Winter's end.

Winter started off very wet, here is what's left of the old road at Lynn of Quoich taken from the bridge. The river had diverted and now doesn't flow under the bridge at all, instead it's washed away a huge section of road.

 Snow in January allowed for some cross-country skiing in Glenmore forest, the owner of the Red Squirrel cafe has a track cutting machine and goes out when ever there's enough snow.

March sew some very good touring conditions, this is on Fiacaill a Choire Chais heading up to the Cairngorm plateau.

 The ESTC out in force.

The Lancet Edge.

I did this walk back at the beginning of November, then downloaded the photo's for them to disappear into the ether. Yesterday whilst looking for something else I found them.

To start with I was late starting out so I'd lost a few hours day light by the time I arrived at Dalwhinnie. From Dalwhinnie to the start of my walk at Loch Pattack is seven miles down an estate road, you can't take your car along this road but they don't seem to mind bikes. So I swapped car for bike and rode off to Loch Pattack. At the Loch I was meet by these three locals who seemed intent on eating just about anything, me, my rucksack, my cycle helmet, my bike anything. I only escaped them once I'd crossed the rickety swing bridge, here I parked the bike an set of on foot at last as it was now mid-day. 

My route took the footpath heading up to the Bealach Dubh, the pass between Ben Alder and Aonach Beag/Geal Charn. Past the old Culra Bothy, now sadly locked and off limits due to the building being lined with Asbestos. A note on the estate gate back at the start of the road said that plans are afoot to replace the building with another brand new one. Behind the bothy my objective for the day Sgor Lutharn is clearly visible the pointy peak on the skyline.  

After the bothy the path follows a stream the Allt a Chaoil-reidhe for about two miles before heading up grassy slopes to gain the crest of the Lancet Edge ridge.

The scrambling over the rocks and the airy position was really fun but time was getting on and the shadows were growing long, I needed to get a wiggle on. I had planned to do Geal Charn as well but I decided to skip that one as I could skirt around under some crags on the side of Geal Charn and cut a corner. I still had Carn Dearg to do and the light finally faded as I climbed to it's summit. Up to the top there had been a good path to follow but beyond it the path became feint and wandered around all over the place so I soon lost it in the dark. The decent down to Loch Pattack was very trying and I was very glad to finally find my bike again, all I had to do now was the seven mile cycle back to the car.

Some Sea Kayaking Photo's

I've not posted about sea kayaking for some time so here are some photo's from what past as summer this year.

Ray in Loch Long.

Mike off Millport, Great Cumbrea in the Firth of Clyde.

Ann.

 Tim.

Don't remember this chaps name a friend of Peter.

Lunch stop on Little Cumbrae.

Ben macdui.

I went for a short walk in the Cairngorm National Park at the weekend, this time just for the day so no tent to carry. I started out from the ski centre carpark and headed up into Coire an t'Sneachda.  

 I climbed up this scree slope up to the col and had fun on the scrambley ridge of Fiacaill Buttress.

After that it was across this wide open plateau, easy this time but I've had fun here in the past trying to ski across in white out conditions. At the time I was using map and compass but after that I went out and brought a GPS which would have made it far easier and quicker.

Legend has it that these shelters on the top of Ben Macdui were originally built by Commando soldiers during the second world war. They'd have to yomp across Scotland from their base at Sheil Bridge and set up all round defenses here on the top of the mountains. Just as we did in the Falklands. The slopes where the ski centre is now was where some of them learnt to ski before being sent to Norway to fight,No tows back then. 

    

Looking across to Braeriach and Cairn Toul, the huge scoop of Garbh Choire Mor could have been where the last glacier in Scotland once lay. When it finally melted is hotly disputed with estimates ranging from around 9000 years ago to as little as a few hundred. 

   

The good weather of late is finally breaking, here are the first signs of cloud building but some sunlight managing to peep through.

Coire an Lochan, with the Fiacaill Buttress on the left and the great slab in the center, not a good place to be in winter.

Impressions of the Tarptent Notch.

I've been out in my new tent a couple of time now and am beginning to get used to it. The first time I went up to the Fords of Avon near to Cairngorm where I intended to spend the night. Unfortunately it was so windy I was having difficulty stand up never mind pitching a tent. So I ended up retreating to Bynack Stables or where it once stood. I managed to find some shelter amongst some moraine heaps.  

