I parked on the verge beside a passing place on the A896 Lochcarron to Shieldaig Road immediately north of the access road leading to Glasnock House and Shepherd’s Cottage. Once geared up, including ice axes and crampons, we headed off along the estate track on the south side of Loch an Loin.
On reaching the first bungalow we crossed the Allt na Criche, via a gated bridge, to enter a field of sheep. From there we climbed to a gate being constructed in a deer fence and onto the open hillside.
Animal trails were followed up the north side of a stream through a mixture of dead grasses and bracken, heather and rocks. Higher up there were some quad vehicle trails before we reached the snow covered west ridge of Sgurr a’ Gharaidh.
Several twists and turns were made to avoid small gullies and hillocks to reach the foot of Sgurr a’ Gharaidh. Here we donned crampons and got the ice axes out for the final climb of a snow filled gully to reach the summit of this Graham. There were two cairns, the first was larger but the smaller cairn to the east was apparently the highest point.
After a break taking in some fine views we returned by the ascent route.
- Time taken – 5 hours.
- Distance – 7.75 kilometres.
- Height climbed – 710 metres.