Sgurr Innse

This walk in June 2024 was not a complete success as I didn't get to the summit of Sgurr Innse, although it was an enjoyable day.

I caught the early morning train to Spean Bridge and walked along the lane towards Corriechoille.

At the end of the paved road the estate road heads up hill ......

......with the Corbett Cruach Innse visible on the left and the end of Stob Coire Gaibhre on the right.

 Over to the South West are the Munros Aonach Beag (left) and Aonach Mor (right) both over 4000 feet above sea level.

As the estate road climbs towards the Lairig it enters a enclosed forested area.

....where we meet the 'Wee Minister' wood carving.

This replaced an old stone carving in 2011 and is intended to bring good luck to walkers.

Emerging from the woods the track continues to climb....

...before dropping down to the Allt Leachdach.....

.....which it crosses on a bridge. Ahead is Cruach Innse which I climbed in 2019.

The estate track continues up this dramatic glen...

...surrounded on both sides by mountains.

There is now the first sight of Sgurr Innse with its dramatic cliffs.

Eventually I reach the summit of the track at a fairly wet watershed. The next stage of the walk is to get up onto the bealach between Cruach Innse (out of sight to the left) and Sgurr Innse.

There's a new fence here so I decided to follow it across the rather boggy area. On my return I found a better way across the marshy ground.

Looking South down the Lairig Leachach which eventually leads to Corrour station.

The climb to the bealch is quite steep....

.....and becomes even steeper when I discover an all terrain vehicle track which goes straight up the hillside!

Looking back downhill there is an obvious way across to the main track.

Looking down the Lairig with the slopes of the Munros Stob Ban and Stob Choire Claurigh on the right.

I'm at Bealach na Cruaiche looking at the way up Sgurr Innse. I think I can see a way up through the cliffs.

However there is a problem. My GPS receiver has developed a fault that morning and refuses to display my location, showing just a blank screen. Knowing the reputation of Sgurr Innse and the difficulty of finding the correct path down off the summit I'd been intending to waymark the exact position of the path I took uphill. I'm also feeling rather weary after two days fairly hard walking, the previous day being over 9 hours.

I think I'm going to need a least an hour to an hour and a half to get to the summit and back and then I've still got a walk of over three hours back to Spean Bridge. Should I go on? I defer the decision until after a break for lunch.

Looking across to Stob Ban which I'd climbed on a miserable wet day in October 2013.

Leaving the bealach there is faint path towards Sgurr Innse.

The photo doesn't really convey the nature of the climb but it felt a little intimidating. It's roughly another 400 feet climb from this point. There isn't a clear track and the terrain is clearly very rough and steep with areas of boulders to cross. I think the way up will be on grass from the bottom right to top left and then cutting across to the right to reach the flatter summit area.

Nevertheless I start up a faint and indistinct track up the hill over to the left but after a few minutes decided that this probaby wasn't the best way up the hill and I retreated.

In the end I decide I really don't want to climb this Corbett today. Sometimes it's best to go with your gut feeling and stop when the mind and body tell you to. I'm on my own and now the wrong side of 70! There's also a three hour walk back to Spean Bridge. The hill will still be there for another attempt on another occasion when perhaps I feel more positive about tackling it.

Back home I've been able to examine the above photo in detail and have identified what I think is the way up the hill to reach the flattish summit area.