Frontispiece} [Photo by Miss Omtes, SLIGACHAN BRIDGE, SGURR NAN GILLEAN AND THE BHASTEIR GROUP. WALKS AND SCRAMBLES IN THE HIGHLANDS. BY ARTHUR L. BAGLEY. WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS. Xon&on SKEFFINGTON & SON 34 SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND, W.C. PUBLISHERS TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING I9H Richard Clav & Sons, Limiteu, brunswick street, stamford street s.e., and bungay, suffolk UNiVERi. CONTENTS BEN CRUACHAN ..... II CAIRNGORM AND BEN MUICH DHUI 9 III BRAERIACH AND CAIRN TOUL 18 IV THE LARIG GHRU 26 V A HIGHLAND SUNSET .... 33 VI SLIOCH 39 VII BEN EAY 47 VIII LIATHACH ; AN ABORTIVE ATTEMPT 56 IX GLEN TULACHA 64 X SGURR NAN GILLEAN, BY THE PINNACLES 7i XI BRUACH NA FRITHE .... 79 XII THROUGH GLEN AFFRIC 83 XIII FROM GLEN SHIEL TO BROADFORD, BY KYLE RHEA 92 XIV BEINN NA CAILLEACH . 99 XV FROM BROADFORD TO SOAY . 106 v vi CONTENTS CHAF. PACE XVI GARSBHEINN AND SGURR NAN EAG, FROM SOAY II4 XVII THE BHASTEIR . .122 XVIII CLACH GLAS AND BLAVEN . 1 29 XIX FROM ELGOL TO GLEN BRITTLE OVER THE DUBHS 138 XX SGURR SGUMA1N, SGURR ALASDAIR, SGURR TEARLACH AND SGURR MHIC CHOINNICH . I47 XXI FROM THURSO TO DURNESS . -153 XXII FROM DURNESS TO INCHNADAMPH . 1 66 XXIII BEN MORE OF ASSYNT 1 74 XXIV SUILVEN 180 XXV SGURR DEARG AND SGURR NA BANACHDICH . 1 88 XXVI THE CIOCH 1 96 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Toface page SLIGACHAN BRIDGE, SGURR NAN GILLEAN AND THE bhasteir group . Frontispiece BEN CRUACHAN, FROM NEAR DALMALLY . 4 LOCH AN EILEAN ....... 9 AMONG THE CAIRNGORMS ; THE LARIG GHRU IN THE DISTANCE . -31 VIEW OF SKYE, FROM NEAR KYLE OF LOCH ALSH . 7 THE BHASTEIR GORGE AND THE PINNACLES OF SGURR NAN GILLEAN 78 IN GLEN AFFRIC 85 THE COOLINS FROM CORUISK Ill GARSBHEINN, SGURR DUBH, ETC., FROM STRATHAIRD Il8 SGURR DUBH, SGURR a' GHREADHAIDH, SGURR a' MHADAIDH, SGURR NA STRI, SGURR NAN GILLEAN, FROM STRATHAIRD 141 SGURR DEARG, SGURR MHIC CHOINNICH, SGURR ALASDAIR, SGURR SGUMAIN AND SRON NA CICHE, FROM GLEN BRITTLE 1 48 SGURR SGUMAIN IN MIST, AND SRON NA CICHE . 196 Certain chapters of this book originally appeared in the Cairngorm Club Journal, the Climbers' Club Journal, and the Field, and the author's thanks are due to the editors of those publications for permission to reprint the same. The author also desires to express his grateful thanks to Miss Oates, Mr. Richard Moreland, Mr. W. J. Moggs Wright and Mr. W. Howat for the illustrations. WALKS AND SCRAMBLES IN THE HIGHLANDS CHAPTER I. BEN CRUACHAN. Ben Cruachan was the first Scottish mountain that I ascended, and I always feel a peculiar affec- tion for it on that account. Indeed, it was not only the first Scottish mountain, but the first mountain of any nationality, with the single excep- tion of Snowdon. And I had previously never felt much interest in mountains, nor had I greatly desired to climb them. I had been personally conducted up Snowdon some years earlier on a very bad day, and had then come to the conclusion that the game was not worth the candle, and just how or why I became one of the elect I know not. I think the charms of Ben Cruachan clinched the matter, and effected my final conversion. I had spent a week at Luss on Loch Lomond in one of the wettest Septembers on record (which is saying a good deal). It rained the whole week almost unceasingly. I usually embarked on the first steamer after breakfast with no very definite B 2 WALKS AND SCRAMBLES plan of action. If the deluge was very bad, I admired the scenery of the saloon. If a landing- place turned up during a lull in the storm, I landed and walked on to some other pier. In this way I circumnavigated, and almost circumambulated the lake, but I did not go up Ben Lomond. Even now, when I have had some little experience on British hills, I am not one of those stalwarts who go out climbing howsoever the elements may rage. Person- ally, I could never see any sense in such a proceeding. I do not climb for my living ; I climb, if I may be permitted to call it climbing—perhaps I ought to " say that I " hill-walk —in my holidays for my own pleasure and gratification, and the process of getting soaked to the skin fails to afford me either pleasure or gratification. If the weather turns bad after I have started, which is certainly rather a way it has, I usually go on with the job, and make the best of it with what philosophy I may; but if the morning is hopeless to begin with, I give it up, and make myself as comfortable indoors as circum- stances permit. After