With the temperature rising and the forecast for a dry, clear and sunny day, the temptation to climb An Teallach was irresistible. Cory Jones, International Mountain Leader was available to guide my scramble as I felt the need for a leader who knew the mountain well. We set off from the camp site in Gairloch at 6.00 am on a cloudless May morning. We drove past Loch Gruinniard with unforgettable views that heightened the anticipation and excitement for the scramble that loomed ahead. We set off from the car park at Dundonnel at 8.00-am.
The zig-zag walk over the foot hills was steady yet we achieved a very quick ascent revealing the most spectacular ‘over the shoulder’ views of the Summer Isles behind, these evoking some very happy memories of times of an era sadly past. We climbed fast and steeply up the scree to the trig point of Bidean a Ghlas where the stunning pinnacled panorama of An Teallach was revealed, a sight to heighten the pulse in anticipation of the scramble ahead.
Onwards we headed for the pinnacles of Sgurr Fiona and Corragh Buidhe with that feeling of mountain high that you rarely achieve, but on such a day and place you just let that feeling take you over. Now the temperature was 28 degrees, and rising ! so time to cover up and stop the burning, luckily the mountain was midge free so we thanked our lucky stars for that blessing.
We scrambled up to Lord Berkeley’s seat but resisted the temptation to sit on the ledge and smoke a pipe as he allegedly did on many occasions, scary enough to just be up there where he once trod! We avoided the rock climb descent of the dangerous Corrag Buidhe coming off safely and then scrambling up to the final peak of Sail Liath. Looking back from its peak we wondered at the scramble we had traversed and thanked the heavens for what we’d accomplished.
The long slog back took almost three hours before we reached the A 832 and then another 3 miles to the car park at Dundonnel, but never mind I got a lift as Cory sprinted on ahead! We regathered at the hotel after a 10 hour wonder walk and enjoyed a great meal plus more than a few pints of An Teallach to round off the most memorable of mountain days.
By Richard Langley
