Ruth and I took a five-day trip to the Highlands to bag a few more Corbetts at the start of her half term holiday. We drove up as far as Perth on the Friday evening and stayed in a Travelodge for the night, which was far enough north for our drive to Garva Bridge, up the valley from Newtonmore, to be manageable before our walk the next day. As it turned out, the forecast was for improving conditions as the day went on, so we had quite a leisurely start and set out walking at around 10:30.

The first section was up the lane along the glen to Melgarve, getting the lower-level walking done first to give the hills time to clear a bit. From there, it was a fairly steep, pathless ascent over fairly easy ground to the ridge of Gairbeinn. A shower came through as we ascended, transitioning from rain to sleet and eventually snow as we gained height and the temperature dropped. It settled for long enough to make the ground white as we traversed the ridge over and beyond the summit, but soon melted again as the sun came out as we descended east.

A pair of parallel lines of fence posts made for easy navigation across the high plateau, and also kept us clear of the roughest and boggiest ground, so we made good time to Meall na h-Aisre, our second Corbett of the day. From there, reports on WalkHighlands had revealed that a new track had been built to service an underground cable from the nearby wind farm, not yet marked on the OS maps, and we were able to pick this up not far below the summit and follow it all the way back into the valley, leaving just a couple of km back along the lane to the car.

We headed to Glen Nevis SYHA for the night, where we had a smart and comfortable twin room. The next day we set ourselves two more Corbett objectives, a bit of a drive apart but each only a walk of around 3 hours. We set out from the hostel before dawn as the forecast was for the weather to deteriorate through the afternoon this time. First up was Meall Dubh, an obscure but prominent hill in the area between Glen Garry and Glen Moriston. Much of the hill has been covered with a new wind farm, and the sprawling service tracks have made the ascent of the hill from the west much quicker and easier than it used to be! We picked a route using the tracks where convenient, but cutting directly up the hillside to avoid large zigzagging detours. The tracks led us around 1km south of the summit, from where it was a simple climb up grassy ground to the summit – sadly in mist but we had enjoyed views over Loch Loyne and Glen Garry during most of the ascent. We returned by a similar route with a couple of variations that turned out to be rougher and boggier than the ascent route! A few spots of rain had blown through at times but not enough to need waterproof trousers.

Second up for the day was Carn Dearg, east of Glen Roy. We parked and crossed the bridge over the River Roy at the foot of Coire na Rainich, then followed the east bank south as far as Brunachan Bothy, pleased that the rain had still not arrived. From there, it was a steep and pathless ascent up Coire Dubh and from there up the west ridge of Carn Dearg to the summit. From there it was a short walk north into the very steep head of Coire na Rainich. Once down this awkward and very slippery ground, it was an easy walk down the rest of the corrie to the car. Light, wind-blown rain gradually increased through the walk, but never amounted to much really, and we were happy to end the day without seriously-wet gear.

On Monday we had booked onto the afternoon ferry from Uig (Skye) to Tarbert (Harris). With another early start for the drive from the hostel, this gave us just enough time to nip up a Corbett Ruth needed at the bottom of Glen Shiel – Sgurr an Airgid – in the morning. Although we set out in the dry, this was the wettest walk of the trip with light but persistent rain soon setting in. A good stalkers’ path made for easy going up to the bealach and from there up the ridge right to the summit, and an equally easy descent. Sadly, low cloud prevented views, except looking over Loch Duich from the lower slopes.

A further 90 minute drive got us along the coast to Kyle and all the way across Skye to Uig, with a little over an hour to spare before last check-in for the ferry. The crossing was surprisingly smooth after windy weather over the weekend, and we were greeted on the approach to Harris with a very intense rainbow over Scalpay.

Once disembarked in Tarbert, it was only a few minutes’ drive to our hostel accommodation in Drinishader. We were pleased to find that we had the whole hostel to ourselves, including use of the self-catering kitchen. We spent the evening eating, drinking tea, and drying out all our wet gear in front of the coal fire.

Another early start was called for on Tuesday, as a band of heavy rain was forecast to arrive on Harris around noon, and we were keen to get as far around the An Cliseam Horseshoe as we could before it arrived. It was only a short drive to Gleann Sgaladail from where our walk would start at sunrise (a not-too-uncivilised 7:30am!). The first part of the ascent was on the ‘Harris Walkway’ path up onto the shoulder of Tomnabhal. Easy grass and slabs led us from there to the top of Tomnabhal, with good sunrise views east over Loch Seaforth from part-way up.

