Beinn Eighe in Torridon is a classic ridge walk that includes two Munro summits, the western peaks of Ruadh-Stac Mòr and Spidean Coire nan Clach.
I first walked these many, many years ago. In fact, I can’t recall the exact outing because Munro bagging was a new activity back then so it was great to return.
I have also walked the path part-way to the summits when reporting on the Cape Wrath Ultra. The route passes the high water of Lochan Coire Mhic Fhearchair.
Desk day escape to Torridon
Hubby G and I took advantage of a Monday off work that coincided with good weather in March. Brilliantly, we live only around an hour from Torridon these days so it was totally possible to make the decision on the Sunday evening.
There is an easy to follow path that leads to the stunning lochan although it seemed to be longer than I recalled. It didn’t matter though because the views were consistently fantastic. Torridon is one of our favourite areas to walk and we enjoyed the opportunity to be out together.
Lochan Coire Mhic Fhearchair looked beter than I’d ever seen it before. It was a calm day and the scenery of high and steep-sided mountains beneath a blue sky with interesting clouds was reflected in the loch’s glassy surface. Adding to the drama was a thin coating of ice on the loch.
We rested for a while at the loch’s northern end and enjoyed an early lunch.
After walking the length of the loch, we looked up towards a steep corrie. The slope was covered in snow and we decided to make use of our crampons and ice axe for the climb.
I was grateful we had packed this winter walking kit because the climb would have been potentially treacherous without crampons. Even with the right kit, it was a tricky hike up and I tried not to look down behind me at the slope plummeting to a field of rocks.
Once we’d gained the ridge, we headed north to reach the first Munro, Ruadh-Stac Mòr, at 1010m. It was a relatively short out-and-back route from 868m. The views were superlative!
Returning to the bealach, we looked south to see the route further along the ridge and to another steep snow-covered slope. It was scary to watch a group of people descending without crampons. It turned out they had kicked steps into the snow but ti would have been far easier, faster and safer to pop on crampons, in my opinion.
Again, I was grateful for our winter kit and we made speedy progress climbing the slope to reach a crescent of ridge that arcs towards Spidean Coire nan Clach.
There is a bit of a scambley section to gain the summit at 977m although nothing too daunting even for someone like me who isn’t keen on heights.
The descent path headed south, then east and then south again. Normally there is a steep scree slope to descend but we were actually thankful to see more slow. We added our crampons again and with an axe in hand, we made the descent on the snow.
The path then winds and zig-zags back towards the road. A final walk of just more than 2km along the road returned us to where we had parked the car in the Beinn Eighe car park.
G is closing in on his second Munro round and these two Munros were on his list.
Beinn Eighe Munros walk
Distance: 18km
Total ascent: 1310m