We headed off to Newtonmore. It was slightly unusual, in that me & Andy had settled on a return there on Friday evening without recourse to the weather forecast. It was only after I was finished packing and getting organised that I looked at MWIS and realised just how good conditions were supposed to be.
As it turned out, the forecast was spot on.
The only mistake we made was to go for an 8am starting time, because that - with the benefit of foresight never mind hindsight - was always going to be cutting it neat. Anyway, we ran out of time, and turned back about an hour before the summit, but it was the right decision.
First, it had been a cracking day out anyway, and it would have been a pity to spoil it by putting pressure on ourselves. Second, to have had any hope of finishing even with less than an hour of walking in the pitch dark, we'd have had to turn it into a circular route, which was too much of a leap into the unknown - the proposed return involved what looked like a ridiculously steep icy helter skelter section.
Third, I was knackered - trudging through snow, even picturesque snow, takes it out of you!
Still, there are some photos...
A fairly cold walk in from the carpark at Shepherd's Bridge
The dugs scampering across the rickety bridge
near the end of the path "proper".
The snowy plod up to the head of Gleann Ballach. (That was really where we lost the time - it was hard work, and a deceptively long way.)
The view back down the Glen. I'm pretty sure the flat summits in the distance are Carn na Caim and A Bhuidheanach Beag.
The sun setting as we made our way down the Glen.
What a smashing wee day out.
Mind you, I don't think I've ever been as cold in a car as I was for the first hour of the trip home in the Landrover. Chilled to the bones, not to put too fine a point on it! Those drainage holes in the floor do nothing to prevent heat loss.
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Have thoroughly enjoyed rummaging through the blog picking up the bits and pieces of the dogs and the hillwalking. Know where you're coming from on this one.
ReplyDeleteCheers for that. I always thoroughly enjoy your Scottish Hills stuff - embarrassed I didn't realise you had the blog!
ReplyDeleteAye, hillwalking's a different kettle of biscuits when there's a dug involved. Although having just counted them up, the wee yin managed 11 Munros last year, so I don't think that's bad. The more resources there are for dug-friendly hills, the better!
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