I have to confess that I'm not a very committed Munro bagger. Of course, I really enjoy getting up a Munro but I just can't be bothered if the cloud is down and I'm not going to get a good view from the top. And, after all, the views and encounters can be just as enjoyable down in the glens or along the coast. So my ideal backpacking trip in the Scottish outdoors is a place with lovely low level walking but also the chance to nip up a Munro if a good, clear day happens along.
Kintail fitted the bill perfectly when I was there for my May holidays. There are gorgeous, interconnecting low level trails plus an ample pick of close-at-hand Munros if the sun should shine. I set out from Morvich on a beautiful day of clear blue skies. As the trail climbed away from the village up towards Bealach an Sgairne, I was really heartened by the natural regeneration here that's turned a barren glen into rich woodland thanks to the stewardship of the National Trust for Scotland. How lovely it was to meander through the cool woods. Eventually the trail left the woods and zig-zagged up towards the pass.
As it was such a gorgeous day, I decided to pick off the beautiful Munro of Beinn Fhada. I'd climbed it once before a long time ago and its beauty had stayed in my memory for all the years since. A super stalker's path climbs up through Beinn Fhada's stunning corrie, a huge bowl enclosed by ragged, snow-streaked cliffs, then pops out onto the vast, flat plateau. The last time I was up here a thunder and lighting storm had moved across and I remember crouching behind a boulder until it passed. No crouching this time, just an easy stroll to the top for views across Kintail, Knoydart, Skye and Monar.
I dropped back down to the trail and continued through the tight, rocky pass of Bealach an Sgairne. I love this route. Having been transported through this narrow cut between steep hillsides without a view, the pass suddenly spits you out on the other side and there is a new panorama. Below your feet are the sapphire blue waters of Loch a Bealach and ahead the pointed peak of Mullach Fraoch Coire, tinged with the soft evening light of a sinking sun. I pitched the tent on the loch shore and watched the black-throated divers on the water. One of my favourite birds.
The next day was a low level day. It was raining and the cloud was down over the tops. So I meandered. I meandered eastwards into the remote headwaters of Glen Affric, marvelling again at the forest regeneration around here and stopping to take a photo of a group of tree-planting volunteers who are making it happen. This long, low level trail eventually emerges at Cannich. It passes by the most remote youth hostel in Scotland, Glen Affric Youth Hostel, which is well used and much loved by walkers and, increasingly, by the more adventurous cyclists.
The day dawned grey but clear and dry, a useable kind of day rather than a stunning one. It was a long, rough walk along the remainder of the glen followed by a steep pull up the back wall. I saw not another soul, neither in the glen nor along the ridge to the top of my Munro, Sgurr nan Conbhairean, which means Peak of the Keepers of the Hounds . It was marvellous to sit up there with the world to myself. Although not for long in a chill wind that was blowing in a new weather front.
The weather front brought rain and wind throughout the next day so I was glad I'd got up a hill the day before. I meandered back to Morvich on a different trail that runs along the south side of Beinn Fhada along the Fionngleann. There are two nice things about this route. The first is the pretty Camban Bothy, a great spot to escape the rain and sit a while looking out the window with a brew. The second nice thing are the waterfalls as you descend the other side of the pass. The trail itself passes right over one of the waterfalls and that day the wind was so fierce that it was actually blowing the water back uphill into my face.
The route finishes by returning to Morvich along the long, green valley of Gleann Lichd. It's bounded on the south by the steep sides of the Five Sisters of Kintail and today their secretive summits disappeared into swirling grey cloud. I might have had an easy wander along the glen but the thought of a hot shower back at the campsite at Morvich turned the final few miles into a march rather than a meander.
Fact File
Start/finish: Morvich, near Shiel Bridge
Public transport: Citylink Glasgow-Skye bus stops at Ault a Chruinn, then it's approx 2km walk along a quiet back road.
My route: Continued to the road end beyond Morvich then followed the signed hill path through the crofts here. Signed for Falls of Glomach but where the path splits in an open meadow, I took the right hand fork for Bealach an Sgairne/Beinn Fhada. The path climbs up the side of the valley, crosses a side stream (can be tricky in spate) and above here there is another split - I took the right hand split again which is an excellent path up through Beinn Fhada's corrie to the edge of the plateau. No clear path to the top but no problems in good visibility. Returned to the main trail and continued through Bealach an Sgairne then on passed Glen Affric youth hostel to the cottage at Athnamulloch. Just passed here the track junctions - I turned right into Gleann na Ciche. A track then path of variable quality/clarity continue to the head of the glen. A faint path zig-zagged up the back wall and was easier to find on the way down. I continued along the ridge towards the top, eventually a path appeared where the more popular route comes up from Glen Shiel. Returned via same route to Gleann na Ciche. For the return to Morvich, I went back passed Glen Affric youth hostel and soon after the trail splits (signed). I took the trail passed Camban Bothy and into Gleann Lichd, a nice contrast to the outward route and now part of the Affric Kintail Way. Returns to the road end at Morvich.
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