This hill and the others below were part of my walk across Scotland with Graeme and Roy so the approach was different from the norm. We started from the Aultguish Inn on the A835, walked about 2/3 miles west and then up to a fence and over a gate onto a new plantation, partly deciduous trees for a change. They were easy to avoid so we could not damage anything except ourselves. And well we might as the terrain was horrible. For drainage reasons dozens of parallel ditches ran down the hill and as we were climbing diagonally it was up, down, up, down all the way to the end of the plantation and over another gate. This was only the start of a day of awful terrain, the worst I've ever met. Maybe it's because we were in pathless territory and maybe because there is lots of peat and bumps but it is awful country to walk in. From the
gate it was down into a dip then after a series of ups and downs we slowly made our way up a long, fairly easy ridge to the crest ridge of "the little hill with the long name" (Beinn Liath Mhor a'Ghuibhais Li). From here the idea is to aim for the plateau at 500 metres with two summits and in between mist swirls I could see it, looking a bit like a golf course with two greens at either end of the plateau. On the plateau itself we took our bearings, working out that we had to go round a small hill ahead and to the left. This would take us to Loch Gorm just below the Fannichs. One thing the book did say and we, or should I say me, missed was a comment that from the plateau we should keep to the 500 metre contour as we went round the hill. We didn't, dropping down somewhat and got ourselves bogged down in the worst terrain I've ever encountered. First of all we were walking round a hill so you have the first difficulty of walking on a slant. Then there were peat hags, horrible hummocks and worst of all great cuts in the hillside so down you went. Eventually we decided to head a bit more uphill and after awhile the loch thankfully appeared. We virtually all agreed at once that we should camp overnight and finish the hill in the morning.
It was still misty when we got up but this cleared quickly and we could see how beautiful the scenery was. Off and up alongside Loch Gorm, this time using the shore as much as possible which was much easier and we soon reached the slopes at the top of the loch. A slow climb up and we were soon at the little lochan halfway up to the ridge. Graeme and Roy reached the ridge long before me, but I was getting used to that, the old guy slowing everyone down. On the ridge at the col between An Coileachan and Meall Gorm we decided we would do the former. It looked so easy so we dumped the packs and went. And it really was easy, just a gentle climb up grassy and then stony ground to the cairn. Some nice views up here looking back to Ben Wyvis.
Down we came from An Coileachan meeting a solo walker who would have passed us without even a grunt had not Roy collared him. At the bottom we picked up our gear once again and then up towards Meall Gorm. The walking was easy. The ridge is wide, grassy and pleasant with no problems at all. Just before the top we came across the stalkers cottage Muriel Gray mentioned on her video, all fallen down now unfortunately. I had forgotten it was there so it was a pleasant surprise to come across it. We had lunch there, soup and a power (energy ) bar. The soup as usual was lovely but the energy bar - Yughh. Shortly after this we reached the summit. Not a lot to shout about, it's a particularly featureless summit with not a lot to it. On one side we could see the route back to the road, On the other side we could see Sgurr nan Clach Geala and Sgurr nan Each both of which looked to be powerful climbs. We had already decided we could not take them in which was a pity. Still there will be other days.
Down from Meall Gorm the way was pretty obvious along the ridge, down then up over a top called Meall nam Peithirean which I cannot now even remember doing. The view on the way up Sgurr Mor took in the side mountain Beinn Liath Mhor Fannich which did not look to be difficult but which we declined because it meant going off to climb it and then having to come all the way back to Sgurr Mor. Too much effort for us but one we can bag another time.
The last part of the climb up Sgurr Mor is interesting but tiring. Muriel Gray again mentioned it in her video as being a series of steps caused by erosion - not a place she says for siting a caravan park. Not a place for climbing either. It is really strenuous stepping up two or three feet onto a relatively flat area, a bit like crossing a road, then up another two or three feet and so on. This went on and on and it gets weary. But then so does all the climbing to me. Some lovely views at the top, this being the highest summit in the Fannichs, though Sgurr nan Clach Geala across the glen runs it a close second. Lovely views of Slioch and, I think, of the hills of Knoydart. Looking ahead we could just determine Meall a' Chrasgaidh our last hill of the day. It hardly looked like a hill from this angle. We were not unduly tired at this point but knew we still had quite a walk to the bothy so had decided to take the easiest way, which was via Meall a'Chrasgaidh. Besides it looked as if this hill would have good views of An Teallach, now visible ahead.
Coming off the steep slopes of Sgurr Mor is not too difficult and we were very soon down in the col leading to Carn na Criche. Once up this I was saying how easy the climb to Meall a'Chrasgaidh was. The others gave me funny looks. "This isn't it, this is only the top going towards it ." Sure enough the real hill loomed ahead, by now looking much more like a mountain. What we were on was just the turning point on the Fannichs ridge. Go left and you are on to Sgurr nan Clach Geala ( it really does look to be a hard, interesting climb). Go straight ahead as we did and you are on to Meall a'Chrasgaidh. Actually it is a pretty straightforward climb up to the summit, especially at my speed of twenty paces, stop, twenty paces, stop, etc. The top was worth it for the view of An Teallach, showing it at its spikiest best. I gather that you get
the best views of it from this side of the hill and it looked good. A bit cloudy on the top although the weather was now excellent. We came down the side of the hill, a long drop but not too difficult. Lots of peat bog and hummocks but by taking a diagonal line we could avoid most of the really bad stuff. It also helps when you can see the bottom where a river flowed and knew just how far to get down. At the bottom a reasonably easy walk up the glen on to a path which led to the edge of Loch a'Bhraoin. This corner of the loch is not far from the A832 and you can park cars nearby. We, however, continued on to the Lochavron bothy.
