An Teallach from Corrie Hallie

An Teallach, “the forge”, is a nine-topped sandstone ridge above Little Loch Broom that Walkhighlands calls perhaps the most impressive mountain in Britain, and the British Mountaineering Council calls mainland Britain’s most legendary Grade 3 ridge scramble. It stands on the Dundonnell Estate, roughly 33,000 acres bought by the lyricist Sir Tim Rice in 1998. Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill, the higher of its two Munros, reaches 1,062m; the second, Sgurr Fiona, is close behind at 1,060m. Ullapool is the nearest base, a drive away by the Braemore junction and the A832.

From the car park at Corrie Hallie, a signed track climbs south-west for about 3km to a fork with the path to Shenavall bothy, then a rougher path breaks off to pick a route, over boulder fields, up Sail Liath’s south-east ridge. From Sail Liath’s 954m summit the crest continues over Stob Cadha Gobhlach to the foot of Corrag Bhuidhe, where the British Mountaineering Council grades the direct scramble over the pinnacles and Lord Berkeley’s Seat as Grade 3, and advises staying roped up on the pinnacles, where the sandstone can break away. Walkers who want the two Munros without that scrambling take the bypass path on the mountain’s south-west flank, which still needs hands in places but avoids the crest’s worst exposure, rejoining the ridge to reach Sgurr Fiona and then Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill.

Walkhighlands gives the full route between Corrie Hallie and the Dundonnell roadside, where the walk finishes, as 20km and 1,415m of ascent, nine to ten hours; a car left at each end avoids the three-kilometre road walk back that’s otherwise needed to close the loop. It suits a fit, experienced hillwalker comfortable on steep, loose, boulder-strewn ground for nine or ten hours, even on the bypass path; it does not suit anyone with less than a full day or unsteady on exposed terrain, for whom Stac Pollaidh, also reached from Ullapool, gives a Highland summit in a fraction of the time.