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Sgor Gaibhre and Carn
Dearg |
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| The
Munros |
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| Sgor Gaibhre and Carn Dearg
from Beinn na Lap |
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Country: Scotland. |
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Location: Loch Ossian. |
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Transport: The West Highland Railway has a station
(Corrour Halt) nearby. |
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Trip Date: 17 June 1993 |
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Introduction |
Squeezed between Loch Lossian and Loch Ericht are the fine hills of Sgor
Gaibhre ("goat's peak", 955m) and Carn Dearg ("red hill", 941m). To the north,
they present mostly smooth slopes and easy access. A more dramatic profile is
shown to the east where steeper inclines rise up from the Lochan a'Bhealaich to
Sgor Gaibhre. The two peaks form a distorted H shape with the Mam Ban col
forming the crossbar. The open corries between them are the gathering grounds
of some of the largest herds of red deer in Scotland. If you stay in the Loch
Ossian youth hostel then you may be visited by a couple of stags that sometimes
even wander into the building.
In the photo above, Sgor Gaibhre is the fine taller pointed peak to the
left of center while Carn Dearg is the more spread out hill on the right (with
the patch of snow). The pointed peak on the horizon between the two Munros is
Schiehallion (of course). Sgorr Choinnich (a Top of 927m) is the nicely rounded
hill to the left of Sgor Gaibhre. Poking out on the bottom left of the photo
are the blue waters of Loch Ossian.
You can bag these peaks (and Sgorr Choinnich) in a long day out from
Corrour Halt on the West Highland Railway. There is a total distance of 22
kilometres covered in this loop but 7 kilometres of that is on the excellent,
level track to the south of Loch Lossian and the terrain is easily
traversed.
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Route |
From Corrour Halt, head along the track ENE past the youth hostel (less
than 2 quick kilometres from the station) and along the south shore of Loch
Ossian. The forest above the loch prevents a direct line to Sgor Gaibhre and so
you have to follow the track to the group of cottages at the east end of the
loch. Cross the bridge over the loch's outlet (River Ossian) and immediately
take a path to the NE. This returns over the river on a wooden footbridge and
passes to the west of a small copse to reach open ground. Head SE for an easy
climb over grassy slopes to the knoll of Meall Nathrach Mor. A short drop leads
to even gentler angles on the ascent to Sgorr Choinnich.
Drop south from the Top for 120m to a distinctive bealach. In mist, it
is easy to head too far west and end up in the stream draining the bealach but
there are no problems following the stream back up to the col. A path from the
col leads up a broad steepening ridge to wind through some small crags and onto
Sgor Gaibhre. You should arrive in about 4 hours from the station - just in
time for a nice long lunch break. On a clear day there is an outstanding view
of Ben Alder and Loch Ericht. I found myself in more typical misty weather but
managed to get some good views by walking further south until I was out from
under the clouds.
Leave the summit by gentle slopes of heather and grass to the WSW and
descend to the wide col of Mam Ban. Thread your way through the (hopefully dry)
peat hags and ascend the rockier gradients on the other side. A climb of 220
metres reaches the large cairn on the summit of Carn Dearg. The cairn provides
a little bit of shelter from the wind. The entire expanse of Rannoch Moor lies
to the south with the sun gleaming on its numerous lochs. Directly north the
glacial trench of Strath Ossian is very noticeable while the day's end at
Corrour Halt can be seen to the west.
The north-west ridge from Carn Dearg gives a kindly descent to the head
of an open corrie. A direct route can be taken into the corrie and down for 2.5
kilometres to a path known as The Road to the Isles. If you want to keep up
high for a while longer then follow the broad ridge west above the corrie to
meet the path about a kilometre further south. The well-formed path heads north
to a junction where we take the west fork to the youth hostel and railway
station.
