Over The Hill

These three Corbetts are classically climbed from Inverailort in a horseshoe, which I did in 2003 with Dave Duncan of the CDMC, but we decided on a different route having read reports on Walkhighlands, namely Dkirk1001, and The Rodmeister. As I had already done the classic route I was keen to try another one.

We were very lucky indeed on several counts. The weather forecast was for a fine day but with a chilly wind, there was very little traffic on the journey up, and we got the last parking space in the lay-by (the others were kayakers I think). We met the farmer’s wife who told us the route to take round the farm and through three gates to the track on the south side of the Alisary Burn and outside the forest which made for a fuss free start which is always a bonus. The views to Eigg and Rum were opening up and as we gained height we could see Skye too. Having left the forest we climbed by the old wall which guards the steep sided burn and spotted what could only be a white tailed eagle, its wingspan looking like a barn door! No photos though, shame.

As the best views are from the west top of Rois Bheinn that was our first objective. We climbed up the ridge which leads directly to it, on relatively easy dry ground but which got steeper near the top to see the large cairn which marks the spot. We were not disappointed. Looking round from the SW we could see Ben More and the cliffs on Mull, Ardnamurchan peninsula, the Small Isles (Muck, Eigg & Rum) some Outer Hebrides (Barra and South Uist) and the Cuillins on Skye. We met a man who was doing the same route as us but in reverse, doing An Stac first which he said was very steep. There is a good path between Rois Bheinn and Sgurr na Ba Glaise following another wall, which made it an easy approach. While we had a bite to eat sheltering from the wind two men and a dog appeared from the east but they didn’t stop. These three were the only people we met on the hill. Looking south east we could see Cruachan, and further round the Corbetts near Ardgour, and then Ben Nevis and Aonach Mor covered in snow.

Our route off retracing our steps took us steeply to the Bealach an Fhiona and to the lower bealach above Coire na Cnamha at 530m and we tried to spot a route up An Stac which would avoid the rocky bluffs. We had dropped 340m to then climb 280m! It was steep and the third climb of the day so our pace had slowed, but how surprised were we when we thought we had another 100m yet to climb the top just appeared! What joy. Half an hour here basking in our glory, sheltering from the wind and relishing the views. Our route off went directly west and zigzagged through the rocks to join our outward route at the wall and the burn.

What a wonderful day, and a day to be remembered. If you stay in the area and not do what we did and drive there and back in the one day, you can take more time to enjoy the experience. We got safely back to the car at 5pm to find it was the only one left there. Drove home in daylight, we were two happy girls; Trish & Lesley