Baosbheinn
| Baosbheinn | |||
| Ross-shire | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Baosbheinn seen from Beinn Alligin | |||
| Range: | Torridon Hills | ||
| Summit: | 2,871 feet NG870654 57°37’40"N, 5°33’59"W | ||
Baosbheinn is a mountain situated in the Torridon Hills of Ross-shire. It stands in a remote area within the Flowerdale deer forest some 24 miles north of Kyle of Lochalsh.
Overview
Baosbheinn which is made up of Torridonian sandstone reaches a height of 2,871 feet. It is a long elongated mountain oriented northwest-southeast. Its summit ridge is impressive, barely dropping below the 2,300 feet contour in its 2-mile length. Its southwestern slope drops away steeply and rockily towards Loch a’ Ghobhainn while its northeastern slopes are less precipitous, throwing out a series of spurs which produces three craggy corries. Strong hill walkers can climb Baosbheinn with the adjacent Corbett of Beinn an Eoin which stands across Loch na h-Oidhche and gives a demanding circular walk of 13 miles which takes between six and nine hours.[1]
Name
The translation of Baosbheinn from the Gaelic language is usually given by guidebooks as "Wizard’s hill" this comes from the word baobh but strictly speaking this translates as a hag or bitch. Buidsear or fiosaiche is the usual word for a wizard. Scholars have put forward alternatives, one of these is beidhis-fjall from the Old Norse language which translates as hunting hill, with the Norse fjall later changed to the Gaelic bheinn. Local residents of Wester Ross refer to the hill as "mountain of the face", this is explained by the fact that when viewed from Gairloch in the morning light, the hill resembles the appearance of a human head. This is supported by older spellings of the name which use derivations of bathais which translates as face or forehead.[2] In conclusion, although the translated name is usually given as Wizard’s Hill, the alternatives of Hill of the Face, Hunting Hill or Hill of the Hag (or Wicked Person) may have stronger supporting evidence.[3]
Geography and geology
Baosbheinn summit ridge is made up of five prominent high points, starting at the SE end of the ridge is the outlying shoulder of Ceann Beag (2,313 feet) after a short descent to a col at about 2,034 feet the ridge rises steeply over an unnamed top of around 2,641 feet before continuing to the main summit, named Sgorr Dubh on OS maps. The ridge continues for two km to reach the Northwest Top (2,628 feet) before descending to Creag an Fithich (2,421 feet) at the northern end of the ridge. Baosbheinn has three north facing corries, An Rèidh-choire is the largest and lives up to its name of Smooth corrie, being quite open and grassy while the smaller Coire Beag and Coire Mor are more compact and are lined by crags.
Baosbheinn has one noteworthy geological feature: it being the site of the largest and most impressive protalus rampart in Great Britain. The rampart is situated at the NW end of the ridge below the crags of Creag an Fithich at an height of around 1,476 feet. It formed in post-glacial times when a massive rockslide or series of rockslides involving failure of approximately 7,063,000 cubic feet of rock over-rode a former snowbed and accumulated as a boulder ridge.[4] The north west end of Boasbheinn where the protalus rampart is situated has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest over an area of Error: mismatched units.
Ascents
The usual ascent of Baosbheinn starts at a parking place at the Red Barn on the A832 road (NG856720). Most walking guidebooks recommend climbing Boasbheinn along with Beinn an Eoin, this calls for the ascent of Beinn an Eoin first, however a direct ascent of Baosbheinn is possible although the crossing of the river, the Abhainn a’ Gharbh Choire can be difficult in spate conditions.
The walk goes southeast on the track which leads to Loch na h-Oidhche, the early part of the track goes through a recently sown plantation just to the East of Loch Bad na Sgalag where over 1 million native species trees have been planted. The original trees in this area were cut down in the 16th and 17th centuries to feed the ironworks on the shore of Loch Maree.[5] The track is left after 2½ miles and the ridge of Baosbheinn can be attained by crossing pathless moorland.[6]
References
- ↑ Munro Magic. Gives some details for overview.
- ↑ Lexilogos Scottish Gaelic Dictionary. Gives Gaelic translations.
- ↑ "The Call Of The Corbetts", Irvine Butterfield, ISBN 0-7153-2754-2, page 36, Gives etymology details.
- ↑ Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Gives details of protalus rampart.
- ↑ Nar Fir Chlis. Gives details of native pinewood.
- ↑ "The Corbetts And Other Scottish Hills", Scottish Mountaineering Club, ISBN 0-907521-29-0, page 184, Gives ascent route details.
- Climbing the Corbetts, Hamish Brown, ISBN 1-898573-08-5
- The Call of the Corbetts, Irvine Butterfield, ISBN 0-7153-2754-2
- The Corbetts and Other Scottish Hills, Scott Johnstone (Editor) et al., ISBN 0-907521-29-0
- The Corbett Almanac, Cameron McNeish, Neil Wilson Publishing, ISBN 1-897784-14-7
- 100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains, Ralph Storer, ISBN 0-7515-0300-2