The 'F***G' Eastern Fannichs

The tough terrain during the walk in to these 4 Munro's is rewarded by a magnificent ridge walk - on this occasion it wasn't just the start that was tough, it was the entire trip.

This was a sobering, exhausting excursion in the North West Highlands of Scotland near Ullapool.

Liam on the lower slopes of Beinn Liath Mhor Fannaich

After months of planning, almost a year since we took on the South Glen Shiel Ridge, Liam and I settled on a 3 to 4 day excursion to tackle the Eastern and Western Fannichs.

The Eastern Fannichs are a 25k, 4 Munro ridge walk just south of Ullapool. Completing this long chain of summits are the Western Fannichs comprising of 5 summits within a similar length of walk.

12 months ago Liam and I took on the South Glen Shiel Ridge massively over equipped and under prepared. A sobering experience for a complete novice. A year on I felt more confident around my skills and experience. My navigation was better, I was marginally fitter and I was carrying a much lighter but properly equipped pack and Liam and I, along with Michael (not on this particular trip) were more in tune with each others pace, skills and moods whilst out on the hills.

This type of activity and excursion can find a way to bring you down to earth with a bump and it started before we even set foot on a hill.

Early doubts creep in....

We decided to set off the night before, find a spot to camp and get an early start. As Liam was working we left Edinburgh around 5pm and arrived at Loch Glascarnoch at a little after 8.30pm. The Loch was not the picture postcard scene I had envisaged but had a rather ugly and unwelcoming rocky shore far from the road with not many camp spots evident. Deciding to drive on to the actual start point we found a lay-by not only right beside the road but already occupied. Heading back, we aimed for the Dam at the South East end of Loch where we had saw tracks running toward the shore.

Finding the tracks with little difficulty I gently nudged the car down an alarmingly steep and greasy slope. Midway down the car started to slide and I knew that, had I went any farther, I was not getting back up. The bottom of the hill, illuminated in the headlights, continued to show tracks that disappeared into long rush and reeds - a sure indication of very soft and wet ground and no opportunity to turn the car. Reversing as gently and as expertly as I could proved too much for the motor and the clutch started to burn badly. I was only midway up the slope and it was almost 10pm by this point.

A quick assessment of the car and I knew that I couldn't risk further reversing, pushing wasn't an option as it was too steep and slippy and that ultimately, we were going nowhere at this stage. The only option was to set up camp here and wait until the clutch cooled before making a final attempt in the morning.

Like a zombie emerging from the earth the midges rose up as one and feasted.

No amount of spray, haste or mesh was keeping the beasts at bay as we were attacked with a ferociousness that I had never encountered and so we found ourselves at 11pm, attempting some sleep in a stinking car, full of midges, already irate and very tired.

I didn't feel very prepared after all and again, that 'amateur' vulnerability was creeping in.

The following morning after a few hours broken sleep Liam and I had a very quiet breakfast. I'm not sure what he was feeling but my mood hadn't lifted very much and I knew the only way to shake off the self pity was to get walking.

True to form our morning routine was swift and efficient - we had certainly come on leaps and bounds over the past year or so in getting packed up and away and it was good to be on our way. The initial walk in followed easy forest track allowing us easy conversation and a chance to laugh off last night's mishaps.

Crossing a bridge at Abhainn an Torrain Dubh the track gives way to rough and at times, intermittent Stalkers/Quad track which was very boggy in a lot of places. I had read a report that suggested making a more direct approach up Creag Dubh Fannaich but we decided on maintaining the GPX Route on my GPS - easier said that done in swampy conditions.

Plenty of room with no view....

Despite being the middle of Summer (I always use that term loosely in Scotland) the day had an Autumnal feel to it with grey damp skies looming overhead interspersed with so little blue as to give no sense of a good day looking to break out form the morning gloom. The initial ascent was enveloped in humid air but on the higher tops a chillier fog awaited us with cloak shrouded open arms.

The final few hundred feet of the first summit of Creag Dubh Fannaich was largely uneventful and featureless with not so much as a glimpse of the magnificent views for which this ridge is famed. Sadly, that would be the order of the day for much of this walk.

The word 'Fannichs' derives from an obscure origin but is though to loosely translate from a similar Celtic word meaning 'undulating'.

The fog lay like a heavy blanket in the intervening Bealach and the map and compass were employed for the first time as we sought out a stalkers path which cut across the rocky landscape. Visibility was very poor at this point but as we climbed we couldn't help but be aware of the huge drop emerging to our right with tails and tendrils of cloud creeping up and over the cliff edge. I found the summit of Sgur Mor, our highest peak of the day, a rather unnerving experience with the shadow of anxiety creeping up on me once again without explanation.

I was pleased then that the next stage required continued and precise navigation with visibility still very poor we had to navigate a across a fascinating ridge, almost uniformly terraced with rocky steps by a process known as solufication during the last Ice Age. Heading for the unseen summit of Meall nan Peithirean which would be our marker towards Munro Number 3, Meall Gorm. This flat topped summit had the distinction of giving us our only summit views of the day and, limited as they were, it did help lift the spirits on what had been a rather subdued walk so far.

Heading towards the Summit of Meall Gorm

With a smattering of views the walk between Meall Gorm and An Coileachan was a stange mixture of joy and good spirits as we knew we were on the home straight, combined with disappointment that the views were not going to improve and trepidation as the conditions worsened and we knew we had a long walk out.

Descending from the final summit I was on track with the GPS and was confident my map reading was on point so it came as a shock when we reached the top of a very steep and craggy section. It was one of those occasions where instinct and the 'moment' are at odds with what your GPS and map are telling you and those 2 functions were telling me different things as well. We were both very tired after a poor nights sleep and judgement was becoming clouded as we decided to avoid this descent and track North West to find an easier route down. We did in the end but in doing so descended much further west into a mire around a small Lochan leading down to Loch Gorm.

Skirting the upper banks of this Loch we found the original planned route some 90 minutes later than we planned to be at this stage and began an arduous walk out through rough and boggy moorland. After 4 summits, crossing the bridge at Abhainn a'Ghuibhais Li was the real high point of the day.