Spider on ma leg
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
MANY of the old stalking paths that seam Scotland’s hills are falling into disrepair. All-terrain vehicles have taken the place of human effort, when men and ponies tramped into the wild corries in search of deer and the dead beasts were carried down on pony back.
There are some areas, however, where these well engineered paths are still intact, making access to hills a whole lot easier for walkers. Perfect examples are the paths on two Munros north of Loch Quoich, Gleouraich and Spidean Mialach – jokingly known as Spider on ma leg. The magnificent mountain area around the loch and to the west of it, into Knoydart, contains a rich seam of Munros and Corbetts to tempt the hillgoer.
Wild and rugged, with little habitation, it’s as well to have some experience under your belt before you venture here.
On this perfect, still, gloriously sunny day, the mountain panorama was looking its best as we drove along the minor road from Invergarry and past the Quoich dam.
The east face of Gairich towered above the south shore of the loch as we made for our start point – a small car park just after the bridge over the Allt Coire Peitireach.
Directly opposite is the path leading up to Gleouraich, and the two peaks can be done in a clockwise direction, with Gleouraich first.
The last time I had done these Munros, many years before, had been this way, in the company of Cameron McNeish – a colleague at the time when we worked on The Great Outdoors and Climber magazines. This time I was intent on going anticlockwise – for variety as well as to get what is probably the best of the views.
Rosemary and I walked east along the road in search of the stalkers’ track up to Spidean Mialach. It’s about 200 metres from the car park but well concealed by foliage and not immediately obvious.
It heads diagonally up into soggy Coire Mheil and the only section of really rough walking on this circuit.
We crossed the Allt Mheil and made for the steep, grassy slope of Spidean Mialach, occasionally split by boulder scree. The cairn at the top is perched between two deep corries which add greatly to the grandeur of this Munro. A whole series of similar corries characterises the walk from here on, and the views are unparalleled.
It’s hard to know where to look. Opposite is the switchback of the South Kintail Ridge and south-west, among the jumble of mountains, the pinnacle of Sgurr na Ciche stands out, as does the east face of mighty Ladhar Bheinn.
We turned west and prepared for a big drop down to Fiar Bhealach. The height loss is more than 250 metres from the 996 metre summit and it’s a stiff but gradual pull back up to Creag Coire na Fiar Bhealaich, the top dividing Spidean Mialach and Gleouraich.
Suddenly a whole stream of people appeared, descending towards us, having started the circuit with Gleouraich.
Its north face was holding a fair bit of snow still and we pushed on, keen to get there. There’s another small drop before the easy east ridge leading to the trig point at 1036 metres. We paused again to feast our eyes on the mountains before following the path west, then south down Gleouraich’s impressive south ridge.
The walk ended through colourful rhododendrons alongside the gurgling Allt Coire Peitireach, with Gairich ahead, its features lit by the afternoon sun.
Driving back to Invergarry I was forced to stop for a young tawny owl, standing bang in the middle of the road. It hissed at me and flapped its wings as I persuaded it to the side. But it didn’t look well and I feared it was not long for this world. A rather sad end to an otherwise wonderful day.
