My Last Munro, Second Time Round - Part 1

Back in 1997, I completed the Munros on Ben Wyvis. That was my Munro bagging days over - until, later that year, the SMC brought out a revised edition of the Tables. There were eight new ones. I read the revisions, and smugly realised I had climbed them all bar one. My mind went back to the people we met on the traverse from the Devil's Peak to Braeriach in the Cairngorms, who decided to contour round Sgor an Lochain Uaine to save themselves a small amount of effort. They would be feeling pretty sore with themselves now. It is just a short extra effort when on the traverse, but a long way to go back for one hill.

The one hill I still had to do was the newly promoted second Munro on Beinn Eighe. This had to be climbed - not just to complete my first round of the Munros (for the second time) - but because Beinn Eighe is such a fine hill that it deserves to be properly traversed. My previous trip to Beinn Eighe's summit was rewarding, but a full traverse is really the only way to do justice to this hill.

On the way up, at sunset, we drove up the Bealach na Ba to climb Sgurr na Chaorachain, a Corbett. A few minutes along a track from the road at the top of the pass leads to the summit of this hill and its sunset views over the Inner Sound, and eastward to deep shadowed corries, a rainbow bursting out of the nearest one.

Rainbow:


In terms of the ratio of value gained versus effort expended, this is probably the best hill I've ever done.

Billy on Sgurr na Chaorachain: 


We soaked up the views until the moon shone bright in the night sky. This was going to be a good weekend.



To be continued...