Weather forecast good for what was promising to be a long day. It is getting harder to find hills out of Fort William as a base but Glenfinnan was not too far from the campsite. A good early start with Roy Tugwell as companion, parked in the small car park on the road to Glenfinnan Lodge. A very long walk (couple of miles) along the tarred road to the lodge. Popped in to have a look at the Corryhully bothy and was very impressed - clean, with electricity and logs outside for the fire. At the bothy the path becomes a track and after a few hundred yards a stalkers path, marked by a cairn, goes up off to the left. Up to this point we had not decided whether to go up this hill or Sgurr Thuilm first. We decided on this hill as it was supposed to have rocky outcrops and with Roy not so good on rocks it was perhaps better to do these on the way up than coming down. The path was excellent and it was a pleasant walk (despite rain showers) to
its end. After this we met the first rock outcrops. Roy took them head on and told me he had found the way difficult. I decided to bypass the first outcrop on the right but found myself having to work diagonally up the hill to get back to the crest of the ridge. I think Roy took the better route. Once back on the crest a path is met which helps though it is quite a rocky climb with some minor scrambling. The snow at the top had covered any path which made it even more of a rocky climb to the top. We sat in snow for Guinness and sandwiches with some views but it soon became very misty. Suddenly a blizzard started and with the mist visibility was down to only a few yards. We were not too concerned as a) I had already taken a bearing on the way to go and b) there were fence poles to guide on the route. As it was it only lasted a few minutes before the route became quite clear and amazingly after this we were in full sunshine for the rest of the day. A bit of a disaster coming off the summit when I caught my heel between two rocks and fell into a patch of rocky snow, rolling over at least a couple of times and ending up in a daze. Apart from lightly spraining my thumb (I now find that my children have never heard of the word "stave") I was fine though shaken and one of my sticks had bent itself.
The ridge from Sgurr nan Coireachan to Sgurr Thuilm is very straightforward and simple. It is wide with no exposure whatsoever and it is just a matter of walking up and down the three or four tops. The only saving grace is that it is quite a rocky ridge and a bit sore on the feet, but it is not difficult. Especially in the glorious sunshine we were now basking in. At the end of the ridge it rises to a top which then goes on to the summit making it a nice easy climb to the top. The ridge is also made easy as there are fence poles the whole way so you cannot get lost. They are however a little deceptive at the end as they do not go to the summit but veer off towards the downward ridge. No idea if there is a path to the summit as it was covered in snow and it was just a matter for us walking up over snow covered rocks till we got there. There is a double cairn at the top but the higher one is obvious. The book says that Sgurr nan Coireachan has better
views but I'm not sure I agree even allowing for the fact that here was clear and the other misty. The views are wonderful, made even better by all the high peaks such as Ben Nevis being covered in snow. Everywhere you can see hills e.g. Knoydart, Glenfinnan, Nevis etc. A quick drink of juice and away down a gentle slope. The gentle walk continues to about 600 metres then gets quite steep but never difficult and a path is with you all the way. The way down reaches the track just at the end of a deer fence followed by a long walk back to the bothy - it seemed much longer than on coming. This had been a long day so the last couple of miles on the road were weary, but not awful.
