11 May, 2019. It was my fifth full day in Scotland, of an eleven day trip. After a couple of easy days working up to bigger hikes, I had now climbed seven Munros, with my sights on more. This was my second day in Glen Torridon, after traversing Beinn Alligin the previous day. Liathach was a spectacular step up... After a leisurely sleep in (following my ascent of Beinn Alligin the previous day) I parked the car along the A896, about 1 km from the Torridon community campsite. I followed the write-up in the book "Classic Mountain Scrambles in Scotland" by Andrew Dempster, which suggested a trip in the reverse direction from the usual traverse. I followed the corrie up the usual descent route from Mullach an Rathain, but broke off to the left at about 600 meters elevation, then followed the southeast ridge of Mullach an Rathain, which included some delightful scrambling.
I had a mix of sunny, blue skies and rain and snow showers on the way up, but by the time I reached the ridge itself, the precipitation was done. The wind was still occasionally biting cold, but in the sheltered spots, it was downright warm. There were snow patches around (there had been some widespread snow throughout the western Highlands about three or four days earlier) but they didn’t cause any additional difficulty.
An eight hour round trip, covering 12 km and 1170 meters of ascent/descent. Back to the car by 6 PM, and after a quick shower, I was off to join friends for a fantastic home-cooked dinner in a nearby cottage! A day in the Scottish Highlands doesn’t get much better!
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