The top was in cloud though, so we took a bearing down to the bealach before climbing steeply but easily back up onto the summit ridge of An Cliseam. Frustratingly, we could tell that the summit was just a few metres too low to enjoy inversion conditions, and we had to make do with just fleeting glimpses of the hills and lochs both sides. However, descending west to the next bealach brought us back out of the cloud, with very good views south to Loch a Siar and north over the corrie.

A small but well-trodden path led us easily over Mulla Fo Dheas to Mulla Fo Thuath, where the cloud cleared out fully to give good views west to the neighbouring Graham, Uisgneabhal Mhor – looks like a good hill for another day! After a scenic lunch break looking north over Stuabhal and Loch Langabhat, we continued over Mullach an Langa and then east over pathless but fairly easy ground to Gleann Sgaladail. By then, the summit of An Cliseam had cleared and we enjoyed looking up at it, but only for a short while before we could see that the expected rain had reached the higher parts of the ridge. Pleasingly, however, we made it all the way down the valley to the car before the rain reached the lower ground, and completed the entire walk without getting wet at all! A really good day (well, morning!) in these attractive hills.

We returned to the hostel for the afternoon to drink tea as the heavy rain passed over. As it had cleared out again by 3:30pm, we decided to pop across to the west coast to enjoy the end of the day on the celebrated white sands and dunes of Luskentyre Beach. This proved a great decision as the sunset was spectacular over the bay to the southwest. A beautiful end to the day and our short visit to Harris.

In the morning, we caught the early ferry back to Skye. The plan had been to tick off another Corbett in Glen Shiel, but Ruth’s knee was sore and the rain was heavy and persistent, so we instead made contact with Amy Ottway to arrange to meet up for a coffee and chat in Kyle. Then the rest of the day was spent on the long drive back to Kendal, pausing in Fort William for lunch.

All in all, a really enjoyable trip, making good use of the best bits of the weather and with the full range of autumnal conditions! Five new Corbetts for me over the course of the trip leaves me with only one remaining: Streap, near Glenfinnan, which I hope to climb at Spring Bank Holiday next year.

Maps of our routes are available here:
Gairbeinn and Meall na h-Aisre: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1330010
Meall Dubh: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1330016
Carn Dearg: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1330029
Sgurr an Airgid: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1330030
An Cliseam: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1330036

My full photo album is available on Google Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1VgLB5EvuweS4urr8

For the final weekend of the trip, we ticked off a couple more Corbetts on the fringes of the Cairngorms. On Saturday morning it was almost two hours’ drive from our B&B in Dingwall to the foot of Ben Rinnes, so a relatively late start for the walk. Ruth was suffering from a sore glute and had been up the hill before, so opted to sit and read in the car while I made my ascent.

This must be one of the easiest Corbetts, with a fairly gentle gradient and a large and well-surfaced path all the way from car park to summit. The most memorable feature was the flowering heather on this and all the surrounding hills, which really cheered up what could have been rather a dreary view on this grey day. I reached the top in only about 50 minutes and had a bit of a look around the summit tor before finding the most sheltered spot I could for lunch. Surprisingly, having passed plenty of people going up and down during my ascent, I had the summit to myself for the entire 25 minutes or so that I lingered! A short march back down the same way took me back to the car in under two hours.

We spent the afternoon making a leisurely drive around the eastern side of the Cairngorms, pausing for a stroll around the village and riverside in Ballater, and in the layby on Cairn o’ Mount to cook an early dinner on the camp stove and re-pack our backpacking bags. With a bright evening forecast and a long journey home the next day, we had decided the best plan was to walk up Mount Battock in the evening, camp on the hill, and just have a short walk out in the morning. We set off from Millden Lodge in Glen Esk – a valley I’d never previously visited – a little after 6:30pm and were able to walk briskly up the big track all the way to the summit. This is another very easy Corbett, although a significantly longer walk than Ben Rinnes. We enjoyed more flowering heather, the very long evening shadows, and later the sunset lighting the broken clouds to the west.

We returned to the spot we’d identified as the best for camping, just over half way down, and just about had enough daylight to set up camp without torches. After a decent night’s sleep, a moderate breeze meant there weren’t any midges to endure as we packed up in the morning, and it was less than an hour’s walk out to the car.

This brought to an end a remarkably dry August trip to the Highlands, throughout which we could have got away, with hindsight, without wearing waterproofs while walking. The midges were intense at times, but this didn’t detract too much from nine good walks up a contrasting set of hills.

My full photo album is available here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SWF1TBVyU4D7VaAX6
Maps of our routes are available via the following links:
Ben Rinnes: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1255835
Mount Battock: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1255836

A productive week’s bagging meant nine new Corbetts bagged (plus a couple of Grahams), taking me to 216 down, only 6 to go! I shall get cracking with planning autumn trips to Harris and the Fort William area to hopefully tick off five more this year and leave just Streap for my completion day next year!

