgurr na Ciche first and then his easterly neighbours with a remote Sgurr Mor as the final and 4th Munro. On the way through the Glen we passed Dessarry House - a very remote and a very huge sporting lodge. The paths continued and we left it after aprox 9 kms and headed up the bealach. The gorge we saw was a surprise, didn't read anything about that. But there it was and we had to climb that steep and wet rock thing. Soon after that the bealach was reached and we traced our steps towards the summit of this very recognisable Munro. This ascent is in fact much steeper than that through the gorge, and we had to descent it after taking a well earned lunch break on Sgurr na Ciche.

Almost at the same height the next summit Garbh Cioch Mhor waited for us after a steep and very direct pull. In no time we were there. What was going to follow was a not so funny up and down of tops and Munros which Cord ended on the 3rd Munro of the day Sgurr nan Coireachan and returned the normal way down to Glen Dessarry. I felt good enough to gave the 6km remote Sgurr Mor a try. Another solo. Always exciting.
So i descended and ascended and descended and ascended and descended and ascended and there i was. Sgurr Mor, the 4th and last Munro of the day. A short break, a last snack and then followed the not so steep descent to Braigh a`Chorie Bhuide and then the very steep descent down the grass slopes of Doire nan Cluaniean. Down there was a huge herd of red deer which i successfully ousted. A short reascend and redescend - you get the story - along boggy and soggy moorland and i regaind the Glen Dessarry path. Soon after that i reached our car. Cord gave me a car alarm. I was there.
12,5 hrs
35 kms
4 Munros
2500 metres of ascend
Exhausted but happy.
But then there came the hell of a road again.

Hillwalking Season Scotland 2010 - Fake Polaroids

(download)

Click here to download:

Hillwalking_Season_Scotland_20.zip (4.51 MB)

We are back. We took literally the last flights out of Scotland yesterday. I flew to Cologne, Cord to Amsterdam, where he took literally the last flight out of The Netherlands. While we were already lucky with our flights to Scotland, we were more than lucky with our escape.

In conclusion: we had 9 - well 8, but that is a different story - great days of hillwalking. Weather, visibility and legs were good. I walked 20 Munros with a total distance of 200 kilometres while ascending somewhat about 13.000 metres of heigth. Now i have climbed all Loch Quoich, South Glen Shiel and all Knoydart Munros.
All Knoydart Munros? No. All but one. After having already bagged Luinne Bheinn via the Kinloch Hourn / Barrisdale approach, which is a 18 km walk and ascent, the weather was too bad, the visibility was really bad for this complex terrain. So we decided to give it a day and leave Meall Bhuide where it was - 3 km away. And strolled the 18 km back to our car at Kinloch Hourn. Drat.
We are already thinking about our next try, propably via the Maillag postboat and staying a few nights in Inverie, which is not too bad btw.
More walking descriptions and photos will follow over the next days.

Ash update

There will be ash