Always take a map and compass with you. ©Crown copyright 2019 Ordnance Survey. Media 051/190 km 2 4 6 8 10 12600
400
200
012341
Start/Finish
Park carefully at
end of single-track road
in Gleann Beag.
GR: NG846165
Take track E through Balvraid
farm and into mixed woodland.(^2)
After passing under power
lines, look out for path on
right, which leads to suspension
bridge (easy to miss) over the
Beinn a’ Chapuill
West Highlands SCOTLAND
12km/7.5 miles/4-6 hours
Ascent 760m/2500ft^1
CROSSING the high pass
of the Mam Ratagan always
feels like entering a secret
kingdom. Despite being
squeezed between Glen
Shiel and Skye, the hills in
this area have a real feeling
of detachment from their
near neighbours.
The biggest draw for
many is the lone Munro of
Beinn Sgritheall, but there
are some grand Corbetts and
Grahams all the way down
to the road end providing
rough and rugged ascents.
Beinn a’ Chapuill may be
of modest height, but from
the Pictish brochs in Gleann
Beag it looks formidable, a
long ridge rising in a series
of steps to an airy summit.
This tight glen can look
gloomy and forbidding
under dark skies, but we
were in the middle of a
Abhain a’ Ghlinne Bhig, then cross
fence by stile to open ground.
(^3)
Turn W to reach foot of E
ridge of Beinn a’ Chapuill
and head over a series of stepped
rises to steeper final section which
leads to summit, marked 759m
on map.
(^4)
To descend, go WNW to
742m top marked Beinn a’
Chapuill (NG828153), drop W
carefully between crags beside
stream, then turn N by Allt Eas
Mor Chul an Duin to reach a gate
and stile. Turn E on forest track to
cross bridge back to road in
Gleann Beag.
Gradient profile Metres above sea level
Alan Rowan
finds this Graham
is hot stuff
The Great Outdoors July 2019 85