Bac An Eich

Munros

None

Corbetts

Bac An Eich

Grahams

None

Bothies

None

Distance/Ascent 

16km     785m

Estimated Time

6h 00min

Notes

Clearly this could be walked in a fairly short day but I like to have the occasional night camping up in the hills so the ascent is split by an overnight camp at Loch Toll Lochain

Start

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2/3 July 2015

This was a great day to start the summer holidays and timed my ascent to coincide with the best weather during a period of wet weather. It was also an opportunity to try out my new tent, A Hilleberg Soulo. I slipped on a rock while crossing the Allt Gleann Chorainn and my feet ended up a little wet. On ascending the slopes up towards Loch Toll Lochan, it began to rain, which increased in intensity as I pitched the tent. However, as I entered the tent, the rain soon subsided, with only very light rain as I cooked and ate my tea.

I had the best night's sleep for a long time and the tent felt nice and warm in the rising sun. The tent is a very dark green but it felt quite bright inside. I opened the door to a sunny morning and pleasant view across Loch Toll Lochain. There were a pair of red throated divers on the loch but they were too far away for a decent photograph. I wished that I had my larger and heavier camera with the more powerful zoom. I have never carried my binoculars on the hill as I do not want to carry the extra weight.

I woke up at around 06:00 but I wanted to savour the experience of camping in such a fine spot. I was not packed and ready to go until 08:45.

It was a steep but easy walk to the top - It was only 336m to the top. That is one of the nice things about camping out part way up the hill. A leisurely start to the day and still on top before the hottest hours of the day. Once above the height of Meall Buidhe, there were clear views to Fionn Bheinn, The Fannichs and the Corbetts, Sgurr a Mhuilinn and Meall nan Uan.

The summit has a fine cairn and marvellous views of the Torridon hills to the north-west and the North Strathfarrar hills to the south-east.

A short way off the summit, I came across a pair of Ptarmigan with two chicks. The chicks headed uphill while one of the parents feigned injury and tried to lead me downhill. I did not want to keep her (or him) away from her chicks but she headed in my intended direction and so she kept on going before eventually veering off a good thirty metres lower down. It would have been nice to have taken a photograph of the chicks but I did not want to cause undue distress to this beautiful family. However, I have added a photograph of a Ptarmigan chick taken from www.the-soc.org.uk

A little further down, there were many cloudberries, Rubus chamaemorus. Let me know if I have misidentified the species.

Finally, down to Gleann Fhiodhaig and Loch Beannacharain.