Creag Liath and Breabag

Introduction

Seen from the road these two mountains form the bulk of the long ridge of very rough terrain south on Inchnadamph and Conival. Neither peak has a high or pronounced summit and are more akin to long ridges than specific tops. Being somewhat lower than their northern Munro neighbours they are much less frequented and an exploration is unlikely to meet many other walkers - if any - even in the height of the summer season. The ridge forms the western arm of the ridges that enclose Glen Oykel of Benmore Forest to the East. This area is extremely remote and rough. The name Breabag applies to the section of ridge to the north whilst the higher and more rounded southern top is un-named on OS maps - the name Creag Liath is take from the named crag on the western side of the hillside.

This walk gives the best views of the extensive ridges to Ben More hidden on the East side of the mountain.

Our Ascent

The hills were under cloud in the morning but it was clear and sunny at the coast so we were hopeful of a day when the tops would clear. We drove round to the car park at the fish farm at the entrance to the Allt nan Uamh. This is the path to the bone caves some 2km up the valley (not 4km as shown on the signpost) and is always popular with visitors.

The sun was shining as we set off along the prepared path, passing the large spring where the majority of the water that fills the river emerges from. There much be something in the water as a green slimey weed covers the rocks downstream from the spring. A smaller second spring lies a few metres further on but after that the river valley is dry. We ignored the path that crosses the river bed to climb the hillside to the caves and continued past on the soft grass in the valley bottom. A rough and intermittant path follows the valley just to the north of the river. One kilometre beyond the caves the valley narrows and the walls rise in height. At the far end of this ravine is an impressive waterfall - the stream disappearing underground just below the plunge pool. The path takes to the narrow sheep and deer tracks across the steep loose hillside - care is needed.

We continued up the valley over rough ground of peat and heather. There was some debate as to which streams were shown on the map but not on the gorund - and those on the ground but not on the map. A few hundred yards further on the stream tumbles over an impressive cascade, the path again climbing to the left on narrow tracks. Beyond this the terrain opens up to give a wider view of the surrounding hills. Amongst the heather grows bilberries and there were ample ripe and sweet berries to be had. High up on the hillside was a large herd of grazing deer - we counted over fifty head.

Ahead the terrain changes to one of rocky crags, broken pavements and piles of shattered rock. Our target was a small lochan shown on the map just below the ridge between Breabag and the higher top to the south. This was still some one and a half kilometres distant - a stream could be seen falling over a long crag high on the skyline and the lochan obviously lay above that.

We climbed the increasingly broken ground, picking up a path that cut diagonally up the final crag to deliver us to the lip of the small lochan high up on the hillside. Behind us (west) lay the Coigach hills - sillhouetted grey in the sun with clouds drifting on and off the tops. We gained the ridge and rested with a chocolate bar.

The higher summit lay approximately one and a half kilometres to the south, 150m higher over (from this angle) a rounded hill. We picked our way through the broken stones up the easy slopes. As height was gained the Conival to Ben More ridge stretched impressively behind us in the northern aspect. The corrie lochan below Ben More was drained by waterfalls running white with water towards us.

We crossed several bands of rocks before reaching a first top and cairn. We passed a group of walkers who had looped a direct assault on the summit and were returning by our approach route. The summit carries several tops separated by grass. The highest top is the furthest one (most southerly) and offers a shelter of stones surrounding the base of an old trig point - the brass point still visible in the base rock.

Here we lunched (2:15pm) whilst cloud reeled in and out covering the top. It was somewhat chilly in the strong wind. The cloud cleared as we picked our way back down to the lochan in the col - from above we had a clear view of the hillside and could make our way on the grass virtually all the way down. Here we removed our additional layers of clothing and set off up the lower slope to the nearer summit of Breabag. This section is much more rocky with broken pavements covering large areas. We crossed several ridges, including one six foot dyke that cuts across the entire ridge. We soon reached the wind swept summit - now very close under Conival although this was now dark and frequently covered by cloud.

Looking back the true character of Creag Liath is seen with massive corries and broken cliffs on the eastern side which had been hidden from view. The wide and desolate Glen Oykel opens out below the heavily shattered cliffs on the eastern rim of the top. We explored the cliffs as we made our way back along the ridge. The lochan we had passed on our ascent was below us, perched on the edge of the col. We crossed the top of a large gully falling away left to the depths of Glen Oykel before taking a grassy gully running in the opposite direction back to the headwaters og the Allt na Uamh. After a final scramble over rough rocks we gained the floor of the high valley and followed this down. The area around the summit ridge is all broken rock - the grassy gully we had followed down was virtually invisible from below.

Lower down were were able to pick up rough if intermittant paths all the way down making for a rapid descent. The herd of deer were still grizing the high slopes. We paused for a quick drink at a waterfall and soon found ourselves under the caves again. From here it was only a 25 minute stroll down the valley now bathed in sunshine and we reached the car at 5:45pm.

This walk makes an excellant outing. As expected we had seen few people - the party noted above and a group of three that followed us off the first top. It is well worth taking in both tops having gained the height, with the extensive view of the Conival and Ben More ridges most impressive. An exploration of the eastern side would make a most dramatic and remote two or three day walk.