About the event:
Where is An Teallach?
An Teallach lies in North West Scotland. It is north and west of Inverness and lies off the main road between Inverness and Ullapool. You can get as far as Garve by train, but will need a lift from there or the Citylink coach toward Ullapool.
This area is vast. Behind An Teallach lie the remote Fisherfield Munros. The Fannaichs range - a spectacular and elegant range of 9 Munros border the road to the south. The Inverlael / Beinn Dearg range lie to the north. Further north from the charming fishing town of Ullapool (with good ferry links to Skye and the Hebrides) the landscape changes dramatically - It's Britain but as few have ever seen it. A strange landscape largely flat with mountains (not necessarily big ones) just rearing up out of it. One has to pinch oneself to consider we're on the same island as Cornwall, London, Birmingham, Edinburgh or Glasgow!
About the Day
An Teallach is one of the mountains that tends to put fear into new Munro baggers. It has two Munros on it which are quite straight forward to bag. It's the pinnacles which add to the fear. A full traverse over the short stretch of pinnacles requires ropes and an ability to climb confidently. However, bypass tracks exist. But they aren't for the faint hearted and are only really feasible in good weather.
Traditionally, the route is traversed from Corrie Hallie to the east and ends in Dundonnell to the west. However, I've found that the ascent from Dundonnell is both straight forward and relatively fast. The two munros can be bagged by lunchtime! However, having some cars left at Corrie Hallie gives us the opportunity to go exploring the pinnacles (or along side them). This is a much longer venture as we go up over Sail Liath which is a boulder field and tricky both on ascent and descent. Alternatively we can go and have a look at the pinnacles and return the way we came.
There are two Munros on An Teallach: Sgurr Fiona (1,060m / 3,478 ft) and Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill (1,061m / 3,384ft)
Meeting Point:
We'll meet at Corrie Hallie car park which is here. We'll leave a few cars here and car share down to Dundonnell. This gives us options to do the full (but bypass) traverse, or return the way we came having bagged the Munros. The decision will be largely that of the group, and also what the weather and conditions are doing.
To see the meeting point at Corrie Hallie and start point at Dundonnell in Googlemaps, please click the links and a new tab will appear.
Difficulty:
This is not as challenging as people may think. But having a guide and fellow Munro baggers for company can always make it a bit less intimidating. Remember, we don't need to go along the rather terrifying bypass tracks.
That said, initially there is quite a steep track which levels out. When we can see the two Munro summits, we're back to a steep walk on some loose ground. This can be a bit tricky in places.
Should we head across and do the full traverse rather than return the way we came, we've a very steep bypass track for quite a distance which is loose in places. It has spectacular views into the Fisherfields, but isn't for the faint hearted. The boulder field of Sail Liath is a bit of an art form but also 'one step forward, one step backward'. Once past this however, there are good tracks back down to the cars.
Prerequisites:
Some experience of the Scottish Munros and some easy scrambling (e.g. Striding Edge). If in doubt please get in touch with us to discuss.
Cost:
The day costs £90 per person with discounts for booking more than one person.
Numbers:
We can take a maximum of 8.