My 2nd day in the North-West - plan A had been to go for Liathach but the vagaries of Scottish weather meant that with snow forecast (it's May FFS!), I didn't fancy doing Liathach on anything except a clear day. I therefore chose Beinn Alligin - how glad was I? It turned out to be a stunning day in the hills and I was simply blown away by the magnificence of this mountain. From the atmospheric, silent amphitheatre of being in the corrie below Tom na Gruagaich to the beautifully poised summit cairn, with the plunging cliffs of Toll a Mhadaidh, to the quite stunning Sgurr Mor. Then there is the chasm of the Eag Dubh. I won't bother going on anymore (though I am) except to say that by the time I was on Sgurr Mor, the snow was fairly dinging it doon. All views were obliterated and I had a made a good decision to leave Liathach for another day - on the occasion I did see it, it was quite a wonderful set of peaks and jagged edges to look at - Sabatier would have been proud. I had really looked forward to going over the Horns of Alligin and worried slightly when a party of three passed me on the opposite route saying they had given them a miss, opting to take the path below the Horns - could it really be that bad? I decided to go over them and was glad to have done so. The airy, scramble really is the way to go and just added to the experience that I was having possibly one of my best days on the hill. Also, the fluctuating cloud/snow conditions afforded some magnificent views over the Horns. Then, there is the views across to Beinn Dearg - what a majestic Corbett it is - very impressive. Unfortunately, it all ended too soon and I was descending quite steep ground back to the glen. No need to further expand on this day, just look at the photos. Astounded on Alligin.
