Sump To Summit

We awoke on Wednesday morning next to Loch Torridon to find that the unsettled weather had passed, giving way to clear skies. We didn’t have much of a plan for where to go next until we had a solid forecast, so we sat with a coffee, checking various weather predictions for the region while taking in the stunning views of the Torridon hills. It’s incredible how these mountains suddenly rise from the valley floor to over 1,000 metres, sitting almost like ancient relics of castles built by giants.

The weather outlook for northwest Scotland was looking much the same, with some warmer temperatures later in the week, so we decided to skip the Cairngorms and stick to this area. We drove further north to Poolewe, where we decided to commit to a couple of nights’ stay at the head of Fionn Loch, at the causeway between it and Loch Dubh. Here, we had access to remote Munros and scrambles galore.

We obviously had to stop off for a coffee and scone as a final treat before spending the next couple of days rationing food. I was in charge of meal plans for the next couple of days and, as you’ll read later, it was a bit of a throwback to some student meal plans.

We picked up final supplies and then it was time to get bags packed and ready. Just before setting off, Dave pointed out that I’d not even packed breakfast. Oops! Better to realise now than when prepping breakfast the next day. All food packed, we began our 16km walk to the camping spot.

Much of the land we were walking across is part of the Carnmore Estate, so the walk was a mix of paved road into forest, followed by open moorland. As we crossed the moorland, the valley slowly began to open up, and we could see where we’d be spending the next couple of days. As we arrived, we spotted a small beach with views across Fionn Loch and decided to set up camp there. We had to cross a small stream, and since we both felt very heavy at this point, having carried ~25kg on our backs for 16km, walking poles were needed. I went to hand mine to Dave, had a moment, and ended up slipping into the water, soaking not only one but both b2s. Excellent.

We met some characters en route – two old Scots with their black Labrador and a woman who had come out all on her own on her e-bike. A bit mad, but good effort! The Scots needed a translator for us to understand anything they were saying. We all intended to summit the two Munros at the end of the valley, A’Mhaighdean and Ruadh Stac Mòr, so we ended up bumping into each other multiple times across our time out there.

Once camp was set up, I started to prep the first Michelin star meal, which consisted of sweet and sour chicken with leeks and rice. There were midges but they didn’t hang around at all which was lucky! We tucked into a bottle of Arran whisky that Molly had kindly provided. We watched the sun set across the vast valley laid out in front of us and witnessed the gradual transition into night. The Milky Way eventually made its presence known, which was incredible to see with the absence of any light pollution. By this point, we had polished off half a bottle, so we stayed up, staring at the sky, drunkenly rambling on about astronomy and putting the world to rights.

Eventually, we snapped out of it and realised it was getting late, and we had a big day ahead, so we called it a night. A night which consisted of broken sleep and itching as the midge bites began to take hold.

Eventually, it was morning and time to get up. Breakfast consisted of tinned sausages and beans with some bread and a brew. We decided on a plan for the day, which involved running and scrambling, with the ultimate aim of ticking off two Munros. An epic day lay ahead.

Before setting off, we bumped into a group of deer stalkers heading out on their daily hunt. We were soon on our way to the first scramble, which was Grey Ridge (Grade 3) up the southern face of Beinn a’ Chàisgein Mòr. This featured some fantastic slab climbing that finished on a pinnacle. We then ran across to our second scramble, ‘Doddle’, up Càrnan Bàn. This was a Grade 2 scramble up more slabs. The rock quality was excellent, with good scrambling throughout, and it deserved more than the two stars the book had given it. It was a shame it was so short, as we would have loved to scramble up more of this.

Lunchtime! I’d packed some cheese and pickle sarnies for us to tuck into. We ate them on the edge of Fuar Loch Mòr, in perfect view of the two Munros we had yet to tackle. Ruadh Stac Mòr was our first destination, but there was no set route to the summit. We spotted some exposed rocks and decided to scramble up them, which gave us easy access to the top. The view from up here was so rewarding; we could see across the Fisherfields, Fannocks, and An Teallach Munros – the latter will be our final mission before heading back to England. Just wow.

We couldn’t gawp for too long as time was pressing on, and we still had another scramble and Munro to summit. On the descent, we bumped into the woman we met on the way in, who was now on her way up this Munro. We sat and chatted for a bit before continuing on our way.

We quickly reached the next scramble, which, to our luck, was entirely in the shade. The heat of the day had started taking its toll, and we needed to try and keep cool for a bit. This was a Grade 2 scramble called Bivouac Rib, ending on the summit of A’Mhaighdean. Although it didn’t receive a high rating in the book, there were some fun moves, and we enjoyed it.