After our weekend on Skye, we headed further north for the next few days of the holiday. We had a night of relative luxury at the Caledonian Hotel in Ullapool, then drove up to Assynt for a walk up Braebag, a Corbett outlier of Ben More Assynt. The main unusual attribute of the hill is its limestone geology, a rarity in the Highlands, and this was apparent straight away as we walked up Allt nan Uamh to a spring where this significant river wells up apparently from nowhere. The valley is dry beyond this point, except in spate conditions, and we passed several caves and a dry waterfall before eventually finding flowing water again high on the slopes of Braebag.

Sadly the conditions that day meant that a thin sheet of cloud was flowing briskly over Braebag all day, from east to west, and from the summit we only had very fleeting glimpses of the view over Assynt, whenever a gap in the cloud passed over our location. We sheltered in the summit cairn for at least half an hour, hoping for improvement, but none came, so we descended by more-or-less the same route, taking a short detour to explore the largest caves a bit more thoroughly.

That night we camped semi-wild, in an idyllic spot just off the road at the head of Loch Assynt with a view of Ardvreck Castle.

The next two days had a dry forecast so we opted to tackle the most strenuous of our planned walks for this trip, a one-night backpacking expedition from Strath Carron (the one near Lairg) to the very remote Corbetts of Carn Ban and Carn Chuinneag. We set off around 9am from Glencalvie Lodge, heading initially up the large tracks of the Alladale estate, run as a project to return the Highlands to its natural ecosystem with a hope of re-introducing wolves as the apex predator. Luckily there are not yet any wolves to trouble hillwalkers!

We were pleased to find that a branch of the track had been built onto the long ridge of An Socach, not marked on my ten-year-old map, saving us a rough slog through deep heather. The valleys either side the ridge were filled with cloud but the ridge crest was just high enough to be clear and make the navigation easy. Quite a few miles of fairly easy walking took us over the summit of An Socach, then down and back up to Bodach Beag, which gave grand views over a large corrie to our first target, Carn Ban, perhaps the most isolated of Corbetts. Another descent and re-ascent around the head of the corrie led us to the summit, where we enjoyed the views of Seana Bhraigh, the Beinn Dearg hills and Assynt as we ate our lunch.

From there the route continued south along the main ridge of Carn Ban then steeply down a zigzagging stalkers’ path into Gleann Beag. We followed the large track down the valley for a few kilometres then struck off onto rough, pathless ground again to re-ascend to Crom Loch, which we had picked out as a suitably high and breezy place for a summer wild-camp. The best patch of flattish ground we could find turned out to be close to where an upturned rowing boat had been left on the shores, which served as a comfortable bench for us! It must have been a mission to get the boat here, as it’s tussocky ground all around the loch and there’s no track nearby!

We were glad that the good breeze we had enjoyed all day continued as we set up camp and cooked and ate our dinner, and was enough to keep the midges totally at bay. However, mid-evening the breeze suddenly disappeared and within minutes we were forced to dive into the tent for the rest of our visit, the density of the midge swarm being the worst I’ve ever experienced. There was an audible hum as they buzzed around the outside of the tent, trying to find the tasty carbon dioxide source, and the outside of the flysheet was black with midges at times, sliding down as they clambered over each other! Conditions were not much improved in the morning, so we ate our breakfast inside and got ourselves sealed up with head nets, gloves, and trousers tucked into socks before venturing outside safely to take down the tent and pack up. Luckily our sealing proved effective!

The mist had descended overnight so, once we’d reached the western end of the loch, we needed to follow compass bearings and count paces over the fairly featureless ground for a few miles to reach the minor summit of Creag Ruadh. There we just about came out of the cloud sufficiently to be able to identify which way the ridge was leading, and follow it onward to the unexpectedly-bouldery twin summits of Carn Chuinneag, the second (and higher) of which is marked with a trig point. This brought the cross-country section of the expedition to an end, as a good stalkers’ path leads all the way down into Glen Calvie to join an estate track back to the lodge. Despite the midges overnight, it was a really enjoyable trip into a true wilderness area where we had seen almost nobody over the two days – just a pair of people in the distance in Gleann Beag and one man walking up Carn Chuinneag as we walked down.

