The Herald - The Herald Magazine
The walk The Sgorans
Location: Strathspey Map: OS Landranger 36 Distance: About 11 miles (18km) Time: 6-8 hours Terrain: Long mountain trek WITH slushy snows lingering on the high Cairngorm plateaux I headed for the Sgorans ridge, the long arm that drops down from the heights of the Moine Mhor, the Great Moss, to the pinewoods of Rothiemurchus.
Not long ago, Munro-baggers could collect up to five Munros in the close vicinity of Sgoran Dubh Mor but various reappraisals over the years have chopped that total to one, Sgor Gaoith, at 3,668ft (1,118m). Nevertheless, the climb on to the Great Moss and a traverse of the ridge between Sgor Gaoith and Sgoran Dubh Mor, high above the trench of Loch Einich, is always a good outing.
The traditional access to the Great Moss and the Sgorans ridge was by the Foxhunters’ Path from Achlean in Glen Feshie, an old route named after a family of fox-hunters called Clark who once lived here. But Achlean is a working farm and so walkers are now encouraged to begin their route at the foot of the Allt Ruadh, at a parking area built by Forest Enterprise near the hostel at Balachroick (GR NH853013).
This alternative starting point offers the opportunity of a marvellous circular route that climbs to Sgoran Dubh Mor via its outliers of Creag Mhigeachaidh and Geal Charn. The ridge is then followed south to Sgor Gaoith then on to the broad, empty plateau of Carn Ban Mor before returning to the starting point by the delightful and rarely walked Carn Ban Beag ridge. It’s a route that cuts out the long, dreary plod from Achlean and instead offers a fine blend of natural pine woods, broad high-level ridges and dramatic views into the depths of Gleann Einich.
Sunshine was dappling the highest slopes as I climbed up through the old pine-woods above Glen Feshie. Far below the waters of the Allt Ruadh were bubbling and frothing and I was glad I didn’t have any major river crossings to negotiate. A keen wind cooled me down as I approached the narrow bealach below Creag Mhigeachaidh, a hill that boasts the highest natural tree-line in Britain, but I soon warmed up again as I climbed the steep, shifting screes on to the old Munro of Geal Charn.
A broad, bumpy ridge carried me closer to the Sgorans ridge and a final steep climb took me to the huge summit cairn on Sgoran Dubh Mor, a big hill in itself that feels dwarfed by the enormous mass of Braeriach, Britain’s third highest mountain, across Gleann Einich. The high ridge to Sgor Gaoith had snow on it which made the steep crags that drop into Gleann Einich appear even more formidable. Sgor Gaoith’s summit cairn sits on the very edge of this precipice and you can gaze down the sheer buttresses and crags into the black waters of Loch Einich, almost 2,000 feet below.
In comparison to the airy spaciousness of Sgor Gaoith, Carn Ban Mor is wide and sprawling, its cairn a mere dot in a vast expanse of empty tundra. The snow was slushy and I was glad to get back to the firmer underfoot conditions of the hill’s long north-western ridge before the steep descent through the luxuriant undergrowth of the Allt Ruadh pinewoods.
CAMERON MCNEISH Route: Start/finish at the car parking area in Glen Feshie (GR NN853013). Follow the track E through the forest. After a kilometre the track leaves the forest and begins to climb pine-covered slopes above the Allt Ruadh. Follow the track to just above the Allt nam Bo to where it begins to turn back on itself. A faint path now runs through the heather in a NNE direction to the bealach just E of Craig Mhigeachaidh. Climb the screecovered slopes of Geal Charn and follow its broad ridge over the subsidiary tops to a point just SW of Sgoran Dubh Mor. Climb to the summit then follow the ridge S to Sgor Gaoith and Carn Ban Mor. Descend W now to follow the long ridge to Carn Ban Beag. Descend by the Allt an Lochain back to the Allt Ruadh.