Great Mountain Days in Scotland. Dan Bailey
17 Cluanie Horseshoe from Glen Affric
18 Beinn Fhada, The Brothers and the Five Sisters
19 South Glen Shiel Ridge to The Saddle
20 Ladhar Bheinn and Loch Hourn
21 The Sgurr na Ciche range – a Rough Bounds round
22 Glen Finnan circuit
23 Beinn Odhar Bheag and the Rois-Bheinn group
Lochaber, The Central and Southern Highlands
24 Creag Meagaidh
25 Ben Alder and the Geal-chàrn group
26 Lochaber Traverse
27 The Mamores
28 Glen Coe circuit
29 Black Mount Traverse
30 Glen Etive hills
31 Ben Cruachan, Beinn Eunaich and Beinn a’ Chochuil
32 Achallader’s five Munros
33 Tyndrum’s five Corbetts
34 Ben Lui, Ben Oss and Beinn Dubhchraig
35 Crianlarich hills
36 Arrochar ‘Alps’
37 Ben Lawers group and the Tarmachan Ridge
38 Beinn a’Ghlo, the Tarf and the Tilt
39 Munros of Glen Feshie
40 Cairngorms 4000-ers
41 Beinn a’ Bhuird and Ben Avon
42 Lochnagar via The Stuic
43 Glen Clova circuit
44 Galloway hills
45 Glen Rosa circuit, Arran
46 Cuillin Traverse, Rum
47 Bla Bheinn, Sgurr na Stri and Sligachan, Skye
48 Trotternish Ridge, Skye
49 An Cliseam range, Harris
50 Uig hills, Lewis
Appendix 1 Walk Summary Table
Appendix 2 Key Summits and Ranges
Appendix 3 Further Reading
Appendix 4 Useful Contacts and Websites
Beinn a’ Bhuird from Carn Eas (Walk 41)
Beinn nan Eachan from Meall Garbh on the Tarmachan Ridge (Walk 37)
PREFACE
View northeast from Goatfell. Left to right: Cir Mhor, Caisteal Abhail, the deep notch of the Witch’s Step and North Goatfell (Walk 45)
I’m a Londoner by birth (well, no one’s perfect). Naturally I took my early steps in hillwalking down south. Snowdonia’s rugged grandeur and the manageable idyll of the Lake District both felt familiar before I’d ever ventured north of the border. At the age of 15 or so my first trip to the Highlands didn’t just expand my horizons – it blew them away. Here were the hills I’d always dreamed of – elemental, austere and just a bit hostile. Their scale was liberating. Roadless empty spaces splayed across map after map, offering the limitless scope of a blank canvas.
As I recall we climbed only five or six Munros that week. We spent a lot of the time knee-deep in bogs or stumbling through low cloud; we hardly set foot on a decent path, and I don’t think we met another walker on the hills the whole trip. We really earned those summits – and that’s the way it should be. I instinctively feel that the less accommodating a hill, the greater its rewards; and by that measure Scotland’s take some beating.
From the Alps to the Andes, I’ve been lucky to spend time in the major ranges of most continents, yet some of my most memorable days have been enjoyed closer to home. There remains something uniquely special about the Highlands and Islands, and 20-odd years after that first trip they still give me a thrill every time.
Working on this book has been a pleasure and a privilege, taking me the length and breadth of Scotland and even unearthing some hitherto unfamiliar gems along the way. I’m gradually filling in my canvas; but, happily, more blank space still remains than I’ll ever have time to cover. Whether you follow the descriptions in this guide to the letter or simply use them as a springboard for other things, I hope these 50 routes inspire you to enjoy many great days of your own in Scotland’s very special mountains.
Dan Bailey 2012
Sgurr Mór (right), Loch Quoich and Gleouraich from Ben Aden’s northeast ridge (Walk 21)
INTRODUCTION
Demanding terrain from sea level to summit – Sgurr na Stri (Walk 47) from Elgol, Skye
Scottish hill walks offer some of the greatest mountain days of their type to be found anywhere. The Highlands and Islands make an exceptional destination – rugged and remote, yet conveniently compact. This is a small nation full of big country, with a diversity of precious landscapes. The Cairngorms’ sub-arctic magnificence; the lush green of the Southern Highlands; Sutherland’s mind-cleansing emptiness; the western seaboard and islands, a dazzling interlocking of mountain and water – all these are part of Scotland’s natural heritage, and each one is unique. Spanning the whole of the country, this book seeks out quality walks from every upland area, a collection that shows off Scotland’s mountains in all their variety.
Scottish hills are notable for their uncompromising character, if not their height, and however straightforward they may be in climbing terms (via the easier routes at least) they may demand a lot from walkers. Summit elevations look modest compared to the Alps or the Rockies, but this can be misleading, particularly on the west coast, where tough terrain generally starts at sea level. Maritime position and northerly latitude combine to give the landscape a distinctive harshness.
When rain hoses horizontally or the winter plateaux are engulfed in ‘white noise’, the Scottish hills are no soft option, but the weather is also one of the country’s great assets. If landscape is a visual spectacle, then it is climate that gives it kinetic energy, turning snapshot into movie. Clear northern light plays across rock and water, its sun spears and cloud shadows adding tension and a sense of movement.
With the sea’s dominant influence, mercurial changeability is the one climatic constant, and no two days’ weather are ever likely to seem quite the same. Although at times a curse, such unpredictability is also a source of endless novelty. Downpour, sunshine, wind and snow