My friend Maggie and I took a chance on the slightly flaky weather forecast at the weekend for a two-day, one-night van trip to Glenfinnan. Our aim was two Corbetts, the first Braigh nan Uamhachan and the second, Streap.
What makes a mountain a great mountain?
Sometimes I stop to wonder what makes a mountain a great mountain. To be honest, Braigh nan Uamhachan is not particularly remarkable. It provides a decent distance of 20km, if you are looking for distance, although it is not hugely challenging. It is one of those mountains that could be easily forgotten as quite a nice day out.
But then again, on the day I cycled and walked it with Maggie, the weather turned out to be so much better than forecast. It was sunny and almost wind-free with times when it was warm enough to wear only one baselayer.
The views, especially of Ben Nevis in the distance, we surprisingly impressive. I enjoyed excellent company and Maggie and I chatted non-stop all day and then all evening when we had drinks and an evening meal at our vans.
There was also an impressive stone wall along the ridge – I love an old stone wall – plus we spotted many red deer, which alwasy makes my heart sing.
Overall, Braigh nan Uamhachan turned out to be a superb mountain day.
Bike ride to a bothy en route to Braigh nan Uamhachan
While the met office was showing a fairly decent weather report, MWIS seemed on the gloomy side with high chance of clag and windy tops, as well as sub-zero temperature. I check another two weather websites and discussed with Maggie that we could take a chance and see what happened on the day.
Given what the weather reports were suggesting, we chose a fairly short day, making use of our mountain bikes for the first 4km on a rough track. Starting in a small parking area just off the A830, before Glenfinnan, at around 15m elevation, we rode a short way back along the road and then cut left on to a track.
We continued to cycle to around 135m height. The ascent was fairly easy going with only a few harder pedalling efforts required.
On reaching a bothy, we alighted out bikes and set off on foot. It might seem silly to many people to ride such a short way but, when it came to the end of the walk, it is such a joy to be able to whizz back downhill again.
Walk of Braigh nan Uamhachan
The weather turned out to be much sunnier and warmer than forecast and Maggie and I thoroughly enjoyed the first hints of a proper Scottish summer. The cold weather has lingered this year so it was a delight to be able to shed waterproof jackets and outer layers.
A kilometre further along the the track, we looked up east at a rough and steep hillside. We had hoped to see a faint trod but there was little evidence of other footfall.
So, we simply started the climb. The aim was a higher point up ahead at about 500m elevation. Once at this point – and when we could see a prominent fence line – we progressed along a wide ridge in a more north-easterly direction.
It was a surprisingly long ridge that undulated and slowly climbed to the first higher point of Sron Liath at 683m and eventually to the Corbett summit at 765m.
Throughout the walk, sometimes on obvious paths and sometimes not, the views were superb, with a snow-capped Ben Nevis clearly visible to the east and, to the west, the horseshoe of summits of Streap, where we planned to walk the next day.
Maggie and I took our time, stopping for food and to enjoying the views whenever we fancied. A magnificent stone wall was a main feature for much of the ridge walk and we commented on the huge feat of building this borderline.
We took off layers and put on layers as we needed and generally enjoyed the chance to spend time in a spectacular setting and to catch up on lots of chat.
The summit of Braigh nan Uamhachan is marked by a small cairn and the return route is the same in reverse.
Return route on Braigh nan Uamhachan
It surprised me how long the return walk took, even thought it was mostly downhill. The final steep slope seemed steeper than when we has ascended.
I think it is best to do this walk in early summer or late autumn because the vegetation was still low. In mid-summer, I can imagine tall ferns and bracken.
Back on the track, we walked along to the bothy once again to collect our bikes. The ride downhilll was every bit as lovely as we had imagined it would be.
We returned to our vans, then moved to another place for our overnight stop. Once parked and changed, we popped open a bottle of fizz and ate crisps.
Just before we started to cook our meal, two of Maggie’s friends spotted us and popped over from their van for a chat and to share a drink. After the solitude of the day on the Corbett, we welcomed the chance to be more sociable with friends.
We discussed plans for the next day. While we would all be starting from a similar place, near Glenfinnan Viaduct, Maggie and I would target the Corbett Streap, while Maggies friends had their eye on nearby Munros.
Details: Braigh nan Uamhachan
Distance: 20km
Total ascent: 1200m
Corbetts bagged: 143.