Walking the Corbetts Vol 2 North of the Great Glen. Brian Johnson
(NM 82570 63300)
Sgurr Dhomhnuill is the highest peak in Ardgour and as such makes a good viewpoint. In common with other Ardgour peaks it is a rocky mountain with many crags and slabs limiting access to the mountain. The attractive approach through the Ariundle National Nature Reserve, one of the finest oak woodlands in Scotland, is the shortest of the easy routes up the mountain.
Sgurr Dhomhnuill
Mining in this area dates back to 1722, when Sir Alexander Murray discovered galena (lead sulphide) in the surrounding hills. Strontian was established in 1724 to provide homes for some of the 600 miners who worked in the mines in their heyday. Ariundle Woods provided timber for pit props and wood to make charcoal for the local lead smelters. Lead was required in large quantities for shot during the Napoleonic wars and, ironically, French prisoners of war were employed in the lead mines. You will see plenty of evidence of the lead mining industry on the route up Sgurr Dhomhnuill and the remains of charcoal burning platforms can still be seen in the woods.
Head up the good track through the Ariundle Nature Reserve, ignoring any side turns, to a fork immediately after a gate through the deer fence at the top of the nature reserve (120m, 84890 64850). Fork left, following the old miner’s track, which soon becomes an excellent path, eventually leaving the forest and passing through an area of old lead mines. Continue until the good miner’s path ends (1hr 10min, 280m, 86240 66700).
Continue along an intermittent, boggy path up the left-hand side of the unnamed burn heading for the obvious saddle between the Druim Garbh ridge and Sgurr Dhomhnuill. When the burn splits (565m, 88400 67850) a short distance below the saddle you can see a grassy ‘valley’ leading ESE to a pass high on the S ridge of Sgurr Dhomhnuill. Head for this saddle (765m, 88940 67610) and climb easily up grass slopes between the crags to the summit of Sgurr Dhomhnuill (2hr 55min, 888m, 88960 67880). The summit is topped by a massive cairn with a depression in the middle which looks as if it could have been an old burial mound. There is little left of the nearby trig point.
Return by the same route to the end of the miner’s track (4hr 5min) and the car park (5hr 10min).
ROUTE 6
Garbh Bheinn rough mountain
| Start | Abhainn Coire an Iubhair (NM 92850 59730) |
| Distance | 12km (8 miles) |
| Total ascent | 1310m (4300ft) |
| Difficulty | The rough path up the SE ridge of Garbh Bheinn has occasional rocksteps and slabs to climb. The suggested route is only for experienced mountaineers in good weather. It involves finding the only feasible route through the steep crags down the N face of Garbh Bheinn; a route which is not obvious from above and would be very difficult to follow in bad visibility. Most walkers will want to return by the ascent route rather than follow the suggested traverse of Beinn Bheag and Druim an Iubhair. This is one of the most difficult mountains on the Scottish mainland to explore and not a mountain on which inexperienced walkers should take any chances. |
| Time | 6hr 25min |
| Summits | Gharbh Choire Bhig (823m), Garbh Bheinn (885m, 2903ft), Beinn Bheag (736m, Graham), Sgurr Mhic Eacharna (650m, Graham) |
| Maps | OS Landranger 40 and 49 |
| Access | Follow the A861 E from Strontian and park beside the old road bridge across the Abhainn Coire an Iubhair, about 600m before the junction with the B8043. |
| Note | Walkers should think of returning down the SE ridge as the normal descent route. Another possibility is descending steeply NE from the saddle between Garbh Bheinn and Garbh Coire Bhig. There is a bit of a rough path down the corrie, but the author has not tested this route and it looks rather unpleasant when viewed from across the glen. |
Garbh Bheinn is a magnificent mountain. Steep crags protect the mountain on all sides and it is a mecca for rock climbers and scramblers as well as walkers. It appears to be impregnable from most directions and the SE ridge is the only relatively easy approach. There are good views across Loch Linnhe towards Glen Coe.
N face of Garbh Bheinn
Garbh Bheinn provides some of the best rock climbing and scrambling in Scotland. Details of the scrambles can be found in the Cicerone guide Scrambles in Lochaber by Noel Williams. Pinnacle Ridge, a difficult scramble, and the Great Ridge, an easy rock climb first climbed by JH Bell [CHECK BC - JW DOUBTS THIS] and W Brown in 1897, are fine routes on the NE face of Garbh Bheinn in Garbh Choire Mhoir.
Cross the bridge and follow a rough path up the SE ridge of Gharbh Choire Bhig. This path, which is occasionally boggy and sometimes indistinct, especially where it climbs rocksteps or crosses rocky slabs, takes you to the summit of Gharbh Choire Bhig (1hr 40min, 823m, 90820 61710). Follow the path steeply down to a saddle (750m, 90440 61930). The path up Garbh Bheinn continues NW, to avoid the cliffs on its SE face, before turning NE to the summit cairn on Garbh Bheinn (2hr 15min, 885m, 90440 62200).
In bad weather, or if you have any doubts about your ability to navigate through, and descend, very difficult terrain, you should descend by the ascent route. The featured route heads WNW to a small pond on a shallow saddle (845m, 90140 62320). Turn sharp right (NE veering ENE) down grass slopes to reach a gully (775m, 90370 62520) just before you reach the N ridge of Garbh Bheinn. Descend carefully, on grass beside the boulderfield, NW down the gully and keep to the right of the burn that appears further down the mountain. Aim for the obvious grassy saddle on the ridge on your right, then go about 50m left (E) to the top of a gully, marked by a small (easily missed?) cairn (690m, 90140 62820). Descend the gully, bypassing difficulties on the left, to the saddle separating Garbh Bheinn and Beinn Bheag (2hr 45min, 535m, 90050 63070).
You will now be traversing the rocky ridges of Beinn Bheag and Sgorr Mhic Eacharna. Although rocky the going is generally easy. Head NW until the slope eases, then head NE, veering E, over two tops (690m, 90240 63320 and 696m, 90670 63450) and on to the highest summit on the Beinn Bheag ridge (3hr 50min, 736m, 91470 63520).
Descend roughly ESE to a saddle (485m, 92230 63220) and over a minor top (625m, 92620 63140) to the summit of Sgorr Mhic Eacharna (4hr 55min, 650m, 92870 63030). Continue SSE down the grassy Druim an Iubhair ridge, avoiding a few crags, before veering SW towards the bottom, back to the parking area (6hr 25min).
ROUTE 7
Beinn na h-Uamha hill of the caves
| Start | Sallachan (NM 97840 62930) |
| Distance | 18km (11 miles) |
| Total ascent | 850m (2800ft) |
| Difficulty | There is rough boggy terrain to cross on the lower slopes of Beinn na h-Uamha, which is well protected by crags on the steep upper slopes. Accurate navigation is needed in |