Sgurr na Ba Glaise (874m), Rois-bheinn (882m) and An Stac (814m) 1st June 2009

Sgurr na Ba Glaise, Rois-bheinn and An Stac

The car was parked at the lay by which lies at the side of the phone box in Lochailort township and I started walking at 9.45 am. It was sunny and already hot so I knew it would be an energy sapping day. On the opposite side of the road a track led through a pretty wood to a bridge over the River Ailort and then along a road past the Glenshian Hotel. This became a track and when this suddenly ended a boogy path took over. This led through attractive woods festooned with flowering rodedenrens and this then became an ATV track. By this stage there were lovely views of Druim Fiaclach, Sgurr na Ba Glaise and An Stac, particularly as the ATV track climbed the hillside. I left the track and climbed the open hillside towards the top of Beinn Coire nan Gall. I contoured around the summit and climbed to the summit of Druim Fiaclach, which I reached at 12.40 pm. The views of the hills of Glenfinnan, Morar and Knoydart were beautiful and I had a half hour lunch here.

Looking to Beinn Odhar Bheag and Beinn Mhic Cedidh

After lunch I walked over the subsidiary top of An t-Slat-bheinn and then climbed up to Sgurr na Ba Glaise, reaching the summit at 2.20 pm. It had taken me over 4 and a half hours to reach the first Marilyn of the day and I had 2 more to go, so I knew I was in for a long day. After admiring the view for 10 minutes I followed a patchy path down to the Bealach an Fhiona. The climb up to Rois-bheinn looked a steep and a hard slog in the heat, although there were impressive views of An Stac and Sgurr na Ba Glaise. This didn't take my mind off the hard work to come though. A wall climbed up the ridge of Rois-bheinn and I followed this, and while it was hard work it wasn't as steep as it had looked from below. I reached the 882m summit, which was marked by a cairn, at 3.15 pm and proceeded straight to the 878m west top. This is a better viewpoint and is marked by a large cairn. The view was amazing, although the heat made it somewhat hazy. There were views to Rum, Eigg and Skye top the west, the hills of Ardnamurchan, Ardgour, Moidart, Morar, Knoydart and Glenfinnan, and of a snow speckled Ben Nevis. After time to appreciate the scene I retraced my steps to the main summit and then down the ridge by the side of the wall to the Bealach an Fhiona.

An Stac

Ben Hiant on the Ardnamurchan peninsula

The climb up to An Stac was a hard slog as it was hot, I was tired and dehydrated and the climb was steep and rocky. I reached the summit at 5 pm and stayed for 15 minutes to enjoy the view and rest from the toil of climbing upwards in the heat. The descent was steep and rocky and took a lot of concentration in order to find the correct route down. It was hard going and seemed to go on and on and on ... Eventually, after going over Seann Chruach and an unnamed 322m top, I reached the path I had followed in the morning. I then followed the path and the track to the hotel and the track back to the car. This I reached at 7.50 pm, meaning that the whole walk had taken 10 hours and 5 minutes. I was knackered but it had been a fantastic day and worth all the effort.

Rois-bheinn

An Stac

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