I was staying with friends in Banavie on the outskirts of Fort William, so it was a short walk to Banavie Station to catch the Glasgow bound train from Mallaig at 0717 which stopped in Fort William for around 15 minutes. The train arrived at the remote Corrour Station on time at 0833 where we alighted and immediately commenced the ascent of the Corbett, Leum Uilleim with the intention of catching the 1122 train back to Banavie as the next one wasn’t until mid afternoon.
We set off west along a vehicle track later leaving it and crossing some boggy ground to reach the foot of Leum Uilleim’s North-East Ridge where a walker’s path was located.
The pace was fairly brisk as we climbed the rocky ridge which later levelled out at a grassy area where the walking became easier as we headed into low cloud. The summit cairn was reached around 85 minutes after setting out from the Station.
The rest of the group were returning by the outward route but I planned to continue to Leum Uilleim’s South Top so I left the others and descended through grass and stones to the col with the South Top. By this time the low cloud had lifted clear of Leum Uilleim. It was then an easy climb to the summit of Leum Uilleim’s South Top, a Corbett Top, which was marked by a cairn on a rib of rock.
It had taken me around 20 minutes to reach this top but I now had just over an hour to get back to the Station. I returned to the col then cut across to the grassy area on Leum Uilleim’s the North-East Ridge and descended it by the path used on the ascent. Despite moving as fast as possible I was doubtful that I could catch the train. Lower down the bog had to be crossed but there was no time to seek out the driest route so I just aimed for the Station reaching it sweating and with only a couple of minutes to spare as the train arrived on time.
- Time taken – 2.75 hours.
- Distance – 9.25 kilometres.
- Height climbed – 580 metres.