this torrential week at Luss I went on to Taynuilt, the rain still going on, apparently ad infinitum. There was an aneroid barometer in my sitting-room, from which, however, I was unable to extract any crumb of comfort ; indeed, the indicator sank so low that I was seriously afraid that it would go right round and come up on the other side, and what awful convulsion of Nature might then be expected to ensue? However, I am thankful to IN THE HIGHLANDS 3 say that I was spared that dreadful portent, and the third morning (Monday, September 21) was, to my great amazement, fine, and seemed likely so to continue, notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of the barometer to adhere to " very stormy." I took advantage of this remarkable state of things to set out for Ben Cruachan, and was rewarded by a fine day, perfect except for a haze that crept up soon after midday. I may remark en passant that this was the only day in my fortnight's holiday on which there was no rain. I suppose most people who take any interest in Scottish mountains are aware that Ben Cruachan is a twin ; that is to say, there are two principal peaks of almost identical height, and about half-a-mile apart. There are, however, several subsidiary peaks lying between Dalmally and the twin tops, and indeed Ben Cruachan is really rather a moun- tain range than a single mountain, as there are about half-a-dozen peaks which exceed 3000 feet, and several others which closely approach that magic height. My idea was to ascend from the Dalmally side and traverse the whole range from end to end, omitting the outlying peaks of Ben Vourie and Meall Cuanail ; and I will now proceed to relate how I successfully accomplished that meritorious design. I left Taynuilt by the 8.42 train for Loch Awe Station, and walked thence along the Dalmally road to the point where the path to Ben Cruachan strikes off. I say " path " because both guide-book 4 WALKS AND SCRAMBLES and natives speak of such ; but as a matter of fact such paths as exist—and there is at first any number of them—all lose themselves in the bogs, in which the unwary pedestrian runs some risk of losing himself also. Probably, however, the bogs were very much worse than usual, owing to the persistent heavy rains of the last few weeks; at any rate, nobody who has ascended Ben Cruachan by this route, and with whom I have compared notes, seems to have suffered from the bogs as I did, and many men appear hardly to have noticed them. I have, however, a painfully clear recollection of the manner in which I bounded gracefully from one comparatively solid tuft of heather to another, varied by occasional ungraceful flounderings when an apparently solid tuft turned out a delusion and a snare, and did its level best to drag me down with a hideous squelch into the sloshy depths. This sort of thing is fatiguing exercise, and offers no com- pensations ; so I was very glad to reach the foot- bridge over the burn, and to find somewhat more solid ground on the other side, from which the actual ascent now begins. From here two ridges, either of which may be followed, ascend steeply to two peaks, each just about 3000 feet high; from these two peaks the ridges drop a few hundred feet, and then ascend more steeply to a central peak, 3272 feet, Stob Diamh. The two ridges converging on Stob Diamh thus form two gigantic semi-circles, and enclose a very wild and desolate corrie. I do not know that IN THE HIGHLANDS 5 there is any choice between the two ridges. I chose the right-hand one, and when I was half-way up I thought the other looked much finer, and wished I had followed it ; but I have not the slightest doubt but that, if I had chosen the left-hand one, I should have been similarly dissatisfied. At all events, I reached Stob Diamh, grandly dominating the magnificent corrie, at 12.30, having left Loch Awe Station at 9.10, and from this central point there seemed to be nothing to choose between the two ridges. But when you have attained the summit of this peak, although it is considerably over 3000 feet in height, and has probably taken you some three hours of fairly hard work to accomplish, you must by no means imagine that you have ascended Ben Cruachan. On the contrary, you have hardly begun to ascend him, for this is merely one of the half- dozen outlying subsidiary peaks, and the real twin summits have not yet been visible. Now, however, as you step on to the summit of Stob Diamh, the easternmost of the twin summits bursts upon you in all its beauty.