Monday 16 July 2012

Getting out of kilter

In an unusual development, hills have actually been walked up on each of the  last two weekends. On Saturday there me, Andy and Jim had a cracking day out on Beinn Eighe. Torridon has a lot going for it. It's no' all that handy for Lanarkshire, but even so, I'm all in favour of it. ;0)

More on that later.


The Sunday prior to that though, there was the wee trip to Fort William, and a smash & grab raid on Stob Ban in the Mamores. To be fair, we kind of pulled that one out the bag, as me & Andy were rather talking ourselves out of a walk altogether on the way up - the weather was just on the put-you-off side of depressing. On the hoof, as it were, the plan changed from making another attempt on the Grey Corries ridge, to picking off Stob Ban - unfinished business from last years trip to Mullach nan Coirean, really. And it's a right good wander. The weather stayed more than tolerable, and the last pull to the summit was certainly steep, but relatively short-lived. We were dugless on the walk, which is also unusual, but given the number of random sheep high up, and the jolly impressive drops on the final stretch accompanied by trickyish bouldery underfoot conditions, it was probably for the best.

I didn't take many photos, but these few give the flavour of the day.

In the lower part of Coire Mhusgain

The path stays quite high above the burn, and eventually forks...


...and it's the left branch you want. It should look like this shortly afterwards!

Higher up in the corrie, the route onward looks...hard work.

Nevertheless, Andy was up it like a gazelle. Or something.

And as you can maybe tell from that picture the clouds kind of rolled in at that point, so there wasn't much in the way of a view. In fairness, if we could have seen anything, I reckon we might just have completed the circuit and came home over Mullach nan Coirean, but there didn't seem an awful lot of point in the circumstances. Back at the car in time for Andy Murray's rain delay at the Wimbledon final. Poor radio reception after Tyndrum meant we were on tenterhooks for ages about the result!

A recommended route if you're after a proper walk, up a proper hill, and don't want to spend the whole day about it.

:0)


2 comments:

  1. It looks like one of those days where, as you make your way up, you wonder why you bother. Then you get to the top and think "Yeah that was OK, glad we came", and by the time you get home you can't wait to get back out and do it all again! I guess that's why we do what we do........J

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  2. I'll agree with that. No matter how futile the walk seems while you're doing it, you never regret it afterwards, even if you've given up at the half-way point and turned around. That first picture's a cracker, by the way. Very moody.
    Alen McF

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