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ROUTE 9

Sgurr na Ba Glaise peak of the grey cow, Rois-Bheinn mountain of showers and An Stac the stack

Start	Inverailort (NM 76470 81710)
Distance	16km (10 miles)
Total ascent	1610m (5300ft)
Difficulty	There is a great deal of rock on the ridges of these grassy mountains, but the going is surprisingly easy as any difficulties can be bypassed, provided you have good visibility. These are not mountains for the inexperienced in bad weather when finding the easy route down steep, craggy ridges will be difficult. There is easy, but boggy terrain to cross on the lower slopes of the mountains.
Time	7hr 40min
Summits	Beinn Coire nan Gall (787m), Druim Fiaclach (869m), Sgurr na Ba Glaise (874m, 2817ft), Rois-Bheinn (882m, 2887ft), An Stac (814m, 2550ft).
Maps	OS Landranger 40
Access	From Glenfinnan follow the A830 W to Lochailort, turn left along the A861 and after 600m there is limited parking by a minor road signed to Glen Shian. At the time of writing it looked as if a large factory was about to be built here to service the fishing industry, but this shouldn’t affect the route.
Note	If the walk is too long for you it would be possible to miss out Druim Fiaclach and climb the steep grass slopes up Coire a’ Bhuiridh to the Bealach an Fhiona pass between Sgurr na Ba Glaise and Rois-Bheinn or the pass to the S of An Stac; however, this would miss out the dramatic ridge between Druim Fiaclach and Sgurr na Ba Glaise.

This group of rocky Corbetts in the N of Moidart provides an excellent ridge walk round the head of Coire a’ Bhuiridh. Rois-Bheinn is the most westerly Corbett on the mainland and provides magnificent views towards the islands of Rum and Eig. The recommended route includes Druim Fiaclach, which just fails to reach Corbett status because the drop between it and Sgurr na Ba Glaise is only about 410ft. Druim Fiaclach used to be listed as the Corbett rather than Sgurr na Ba Glaise as it was shown as higher (2852ft compared with 2817ft) on the OS 1 inch:1 mile maps.

An Stac from Beinn Coire nan Gall

Inverailort House was requisitioned by the War Office at the end of May 1940 and the house became a training centre for irregular forces, with trainees being taught how to work behind enemy lines, hand-to-hand combat, sabotage, use of explosives and survival techniques. Special Operations Executive (SOE) training was centred on nearby Arisaig House. In August 1942 the army was replaced by the Royal Navy; the house became HMS Lochailort, used for training naval cadets and ratings to become officers on the small craft used by Combined Operations. The Royal Navy moved out in January 1945.

Don’t follow the road to Glenshian Lodge, but head S along a tarmac farm road. Turn left along a grass track, signed Druim Fiaclach, immediately before the cottages. Pass through three sets of gates, passing the remains of outbuildings erected by the army in the war, and keep straight on along a faint boggy path which goes to the right of the wooded Tom Odhar knoll. The old stalker’s path improves as you climb to cross a couple of vehicle tracks before joining another track, marked by a small cairn (120m, 77700 81430). A little higher, fork left along a vehicle track which drops down to a bridge over the gorge of the Allt a’ Bhuiridh (35min, 125m, 77890 81340).

Climb roughly SE up the grassy slopes of Beinn Coire nan Gall. There are some boggy vehicle tracks on the slope, but they don’t tend to head in the right direction and are best ignored. Eventually reach the summit of Beinn Coire nan Gall (2hr 25min, 787m, 79220 79770). Head SSW to a small lochan (245m, 79130 79600) and climb easily up grass slopes between crags on the N ridge of Druim Fiaclach to reach the cairn on a rocky rib (2hr 50min, 869m, 79150 79170).

Follow the SW ridge of Druim Fiaclach, which has steep crags on either side, veering S to Bealach an Fhalaisg Dhuibh (745m, 78520 78560). Climb S to a small lochan then veer WSW, veering W, over a minor top and to the cairn on the summit of Sgurr na Ba Glaise (4hr, 874m, 77020 77750).

Head W, veering WNW, to the Bealach an Fhiona (701m, 76420 77980) and head W, soon picking up a wall which takes you all the way to the E summit of Rois-Bheinn. This summit has a very small cairn which includes concrete from the remains of the trig point shown on the OS map (4hr 45min, 882m, 75610 77830). If you have surplus energy you could continue along the wall to the W summit of Rois-Bheinn, which has better views out to sea. The W summit is about 3m lower than the E summit, but it is topped by a massive cairn which takes it to about the same height!

Whether or not you visit the W summit you should now retrace your steps down the wall and follow it as it veers left down steep rocky slopes. The wall disintegrates into a line of fence posts and you should continue down between the fence posts and a second wall. When the wall and fence posts rejoin, on a slight rise, turn right down to the saddle S of An Stac (5hr 15min, 565m, 76190 78500). Pick a route up the S ridge. In good visibility it should be possible to climb up grass slopes avoiding the many crags to reach the small cairn on a rock outcrop on the summit of An Stac (5hr 55min, 814m, 76300 79270).

You now need to wind your way carefully down grassy rakes through the crags on the steep rocky N ridge of An Stac to reach a broad saddle (485m, 76500 80000). It would be possible to continue over Seann Chruach, but it’s quicker to descend ENE down grass slopes to a vehicle track (at about 250m, 77200 80300) running down the glen. Turn left following the boggy track to the top of the stalker’s path (120m, 77700 81420), which is followed back to the parking area (7hr 40min).