#an teallach

[rowanleaves]

[scotianostra]

Good Morning from Scotland 

Sunrise from A' Mhaighdean by Rob Dowse

[earthstory]

Original caption:

This film explores the wild part of Scotland through timelapse photography and drone images. I spent 2 weeks in the Highlands visiting Isle of Skye, Ullapool and Fort William. You will see the Skye's mighty Cuillin Mountains, the impressive An Teallach and Ben Nevis, the mountain with its head in the clouds.

[benvironment]

Day 29 - Looks like pretty much everywhere had sparkling sunshine yesterday, and the northwest was no exception. The perfect afternoon to be sailing from Stornoway to Ullapool.....with Wester Ross drifting past on the horizon :)

[scotianostra]

Good Morning from Scotland.

An Teallach at Dawn by Derek Beattie Via Flickr: The mountain of An Teallach in Wester Ross, Northwest Highlands of Scotland. An Teallach has two Munros,the higher Bidean a’ Ghlas Thuill and Sgurr Fiona. One of the finest mountains in Scotland, pictured here just before the sun rose on a very cold March morning. The road in the bottom right is the A832, known as the " Destitution Road " and reaches a height of nearly 1100 feet on this stretch.

[earthstory]

Original caption:

This film explores the wild part of Scotland through timelapse photography and drone images. I spent 2 weeks in the Highlands visiting Isle of Skye, Ullapool and Fort William. You will see the Skye's mighty Cuillin Mountains, the impressive An Teallach and Ben Nevis, the mountain with its head in the clouds.

[scotianostra]

Good Morning from Scotland.

The Forge of Sunrise by john mcsporran Via Flickr: Sunrise over Beinn Dearg (the Red Mountain) from Bidean a'Ghlas Thuill, An Teallach (the Forge), North West Highlands of Scotland.

[travellerstune]

Grand Traverse of An Teallach

The first glimpses of the An Teallach Ridge from the A832 were quite breathtaking. A mixture of awe, excitement and trepidation.

After a magical couple of days up at Suilven, we headed south down to Dundonnell with a short visit to the lovely Ullapool to stock up on supplies, maps and Ice Creams.

We arrived at the peaceful but beautiful village of Dundonnell late afternoon and checked in at the Sail Mhor Croft Hostel (£17 per night). The hostel was in a beautiful location on the south shores of Little Loch Broom. The rooms were adequate and the facilities were good. However there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to buy supplies nearby, so it’s a good idea to stock up before you arrive.

I spent a couple of hours napping and downloading previous walk photos, whilst Rob got the map out and finalised the route. A quick visit to the Dundonnell Hotel Bar, which was a 5 minute drive away, for supper and refreshments was a good choice. The Bar was welcoming, the food was good and well presented and the beer was fine. Roughly £40 for two eating two courses and a couple of drinks each. We retired soon after ready for a long day of mountaineering ahead.

The first glimpse of what we letting ourselves in for

We awoke early to a fabulous sunny morning and drove to our start point for 7am, which was only a 5 minute drive away. After a long walk in on a good off road track, we reached the point where we needed to turn off the track and head right up the path towards the first summit of Sail Liath. The path isn’t very well trodden, but you can make it out if you look closely. The views of the surrounding mountains are absolutely stunning 

Amazing views of the surrounding landscape

Follow the zig zagging path up the boulder field taking note of the small cairns to follow. On reaching the top, there is a short but easy walk along the path to the Summit.

At this point we took shelter from the wind and had a sandwich.

Lovely place for a Ham & Chorizo sandwich

After a quick bite to eat we got cracking and made it up to the first point of interest, Cadha Goblach, 960m. It was here we met Jez, a bagger of epic proportions. We would meet Jez several times throughout the day as he ran around bagging every peak within a 2 mile radius. A very lovely chap he was.  The size and enormity of the task ahead now comes into focus.

The Walk ahead

A brisk stop to admire the fabulous views was had before heading on to the pinnacles. This is where the scrambling fun comes in. The pinnacles are made of sandstone and are very rough in dry weather, however sandstone tends to be very rounded due to erosion and can be a bit difficult to find good holds.

Rob eyeing up the first Pinnacle

It turned out to be quite exposed in places and a bit tricky in places, but overall the scrambling was really fun. There is a bypass path around the pinnacles for anyone not to keen on the scrambling.

The First Pinnacle

The first pinnacle looked a bit tricky and at one particular point I needed Rob to get the rope out to give me peace of mind. Turned out an easy move, but there was a long drop if I slipped, which made it all the more difficult.

Another Pinnacle

We scrambled over several pinnacles and negotiated some narrow ridges, which I imagine in the wet would be rather treacherous.

Rob crossing a narrow ridge

Rob & Jez scrambling up another pinnacle

Rob negotiating a narrow ridge

After the narrow ridge above, it was a last scramble for the time being up to Lord Berkeley’s seat, which in itself was a fabulous vantage point. However we moved further down to a more precarious ledge for a bite to eat and a marvel at the hundreds of meters of drop into the Loch below.

Rob taking time out on a precarious ledge just down from Lord Berkeley’s seat.

We carried on from here making our way up to the first Munro of the day, Sgurr Fiona at 1060m. There was a decent but easy scramble up to the summit. From this summit we continued to navigate down a steep rocky path down to the bealach and up up to the second Munro of the day, Bidein a Ghlas Thuill at 1062m. The view of the Ridge we had just walked over from this viewpoint is quite breathtaking. It really does look majestic but intimidating at the same time.

Rob marvelling at the nonsense we have just walked over

Standard picture in front of today's conquest

From here we headed east over some good scrambling ground until we reached the fault line where the sandstone changes to Lewisian Gneiss where the terrain turns into a boulder field before reaching the summit of Glas Mheall Liath. We headed South East down a very loose boulder field which was hard going. After about 30 minutes, we reached the last of the boulders and made our way down some more difficult heather covered terrain. We lost our bearing slightly, which meant having to cross a large expanse of uneven ground, until we eventually made our way back to the path.

Follow the cairns to keep on the path. There is some stunning water falls to marvel at on the way back. As we returned to the car, the path seemed to disappear slightly and became difficult to follow. It lead us through a wood, into a field, through a river, through another wood and over a fence before we reached the road. It was then just a short walk back to the car. We headed back to the Hostel and quickly got showered before heading to the pub for a well earned feed and celebratory beverage.