Beinn A' Chearcaill 725 metres, 2378 feet. The Torridon Giants.

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The second day of our trip up north was supposed to be our best shot at a higher mountain. Alex had picked Beinn a' Chearcaill lying in the remote and seldom trod wilderness between Loch Maree and the three Torridon giants of Beinn Alligin, 985 metres, (The Jewelled Hill) Liathach, 1023 metres (The Grey One) and Beinn Eighe 1010 metres. (The File Hill)  Luckily, we had a stalkers path on the way in ( thank you great estate :o) but after we reached the bealach (mountain pass) we were on our own. Any hill Alex goes up he always says " It's a fantastic viewpoint." even if its not... but on this occasion it certainly was.

A view of Slioch, 980 metres across the hidden depths of Loch Maree. Slioch is another great isolated mountain in a remote area known as The Great Wilderness' but its probably not so wild now as it used to be 30 years ago, visitor wise, with six coveted Munros in its depths. Our peak by contrast was not a Munro and only of interest to lesser hill baggers but it turned out to be a magnificent hill nonetheless. A Graham. We never spotted a soul the entire day, even on the surrounding higher peaks.

Looking in past the cliffs on Slioch into the Fisherfield area beyond.

The summit cliffs of A' Mhaighdean 967 metres, (The Maiden) well named as one of the UK's remotest and hard to reach high peaks.

Alex with Meall a Ghiuthais, 887 metres, a Corbett, behind. We were up this adjacent hill last year I think. I also remembered I've been up it a couple of times now but its a cracking hill with a good path up it.

I can't say the same for Beinn a' Chearcaill, a lowly Graham which was very hard going. No signs of any path up the ridge at all just bog and boulder hopping to the top, up what felt like a never ending slope with excellent water retaining qualities. We attempted to keep to the rock as much as possible to avoid the pools and frequent puddles. Views were outstanding though. This is part of the Horns of Alligin, a fine easy scramble summer or winter on the way to the summit or on the way down as an exciting addition to the ridge.

With all the summer rain this year the ground was saturated to bursting point and very slippy. Red and green moss gave some colour to a mostly grey or white stark landscape of boulders and bare rock.

The triple buttress on Beinn Eighe looked impressive from this angle. A few remote rock climbs snake up these vertical cliffs but although low grades around Severe - VS level they are not for the fainthearted with complex route finding close up and an ability to climb harder grades if you happen to stray off line. One of the largest mountain walls in the British Isles.

A more distant view of the same area with Coire Mhic Fhearchair a stunning walk for the more adventurous tourist to visit and explore this hidden basin after a hike from the road.

The weird rock band on Meall a Ghiuthais. Probably Lewisian gneiss or quartz  as its a very distinctive feature of these mountains with different coloured rock scraped clean by glaciers in the distant past. Even today not much vegetation grows on this type of surface.

The wild wild west. Beinn Eighe in all its rugged glory. Although it had taken us a lot of effort to reach this point, and we were shattered, the surrounding hills were much higher again.
"How did we manage to do that ridge in a day?" Alex asked, looking up at Beinn Eighe's mighty bulk, summits still in the clouds. A long high ridge line of eight separate grand peaks.
We both knew the answer. The boundless energy of lost youth. Wah!!!

The summit of Beinn a' Chearcaill came as a bit of a shock. A real table mountain you could easily play five a side football on...and some of the best views in Scotland. A big difference to the knee destroying slopes below but maybe we didn't pick the best route up... or down.  Although it remained steadily dull and overcast where we were it didn't rain once, which was a bonus. You can just see Alex in this photo at the far end.

Loch Maree and its chain of magnificent islands. A well guarded sanctuary these days. The sun was over Fisherfield most of the day.

A satellite peak on Beinn Eighe, briefly in the sun.

Coming back down was even harder and very slippy indeed over waterlogged ground. A smashing day out though we both enjoyed.

Beinn Alligin summit ridge.

A closer view of Loch Maree.

And a great video to end with. Anyone that remembers Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry might see comparisons with this interesting age old tale of sin and salvation. Good song, unique singer and visual splendour as epic as the photos above, hopefully. A genuine modern classic five minute film from the USA.