Meall nan Ceapraichean & Edidh nan Clach Geala
Oct 12
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Awesome long hike from Loch Broom to enjoy these two remote munros!
Introduction - east from Loch Broom into the hinterland....
The closest village for accommodation and food is Ullapool. On this trip I stayed at the campsite! I would normally wild camp but felt the need for facilities and food on hand.
The focus for this trip was to climb two smaller but remote munros. They can in themselves form part of a larger day climbing Beinn Dearg and Cona Mheall as well but lack of hill fitness led me to limit my exertions this day. The day was a mixture of wild weathers, wonderfully windy and cold in the morning and swimmingly warm by late afternoon! In early May the mountains can still be very cold on the tops and today was no exception especially with a fierce wind blowing from the east.
There is an excellent track up Gleann na Sguaib, and network of paths leading from it to other parts of the wilderness. You can actually walk from the west coast to the east coast, a distance of 33 miles, in one day by following the old paths and drove roads through Gleann Sguaib, Gleann Mor and Gleann Beag. If you want to break it up into 2 days there is a remote and basic bothy at Glenbeg.
Onto the main event then, below you'll find my stats, the route, and information you will hopefully enjoy and find useful.
Stats and stuff - munros; maps & timings
Munro number: 37 and 36 to go
Munro name(s): Meall nan Ceapraichean 977m (3205ft) and Edidh nan Clach Geala 927m (3041ft)
Area: Beinn Dearg & Loch Fannaich
Maps: Fannichs: Seana Bhraigh & Ben Wyvis (harveymaps.co.uk); OS Map of Beinn Dearg & Loch Fannich | Explorer 436 Map | Ordnance Survey Shop
Distance: 14.70 miles (23.65km)
Ascent: 1428m (4685ft)
Moving time: 6 hours
Total time: 8 hours 20 mins
Ratings
Bogginess ☹️☹️
Effort 😅😅😅😅
Navigation 🤔🤔🤔
Enjoyment 😍😍😍😍
Local information
Eating: Home | Mysite (seafoodshack.co.uk); The Ceilidh Place - Ullapool Rooms, Restaurant, Cafe & Bookshop; Restaurant - The Seaforth
There are loads of places to eat in Ullapool but having sampled the wares from these three I know for sure I can recommend them.
Accommodation: Broomfield Holiday Park | Ullapool Campsite | Welcome - you cannot book this campsite in advance, it's first come first served till it's full. In the summer it fills up very quickly! The campsite closes between October and April.
The Ceilidh Place - Ullapool Rooms, Restaurant, Cafe & Bookshop - you need to contact the Ceilidh Place directly to book both rooms and the bunkhouse.
Home | millviewbnbullapool - contact direct to book, brilliant B&B.
There is a lot of accommodation in Ullapool. Most is represented on Booking.com. I have stayed at the above facilities, neither of which are on Booking.com but I would definitely stay again.
Facilities: Tesco; Petrol; climbing shop; various galleries; museum and many more! Visit this site for lots of information Welcome to Ullapool - Accommodation Highlands of Scotland
Don't miss: Corrieshalloch Gorge | National Trust for Scotland (nts.org.uk)
The route
I camped at the Broomfield campsite and as I arrived at around 2pm I was lucky to bag a beachside spot for me and Sandy (our car). The advantages of camping with the car by far outweigh the disadvantages of sharing a location with others. The facilities here are excellent and actually, considering the campsite was full, with over 100 campervans and tents, it was very quiet. A car and single person with a small tent was only £16 a night! I had a lovely neighbour in a campervan and we shared a few beers after my walk and listened to county music. Maybe we weren't the quietest of neighbours 🤔
The drive from Ullapool is quick and easy and it's possible to start climbing within 15 minutes of leaving the village. I had done a Tesco raid the night before and breakfasted well setting me up for the day.
Leaving Ullapool along the A835 towards Inverness, pull off to park at Inverlael on the left with Loch Broom on your right. There is a good carpark with plenty of spaces. If you drive past the white house with the red phone box, you've gone too far and missed the parking.
The walk up the glen follows the forestry track for about 3km. There are a few branches and false roads so keep the map handy. Essentially as long as you exit the forest on the north of the River Lael all will be well, and you will join the stalkers path leading onto open moorland. The day had dawned clear and very windy. I was to witness some amazing cloud effects on the mountains making it all very atmospheric.
As I approached the switchbacks and boulders leading up to the col I was mesmerised with the cloud formation and activity on the summit of Meall nan Ceapraichean.
The wind effect is similar to an easterly wind that blows across the Mediterranean over Gibraltar. It's called a Levant Wind and quite unusual in Scotland. We often see Fohn or Foehn Winds forming in the mountains from a westerly wind and these can have a serious affect on wind speed on the lee side of the mountain and on the subsequent temperatures. See more on these winds below where I discuss if clouds are as cool as rocks!
