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The most westerly of the Munros in Torridon, Beinn Alligin is not such an extensive or imposing mountain as it's near neighbours but this is to it's advantage. A full traverse of the mountain is well within the bounds of a day's walk and offers some excellant ridge walking. The mountain is best viewed from the south over Upper Loch Torridon when the full extent of the tops and ridges can be seen. The nearest top to the roadside is Tom na Gruagaich (the 'Tom') which is the most rounded but, despite sporting the trig point, is not the highest. This honour falls to Sgurr Mhor which is readily identified by large cleft - Eag Dhubh - that runs diagonally across the face of the cliffs right to the summit. To the east is a lower ridge showing three distinct tops - the famous Horns of Alligin - which offer some splendid narrow ridge scrambling.
You can tackle the circuit in either direction and guides are split about which is best. If you don't fancy the traverse of the Horns then you have little choice, but if you do then I would recommend anti-clockwise with the Horns first. There is no real difficulty on the traverse provided you don't mind heights and a bit of handwork; one guide grades the ridge as similar to Striding Edge on Helvellyn in Cumbria (which is about right) but somewhat longer and higher (also about right). It is well worth the outing.
The weather forecast was the best of week so we were up promptly and drove down to Torridon and parked in the car park at the foot of the Coire Mhic Nobuil path. The nearest top, the 'Tom' had cleared of mist but the other tops drifted in and out of cloud all morning. We had intended making the circuit in a clockwise direction (tackling the 'Tom' first) and followed the path on the east side of the river on the understanding that there was a crossing after half a mile or so. However we missed this turn and so decided to follow everyone else and reverse the route and tackle the Horns first. The path is well used and crosses first the main watercourse of Abhainn Coire Mhic Nobuil and then the tributary of Allt a'Bhealaich, both of these being bridged. It took us one hour to cover the two and half miles, and 1000ft ascent, to the foot of the ridge under the Horns. It was now 11:00am and we stopped for a quick bite and a chat with other groups taking advantage of the good weather.
The first 150m of climb was virtually straight up with a stiff scramble over the sandstone boulders and crags. There was nothing too difficult although it was much easier in ascent than descent. Susan was hampered by shorter legs - or 'ducks disease' as she commented to other walkers. The gradient eases slightly before a final assault to the first pinnacle - from below there appears to be four horns but in reality the third and fourth merge with no drop between them. It was now 12:00 and we stopped to change film and take in the view of the surrounding mountains. Liathach had a halo of cloud with the jagged ridge standing out; further afield the Cuillin ridge of Skye was also visible above the cloud.
The sandstone ridge now narrows and there are two sharp drops - and successive climbs - to traverse the two remaining Horns. The last Horn has a short narrow stretch of ridge and we stopped here for lunch still with the cloud drifting in and out around us. There follows a steep drop to the final col then a long steady climb to the Munro top of Sgurr Mhor.
We rested on the
top taking in the panoramic view - there was cloud over the coast and on some
tops but this was ever changing as the mist rolled between the glens. There
were fine views of Beinn Dearg - the near neighbour to the east - although
Beinn Eighe beyond was more heavily clad in cloud with the tops free. Liathach
in the south east had by now largely thrown off the cloud from its ridges.
The ridge swings west, skirting the top of the great gulley Eag Dhubh that splits the south facing cliffs, before turning south to the second main top of Tom na Gruagich. The intervening drop is 200m and whilst much easier than the earlier climb it was still too steep and rough to be called a 'stroll'. There were more people about brought out by the good weather and the more popular ascent from the west - many of them not liking the look of the Horns and opting to return by the route of ascent. It seemed a long climb to reach the trig point which was found perched on a narrow crag above the north east facing cliffs. Gentler slopes run to the west and south-west. We had a final look round taking in a full panorama from the north over all the Torridon tops to the south west; the Horns were now free of mist.
It was 4:00pm, we had lounged on the tops for some time, as we started a descent doewn the gully of Coire nan Laogh - not too steep but a dirty path. We followed the obvious path path over the shoulder in a direct line to the starting point. This actually leaves you 500ft too high and a nasty steep descent down a heavily eroded and washed out path to reach the road.
It was 5:45pm as we walked into the car park where we changed out of the
boots and drove round the loch to view the mountain from the south. Returning
past the Loch Torridon Hotel with its new Public Bar building we stopped for a
shower at the facilities in Torridon before driving round to the Loch Maree
Hotel for supper; we were camped at Taagan and fancied a change of venue for
the evening.
