UKC

I've been planning on taking some mates up Beinn a' Bheithir once the snow is gone and was originally thinking of doing the grade 1 ENE ridge of Sgorr Bhan. I had a look at a few photos of it though, and it looks like a good walk but a little straightforward in terms of scrambling.

Then I saw the Traverse of Sgorr a' Chaolais in Scrambles in Lochaber, and was wondering if anyone would recommend it as a way up these hills? The guidebook gives it two stars, then talks about a lot of vegetation,loose rock, and a couple of sketchy downclimbs, so I'm a little confused. Is it worth the walk in through the plantation maze and what is apparently a bog at the foot of the ridge?

Your thoughts are welcome.

In reply to Taurig: Alex (who used to post on UKC) has a blog post about it here:
http://glencoemountaineer.blogspot.com/2010/04/ascent-of-dragons-tooth.html

In reply to Mike Peacock:

Hey Mike, yeah I saw that blog post when I googled for some info, but again it confused me; a battle through forest and marsh, a highly vegetated lower section, and crappy rock, couldn't figure out why it was getting two stars! Personally I can see the appeal of a bit an adventure/battle, but on the other hand I can already feel the stares burning into the back of my head as my mates question what I've suggested going up!

In reply to Taurig: I too have struggled through that bit of wood near the burn. It is horrible but avoidable. Stick to the forest roads and these will lead you to open ground. You can then make a decision on how steep the ground you climb will be. The main thing is to avoid the temptation to take a shortcut through the woodland. Oh and the "moorland" is not really boggy and would not pose a problem.

In reply to goatee:

Follow the forestry track past the usual turn off at 047573 to about 050562, and from there there is a very straight forward 'built' path to where the burn enters the wood. A (poor quality) photo of where the path leaves the forestry track: http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff114/SimonPP/Image00001b.jpg . Then follow the normal route to the bealach. It is a little longer, but much to be preferred for both ascent and descent to the route alongside the burn, which is truly awful

In reply to Taurig:

My preferred route:

http://www.scottishhills.com/html/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopi...

A nice horseshoe.