The switchbacks made the final pull up to the col manageable despite the steep ascent, and once there, as if by magic, all the cloud suddenly disappeared.
The col at 856m marks a convergence of 4 munros. From here you can climb Beinn Dearg, Cona Mheall, Meall nan Ceapraichean and Edidh nan Clach Geala. As mentioned earlier, my fitness levels precluded me from doing all 4 but what a place and what a view in all directions. I left this tranquil place with its small lochan and continued north-west up steep slopes to the summit of Meall nan Ceapraichean.
The views back to Beinn Dearg at this point show what a long mountain it is, the ridge stretches over 6km. The route up Beinn Dearg from the previous col follows a stone wall that can be clearly seen in the picture below.
From the summit of Meall nan Ceapraichean care is required with navigation, especially in cloud or misty conditions. Traverse along a wide ridge to the summit of Ceann Garbh and then descent north-east through slabs, crags and boulders to a bealach and small lochans at 762m. The path from the lochans to the summit of Edidh nan Clach Geala is very clear. There are 2 cairns on the summit, the most northerly and westerly is the highest.
The view from the summit north towards the mountains of Assynt and Coigach is incredible. Below is a panorama showing the following from left to right (west to east): Ben Mor Coigach (743m); Sgurr an Fhidhleir (705m); Beinn an Eoin (619m); Stac Pollaidh (769m); Cul Beag (849m); Cul Mor (731m); Suilven (847m); Canisp (847m); Quinag (808m); Breabag (815m); Conival (987m); Ben More Assynt (998m) and Glas Bheinn (776m).
Also visible from the summit is Seana Bhraigh (926m) one of the most remote munros in Scotland.
Leave the summit by descending west down an easy grassy slop past the Lochan a Chnapaich and then south-west into the glen where a stalkers path leads you back to Glen Sguaib and the days ascent.
It was definitely a day of two halves regarding the weather. Wrapped up in all my clothes on the summit of Meall nan Ceapraichean and swimming in the River Lael late afternoon to cool off after a very long trek down Glen Sguaib.
And as always seems to happen after my hikes.....my reward!
And finally, sunset from my tent! Cheerio my friends ❤️
Claire's top tip....
Clouds are almost as cool as rocks....
Yes they are! I love weather and clouds and I really love wind. I find it fascinating how the movement of air originates, where it comes form, and where it goes! A simple description below has been borrowed from the Met Office website.
"At its core, wind is simply air in motion. It travels between areas of differing atmospheric pressure, driven by the natural tendency of air to move from high-pressure zones to low-pressure ones. Atmospheric pressure itself is a measure of the weight of air pressing down on the Earth’s surface. Where there is more air above us, the pressure is higher; where there is less, the pressure is lower.
This movement of air from high to low pressure is what we recognise as wind. Without these pressure differences, not only would we have no wind, but we’d also have no weather at all."
Fohn (Foehn) Winds
Our prevailing wind in Scotland is a Westerly and this is often associated with bringing wet weather systems to the west coast. In addition to dictating our weather, the westerlies can also create a wind phenomenon in Scotland called a Fohn (or Foehn) wind. This is essentially the opposite of what I witnessed on Meall nan Ceapraichean and is common in the mountainous areas of Scotland. Again, thanks to the Met Office website for their description of the Fohn wind below.
"In simple terms, this is a change from wet and cold conditions one side of a mountain, to warmer and drier conditions on the other (leeward) side. Fohn winds are common in mountainous regions. In the UK, the most notable foehn events tend to occur across the Scottish Highlands where the moist prevailing westerly winds encounter high ground along Scotland's west coast. This results in a marked contrast in weather conditions across the country with the west being subjected to wet weather, whilst the lower lying east enjoys the warmth and sunshine of the fohn (foehn) effect."
In addition to affecting our weather, the fohn effect can produce interesting lenticular clouds on the leeward side of the mountains, they kind of look like flying saucers.
Levant Winds
As our prevailing wind is from the west we really don't often see wind phenomenon caused by easterly winds.
The “Levant” wind is a warm and dry wind that blows from the east across the Mediterranean Sea. It is particularly well-known in southern Spain, especially in the Strait of Gibraltar, the Andalusian coast, and the Balearic Islands. Its name derives from the term “Levante”, meaning “east” or “where the sun rises,” referring to the direction from which it blows.
Another curiosity about the Levante is its characteristic cloud, called the “Levante cloud” which forms over the Rock of Gibraltar and can extend westward. This cloud, which appears like a flag or plume, is a distinctive sign that the Levante wind is blowing.
As you can see this image is quite similar to what I experienced on Meall nan Ceapraichean.
Hope you found this interesting!
Coming next......
Am Faochagach
Thank you for reading ❤️ xx