On the final summit, we had a quick cheese and pickle sandwich before running back down to the tent via north-west ridge (grade 1/2 scramble) so that we could have a dip in the loch before sundown. We were looking forward to chilling out with some more whisky and the second Michelin star meal, cooked by moi.

It only took us an hour and a half to get back to the tent, which was good progress, and then another 30 seconds before we were in the loch. Holy shit, was it cold. A quick wash and swim before getting out and prepping for dinner. I opted for the delicacy of smoked sausages and leeks with curried noodles. Recipe:

2 x Curried Super Noodles

1 x Leek

2 x Ready-to-eat smoked sausages

2 tablespoons of Madras curry powder

400ml cold water – Yep, the gas ran out.

The gas ran out, and then the midges came. Not just a few but thousands. Despite the Smidge (midge repellent), these guys did not give a fuck and still landed on whatever skin they could find. They swarmed around us and wouldn’t leave. With no gas, we couldn’t cook dinner, so we had to let the noodles soak. We paced around the beach to try and keep the midges at bay, but stop for a second, and they’d swarm around us.

Eventually, the noodles were soft enough for us to attempt to eat them. Attempt. Every mouthful came with a side of a dozen or so midges. I gave up.

Dave proposed that we pack up and walk back to the car. I was tired, and the thought of another 16km hike back was unbearable. We had a nice evening of whisky drinking planned. But, the midges were relentless, and they weren’t letting up. Eventually, I accepted defeat, and we packed up and walked back.

Before we started walking, the deer stalkers from earlier in the day passed with the head of a stag on a stick followed by horses carrying the rest of it. If anyone is reading this and knows this tradition, it would be interesting to know why they were walking around with the head on a stick!

The walk back was hard. Exhausted from the day’s activities, my feet hurt, and the bags slowly felt heavier as time passed. One positive was that the sunset was beautiful, and it was great to see the night sky once again.

Four hours later, at around half past midnight, we reached the van. It was such a relief to finally be back; we both felt pretty broken at this point. I put some sausage and beans on the hob, and we had this with some cheese – absolutely divine. At that point, it tasted far better than anything I had cooked all week. We both agreed that the next day would be a rest day.

We woke up and went to the local café to restore some of the energy lost the previous day (3,500 calories) with lots of coffee, hot food, and carrot cake. The staff were friendly and recommended a local beach for us to check out called Mellon Udrigle, which we headed straight for.

Dave nearly reversed the van into a stream, corrected himself, and we then went to chill out on the beach. It had white sands and offered views along the northwest coast, with all the Munros in sight, as far north as Suilven in Sutherland.

I’d hyped us both up for a swim, expecting the water to be cold, but I wasn’t prepared for just how cold it would be. It took a good five minutes to get used to the temperature before we could swim around. The water was crystal clear, and apart from the cold, it felt like we could have been somewhere in the Mediterranean, not Scotland!

Time slipped away from us quickly, and there was a ceilidh in a local village that we wanted to go to, but we still had to eat. We found a pub that served local seafood and ordered the seafood platter, which consisted of langoustines and squat lobster. Incredibly fiddly and left us stinking of fish before our ceilidh debut performance, but it was delicious.

We then headed to the Gairloch community centre for the ceilidh. I was expecting a large group of locals dancing to traditional ceilidh music, but instead, we arrived at a quiet community centre with locals seated around the edges, listening to a band. Thinking there wouldn’t be any dancing, Dave had to convince me to go in.

Once inside, it felt like something out of Phoenix Nights or The Inbetweeners. We found our seats and waited for things to kick off. Eventually, the accordion player called out dances, and me and Dave looked at each other, clueless about what any of it meant. We expected someone to demonstrate the dances, but that wasn’t the case. This was going to be a laugh.

After watching some of the dancing and still not quite grasping it, we decided the best approach was to get up, give it a go, and accept that we’d mess it up along the way. That’s part of the fun, after all.

We joined in, and the locals were incredibly welcoming. They shouted out instructions as we went along and were happy to dance with us. It was fun not knowing these people yet being so warmly welcomed. They threw themselves wholeheartedly into the dancing with us, despite our lack of ceilidh dancing skills.

The ceilidh was part of a Gaelic festival, celebrating Highland culture. Two singers joined in – one from Skye and the other from one of the Outer Hebrides. Between the dances, these singers took turns performing Gaelic songs, and both had fantastic voices.

Since it was a Gaelic festival, the evening was spoken and sung in Scottish Gaelic. As this has been an endangered language, it was really special to hear it being preserved and celebrated.

After two hours, the dancing came to an end, which felt like a shame as we were just getting into the swing of things. What a fantastic night!

We quickly decided that we would tackle An Teallach the next day as our final outing, so we drove up to Dundonnell and parked up there for the night to save an early start the next day. More on this adventure to come…