An ascent of Beinn Odhar Bheag and Beinn Mhic Cedidh graced by a white tailed eagle flyby

Jason Bonniface

2 years ago

The Rois-bheinn massif from the summit of Beinn Mhic Cedidh, Morar to Morvern

After a visit to the Silver Sands of Morar at the weekend the forecast for the Monday was good. I’d booked leave and planned to tackle the Corbetts Beinn Odhar Bheag and Beinn Mhic Cedidh south west of Glenfinnan on the west side of Loch Shiel. I’d pondered on the best approach to these hills several times when travelling between Glenfinnan and Lochailort but only just got round to figuring out where best to cross the railway. There’s a decent size layby on a bend (at NGR NM 857813 or 5.5174, 56.8735 degrees) just as the road begins to descend more steeply down towards Lochailort. There are gates onto a railway crossing where you can nip across and get straight out onto the grassy hillside beyond. Bits of path lead up south west on to the northern spur of Beinn Odhar Mhor where you can choose a variety of lines upwards.

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Beinn Odhar Mhor (870m) has fine views east to Loch Eil and north to the Morar to Loch Arkaig mountains. It is the lower northern sibling of the Corbett Beinn Odhar Bheag (882m) – which is reached by an easy but undulating ridge that was a joy to traverse in the virgin snow with Loch Shiel and Sgurr Ghiubhsachain on my left. From the summit of Beinn Odhar Bheag my gaze was caught by the views south to Beinn Resipol and the Mull hills, and west to the Rois-Bheinn group with Rum beyond.

The north west ridge of Beinn Odhar Bheag descends to Bealach a’ Choire Bhuidhe that separates the hill from the neighbouring Corbett Beinn Mhic Cedidh. The bealach lies at 500m so although Beinn Mhic Cedidh is only 783 metres there is a fair re-climb. After some lunch the snow on the lower east ridge of Cedidh was getting a bit soft and slippery – after a morning in the sun – and it felt like quite a plod to reach the gentler upper ridge. Here however, I was greeted and delighted by a white tailed eagle flyby, so I was immediately looking up.

On the odd close encounter with an eagle before, they have quickly moved away, but this one circled the summit, with me in plain view, several times at varying distance, almost inquisitively(?). At one point it seemed to get something wrong and flipped on to its side, perhaps caught out by a gust of wind? It righted itself quickly and regained its composure, dignity perhaps a little dented.

The views to the Rois Bheinn group of hills were stunning too. This massif consists of 3 closely spaced Corbetts at its core: Rois-Bheinn (882m), Sgurr na Ba Glaise (874m) and An Stac (814m). There are also several other high tops and long high ridges including An t-Slat-bheinn (830m) and Druim Fiaclach (870m) in the north east and Sgurr Dhomhuill Mor (714m) in the south west. I’m yet to visit this group of hills but very much looking forward to it – they look great.

With the snow I wasn’t too sure about the best descent from the north ridge of Beinn Mhic Cedidh, so retraced steps to Bealach a’ Choire Bhuidhe and descended north to Coire Buidhe. From there a traverse north then north east at 350-400 metres led eventually to a narrow defile on the north ridge of Beinn Odhar Mhor which gave passage to a reasonably straight forward descent to my starting point, the afternoon train from Fort William to Mallaig passing by for a photo opp in timely fashion.