For the next two nights, we stayed at the comfortable and welcoming Carnbren B&B in Lairg. This was about as convenient a base as can be found for our next two objectives, Ben Loyal (up by Tongue on the north coast) and Ben Hee (at the other end of Loch Shin to the northwest). We had a leisurely start on Thursday, enjoying the full Scottish breakfast before embarking on the one hour drive along single-track A-roads to Tongue. After a greyish start, the day became clear and sunny, particularly in the far north – perfect for what is one of the most iconic and celebrated mountains in the Highlands!

We started our walk at Ribigill, following tracks and then small paths most of the way up onto the ridge, with only the last couple of hundred metres of ascent made over steep, pathless grass! This brought us to the northern top of Sgor Chaonasaid, an impressive rocky tor with even more impressive views of Ben Hope to the west, the Kyle of Tongue to the north, and the whole of Caithness to the northeast, with Orkney visible in the distance. We enjoyed the view for a while then continued south to the highest summit, An Caisteal, then on to the south top, Beinn Bheag, before returning roughly by our route of ascent. A short but awesome walk over a really grand peak!

We were less optimistic about conditions for Friday on Ben Hee, with frequent and heavy showers forecast, but when we set off from West Merkland it was dry and the summits almost clear. A small stalkers’ path leads up the corrie most of the way to summit, making for easy progress up the not-too-steep ground. The cloud cleared the top just as we arrived, unveiling good (but still fairly grey) views of Ben Hope, Ben Klibreck, Foinaven, Ben Stack and Quinag, to name just the most distinctive peaks. We descended by the same route, passing one other bagger on the way, an elderly gentleman who must have been in his late 70s but still making good progress over rough ground in the hills. A few spots of rain fell at times, but with hindsight we could have got away without waterproofs all day!

We ended the day with a drive to Dingwall for a night in another B&B, en route to the final phase of the holiday, which was to be spent in the Cairngorms.

Maps of our routes can be seen via the following links:
Braebag: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1255822
Carn Ban and Carn Chuinneag: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1255830
Ben Loyal: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1255833
Ben Hee: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1255834

My full photo album is available here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dvmP1CUEjo76Y2288

With Covid-19 having prevented us from making our traditional trips to the Highlands at Easter and Spring Bank Holiday, Ruth and I had to venture north in midge season instead for a replacement week of Corbett-bagging. I took the Friday afternoon off work which meant that the long drive north to Glen Shiel, where we camped semi-wild near the roadside, ended at the relatively civilised hour of 9:30pm. We woke the next morning in misty, midgy conditions so opted to drive on down the valley and have breakfast in Kyle of Lochalsh, where it was sunny and midge-free!

We had arranged to meet up with Amy, a bagging friend who now lives nearby in Drumbuie, for our Saturday walk up Belig (Graham) and Garbh-bheinn (Corbett) on Skye, and she duly arrived in the chosen layby at the appointed time. We had seen as we approached Skye that many of the hills were shrouded in low-level cloud so were hopeful of inversion conditions as we set off up the lower slopes. Sure enough, after about half an hour, we began to emerge from the top of the cloud into the sunshine and for the remainder of our ascent of Belig enjoyed spectactular views over the cloud to Glamaig and the Black Cuillin.

A steep descent and re-ascent took us across Bealach na Beiste to Garbh-bheinn, which was in cloud when we arrived but cleared to give great views of Bla Bheinn and the Cuillin as we enjoyed a leisurely lunch. There were more excellent views of Marsco and Glamaig as we descended the easy ridge of Druim Eadar da Choire back to the cars.

A map of our route can be seen here: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1255816

Having said our goodbyes, Ruth and I headed to Broadford Backpackers Hostel for the night: we had been surprised to find a room available at short notice a couple of days before! Surprisingly but conveniently, even the self-catering kitchen was available for use.

The next morning we headed back west to Sligachan to tackle Skye’s other, better-known Corbett, Glamaig. Once again, half an hour of ascent brought us above the valley cloud, although it was not such a spectacular unbroken layer as the previous day, and the Black Cuillin was fully clear from the start. We mused as we climbed that the Glamaig fell race must not be much fun on the unrelentingly-steep scree and grass, but soon enough reached the summit and paused a while to enjoy the views over Raasay and the rest of the Cuillin hills, as well as some more-distant mainland peaks.

Once we’d taken our fill, we descended equally steep ground to Bealach na Sgairde and then climbed back up to the adjacent Graham, Beinn Dearg Mhor. There the ground became easier for the continuation to Beinn Dearg Mheadhonach, and the day ended with a pleasant, easy descent along the ridge of Druim na Ruaige. A map of our route can be seen here: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1255818

A great start to our week, with conditions just as spectacular as those we’d enjoyed eight years earlier when we bagged all the Skye Munros! Many more photos can be enjoyed on my album on Google Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ukDxReoAySqA1A3o7