Get Lost Mountaineering

Hallival, Askival, Trallval & Ainshval from Kinloch

Start/Finish

Rum bunkhouse.

Distance/Time

16 km.    About 9 – 10 hours.

Peaks

Hallival, 723 m, NM 395 963.

Askival, 812 m, NM 393 952.

Trallval/Trollabhal, 702 m, NM 377 952.

Ainshval, 781 m, NM 378 943.    OS sheet 39: Rum and Eigg.

Introduction

Rum is the largest of the small isles but has a very small permanent population (about 30 in April 2017). For its size, the facilities are surprisingly good. There is the famous Kinloch Castle, seemingly now in decline but parts are still open at times. The old hostel was the servants rooms in the castle but that is now closed since a brand new bunkhouse was built near the shoreline. The bunkhouse is superb with a lovely large lounge, excellent kitchen, lots of small rooms, drying room and showers. It has central heating and is very well insulated. Bed linen (duvets) are provided with towels available to hire. The bunkhouse is so good that it is frequently booked up so plan well ahead and hope the weather will be kind. There is a shop/post office nearby which has limited opening hours so it is advisable to check this in case food has to be taken in. The ferry from Mallaig takes about 90 minutes depending on which route it takes. The mountains on Rum are Black Cuillin, as on Skye, so the principle rocks are gabbro and basalt. Gabbro is an almost perfect rock to scramble on giving much friction when dry. There are two drawbacks to Rum: the midges are very bad in the summer so go prepared and your compass will not work owing to the magnetic nature of the rock. Note that Trallval now seems to have been renamed as Trollabhal so expect to come across both spellings.

Route

(1) From the bunkhouse, walk to the castle and start walking around it. At the first corner is a gate in a fence which is the start of the path. Go through this and head straight for the obvious stream which has flowed down from Coire Dubh. Follow the path (do not cross any bridge) to join a rough track which goes past a stone building called “The Powerhouse” where hydro-electricity is generated and was actually pioneered on Rum. After The Powerhouse, the track becomes a wide, recently created, path. It crosses various tributaries before reaching a small dam where the new path ends. A rough path takes over and continues up the side of the stream, passing a small gorge. Higher up, the remains of a small causeway are crossed and a path slants up the hillside then follows a small stream to its source on a falt area known as the Cnapan Breaca. From here, head roughly SSW up an easy but rocky slope to reach what some maps show as Pt 518 (can be bypassed on either side and it is not a well defined top) then continue to reach the NNW ridge of Hallival. This is very broad lower down but soon narrows and becomes steeper and more rocky. A faint path can be followed for the easiest route but this weaves around a lot and needs good route finding. When the ground eases, reach the large cairn which is the summit of Hallival, 723 m.

(2) In clear weather, the continuation to Askival could not be more obvious but a direct line down the S ridge of Hallival will be too difficult and exposed for many so look to pick a way down on the right, W, but trying not to stray too far from the crest. There are a few short rocky steps and short traverses before easier, more grassy ground is reached and the col below Askival is reached. Start ascend the obvious ridge until the Askival Pinnacle is reached which has a sheer slab on its right hand side. The path goes to the left of the crest here and is initially easy to follow but soon gets fainter. It actually zig zags up, fairly steeply in places, with a few small cairns (not easily spotted) so good route finding is essential as the steep ground is very rocky in places and hands will be needed but, with good route finding, the scrambling should be easy and one should eventually emerge on the rocky plateau where a stone trig point is the summit of Askival, 812 m.

(3) Go W from the summit and start descending the moderately steep W ridge. The crest is quite rockybut it is fairly grassy just below it on the left and one can weave a way down trying to avoid much of the gravel further to the left. Much lower down, the rocks on the crest run out and one can descend to the broad grassy col known as the Bealach an Oir. During the descent, the E ridge of Trallval will have been directly ahead and this is the route up to its summit. Gain the ridge as soon as possible – it may be easier to go left first then cut back right up grassy slopes – and follow it up. A path is beginning to form. Higher up the crest becomes quite rocky so the easier route is to stay to the right between rocks and on grass and in rocky grooves until the crest can be regained higher up. Continue easily to the E Top with the main summit about 60 m further after a rocky gap. Descend carefully into the dip then equally carefully up rock and steep grass, on the left of the crest which is a little exposed but short and easy. The only alternative is up the rockier crest. The highest point is soon reached, with nothing to mark it, and this is the summit of Trallval/Trollabhal, 702 m.

(4) Return to the E Top then descend the S ridge which is quite steep and very rocky. There is a path but it is very faint at the top and hard to locate. Follow the ridge but as soon as it gets rocky go left and pick an easier way down. Lower down the line of the ridge is crossed and the path weaves around to the SW before reaching the col known as the Bealach an Fhuarain. In clear weather, the N ridge of Ainsval will have been obvious with a steep buttress at its bottom. A path goes to the right of this and picks its way up to the crest above the buttress before continuing, easily, on the left of the crest to join the now grassy crest less than 100 m from the summit where a large cairn marks the summit of Ainshval, 781 m.

(5) Retrace to the Bealach an Fhuarain then look for a faint path which traverses below the E ridge of Trallval to the Bealach an Oir between Trallval and Askival. This path is quite faint in places and difficult to follow. From the Bealach an Oir, a faint path starts to contour around Atlantic Corrie below Askival and Hallival. The path soon becomes difficult to follow and a few boulder fields are crossed. If it is clear, one can aim for the right of a green grassy area then an eroded grassy gully which has a faint path on its other side. There is the occasional cairn on parts of the path but most people fail to find the path. Eventually the Bealach Bairc-mheall is reached between Barkeval and Hallival. From here one can either descend down Coire Dubh to the causeway or go back over Pt 518 then down to Cnapan Breaca and follow the path down to the causeway. From the causeway, retrace the outward route back to Kinloch.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 2^nd April, 2017. Rum was also visited about 15 years earlier when the ferry times meant that on the first day only Hallival, Askival and Trallval were climbed. On the second day, Ainshval and Sgurr nan Gillean were climbed with a descent to Harris then a long walk back along the Harris track.