Some thoughts and reports from outings...
Blogs from some outdoor adventures.....
Bac an Eich Last winter started so well with large snowfall in late November, and I remember thinking that it was a good omen for the season ahead. How wrong was I! Through December and right until March, mild air dominated the scene across Scotland. Frosts were rare and when winter did decided to show its hand on a selective few weekends , I seemed to have commitments keeping me from the hills! So when this winter started the same way, with a dump of snow in November, I wasn’t getting lulled into a false sense of security! Every time I have seen wintery weather on the way I have done my best to get out at the weekend! So far so good, I’ve had some amazing days already this winter and its only mid-January as I write this… So this weekend a small weather window opened up with more snow the previous day and a blue sky forecast for the morning before an approaching weather front arrived for late afternoon. Today I was back on my mission to get some more Corbetts done – this bagging comes and goes , sometimes I feel the need for new summits and other times I couldn’t care less and head off to Glencoe (again ;)). The problem arises when bagging hills is the point comes when all the hills within a reasonable drive have been bagged!! Lol. This has been the case for me for a wee while and today I was headed for Strathconon – a round trip of over 300 miles – with the final 20 miles or so being a torturous drive along the twisty glen road – limiting speed to walking pace !! lol As the forecast was deteriorating and the fact that I didn’t leave too early (a rare treat for me!) I chose to ascend the hill via the North West ridge giving a relatively short day. The other benefit from this approach is a large car park at the western end of the loch and not abandoning the car at Inverchoran where car parking is limited. Driving past Milton and the skies were blue and I got the first glimpse of today’s peak. It was striking, the white top against a blue sky and some mists lingering in the glen, anticipation was growing. Last year I had been here, heading up a brace of Corbetts just past Milton and these two looked very tempting as they towered over the glen! However I continued on into the mist and soon found myself driving past the mirror like Loch Beannacharain. Parking up and I quickly set about getting my gear together and setting off. The car park was empty and I never saw a soul the whole day! The first part of the walk was the most treacherous – the tarred road had a verglas layer and I almost went head over heal before I even started!! However I soon left this behind and made my way past the small cottages and estate houses being watched all the time by about a million deer and also a few highland coos! Crossing the bridge I was soon at the start of the ascent at the ruins of Corriefeol. I wasn’t sure if this would be a pathless ascent (as a lot of Corbetts are) however I soon discovered an old stalkers path which made its way up Creag Achadh an Eas. It zig zagged up the southern flank of the ravine and a couple of wooden posts have handily been placed to mark the crossing point for getting over the ravine. Beyond this an area of moor/bog is crossed before the steep climb onto the ridge starts. I was lucky as the ground was frozen but can imagine this part to require gaiters at other times of the year!! The views were now opening up behind me, with the north west highlands looking sublime under the white coat. The Fannichs appeared to the north whilst the majestic peaks of Torridon were dominating the western horizon. I had to stop and get the crampons on and axe out now, as the ground steepened to gain north west ridge. Some good areas of neve gave nice purchase but in some steeper sections the snow turned to a chosy. Crumbly mix! Had to be careful! At this point I still hadn’t seen the sun, although the moon was rising over Meall Buidhe. As I gained the ridge the sun hit my face and it’s amazing the psychological uplift this can give. I was soon striding along the top taking in all the snowy peaks – fantasticJ Here the snow was fresh and perhaps the snowshoes (left them in the car!) may have helped. I wasn’t caring as this as grand, only a slight breeze and lovely views J A halo round the sun was a good indicator of approaching weather and as I turned to have a look back out west I could see that the cloud was coming in with the Torridon Hills now having a cloud cap. Time to get cracking!!! The breeze was also picking up and by the time I reached the summit its effects were being felt!! A few snaps and I was soon retreating down the hill back the way I came! The blue skies were now retreating to the eastern horizon as the grey filled in from the west. Back down and the vast lands between this area and Achnasheen/Kinlochewe looked remoteand loney. This glen doesn’t see too many visitors I think and certainly hill goers may frequent its southerly neighbours more often to bag the Munros. This maybe a good thing, Strathfarrer, Affric and Mullardoch are amazing places and maybe have their place in keeping Strathconon a little more secretive;) A grand place, and especially in these conditions ….
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WilkieMurraySome thoughts and reports from my outdoors activties... Archives
August 2017
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