When Hubby G walked the summits of Moruisg and Sgurr nan Ceannaichean as part of his first round of Munros, they both qualified in the list of Munro’s Tables. Now, after remeasuring, the summit of Sgurr nan Ceannichian has been reclassified as a Corbett.
The last time G was on the summits the weather was foul with heavy rain and strong winds. He said he hardly saw a thing and didn’t find much of a path anywhere.
The situation could not have been more different on the May bank holiday (31st). It was a hot day with clear, blue skies.
Leaving the laying, there was an obvious path. it was a bit boggy but not too bad after a spell of dry weather. We head through a low tunnel, under the railway line, and continued on the obvious trod before we started to climb the steep slope of Moruisg.
G recalls there being zero trods on this mountainside but I would summarise that there was more path than not as we climbed up and up and, seemingly, ever more steeply.
In places the path zig-zagged to ease the strain on calf muscles but really there was no escaping the fact we had to go up.
A double summit on Moruisg
The summit of Moruisg is the one that record breaker Donnie Campbell had to climb back up to as part of his non-stop Munros round last year. He thought he had reached the top, where there is a superb cairn, only to discover back at the van that his wife was driving that he hadn’t quite reached the top.
G and I reached the cain, where two men were resting. The smiled as I touched the cairn, as if I’d reached the top, and pointed towards the summit proper. We could easily see the actual summit in the near distance but in poor weather it is not difficult to understand why Donnie missed it.
The views on the day we walked these two mountains were clear and mesmerising. It also felt very surreal to find ourselves suddenly living in house so close to such a brilliant outdoors playground.
We enjoyed a short rest on Moruisg at 926m elevation. It is a little over Munro height (914.4m). This was a new Munro for me.
The walk to Sgurr nan Ceannaichean
The route to Sgurr nan Ceannaichean was obvious and while we lost quite a bit of height coming off Moruisg, the weather and views more than made up for the subsequent climb back up to almost Munro height.
Sgurr nan Ceannaichean was reclassified as a Corbettt in 2011 and has a summit height of 913m. This is just a metre off Munro status!
We followed the path upwards until we reached a cairn. This cairn definitely marked the top! The views were tremendous and we stopped to enjoy rest, food and to drink in the vista.
The return took us over the ridge of Creag a’ Chait to the north, before descending more steeply to join a path alongside a fast-flowing mountain burn.
G kept saying that he was amazed by the obvious path. He said that the last time he walked these mountains, he had tramped frustratingly over wild terrain.
The path along the rive, Alltan na Feola, was undulating and boggy in places but it offered an excellent route back to the layby.
Apart from some of the steeper section, I think this route would make a great run.
Munros baged: 274
Corbetts bagged: 52