To pitch it, peg out the ends, open up the little triangles. Set your walking poles to the right height and slide them through the air vents and put the point into the ring in the fly sheet. Peg out the door and do the other side, it really is that quick and easy. To keep the ground sheet taught there's two small straps which go around the handles of your walking poles.
The ground sheet is about 2ft 6ins wide at the hips and tapers towards the head and foot ends so there's not a lot of room inside. Between the inner and outer at the hips is about 2ft either side which is more than enough stowage space for a rucksack and boots on one side and cooking on the other. The inner door zip is L-shaped and opens half of one side and on the other side is another L-shaped zip but at the other end. It's not possible to open up all of one side which I found awkward when trying to retrieve things from down by your feet. The ground sheet is made of silicon nylon which has quite a shiny finish, my mat is a short Thermarest Neo air which also has quite a shiny finish. The two together don't make for the most restful nights sleep. I'll have to think of a way to improve this.

For the next try I climbed Braeriach from the end of the Glen Feshie road and camped by the out flow of Loch nan Cnapan on the way back. This time the weather was much milder but it must have rain in the night as the fly was wet when I woke. Inside I was happily dry.

 The standard inner is all mesh, I brought the half mesh half solid version  as I thought it would be a bit warmer in the windy Scottish hills, I'm not sure it is though.

A walk in the Rain part 4.

I left them in bed next morning and took the path up the hill behind Carnmore. I was quickly at the high point and then it was steeply down. I followed the Abhainn Muice downstream this flowed into the Abhainn Sheallag just before this river flows into Loch Sheallag.

 Shenavail my destination for the night lay just the other side of these two rivers. By now I was very wary of river crossings but I shouldn't have worried. The first I crossed by a shingle bank that went right across the river, never more than ankle deep. The bog between the two rivers was covered with a small yellow and red flower, it had three petals yellow near the steam and red at the tip. I'm not sure what it is but it was very pretty.

 

The second river was not much deeper than the first, so I got to the bothy almost dry-footed. There was no one else at the bothy just me and the mice, and there were lots of mice. I hid my porridge from them so they chewed the rubber mouth piece of my drinking tube instead, how nice!

It rained heavily again in the night and I was very undecided about An Teallach but by morning the sun was out so it was on. The path went from the bothy up back onto the sandstone, back onto the bog. It soon met the path coming up from Corriehaillie and doubles back on itself. The bog slowly gives way to scree but it was high up on Sail Liath before it finally left the bog behind. On the second peak - Stob Cadha Gobhlach - I met a lad coming the other way he warned me of going straight up the pinnacles from this side. Apparently he'd got stuck half way down a graded climb. When I got there I could see what he meant, it looked like a typical gritstone diff. The rock was wet, I was alone and had a big heavy pack on (ok the pack was much lighter than when I started but it was still heavy). There was another path that contoured around under the pinnacles, I took it. Where it re-joined the ridge I dropped the pack and scrambled back along the pinnacles, they were much easier from this side. By the time I got back to my pack the mist had closed in and by the time I reached the top of Sgurr Fiona it was raining. I pushed on to Bidein a Ghlas Thuill, here I realized I didn't know where the decent path was, there was a ridge going north and another going east, I went east. I was a long way down, all the way to Glas Mheall Liath before I decided I was off route and. turned around. Back at Bidein a Ghlas Thuill I took the north ridge and a scree filled gully lead down onto the floor of Coire a Ghlas Thuill where I pitched up for my last wild camp of this trip.

Friday my last day, I needed to be in Ullapool for the bus the following morning. I followed the stream down to the Dundonnell road. A side road lead off the other side, a big sign at the turn warned that the Altnaharrie ferry no longer ran – such a pity. Instead I took a path up through a wooded glad up onto the moor above and onto Croftown on the main A835 Ullapool road. Seven miles along the side of Loch Broom but seven miles of road walking. After a mile it started to rain, jacket on. A mile further it got heavy, over trousers on. Another mile and a car stopped, he took me to Ullapool.

A walk in the Rain part 3

I'm away early, walking along the single track road to Diabaig, I feel almost naked without full waterproofs on. Three miles down the road and the path to Coire Mhic Nobuil is signposted. The first half mile is wooded and it's midge city, the only bad place on the whole trip. As long as you keep moving your alright but you've got to keep moving. Once out of the wood there's a breeze they're gone. The path is a good one, well made and easy to follow. I follow it for three and a half miles to Loch Grobaig. Then it's cross country on compass bearings, through the gap between Beinn Dearg and Sail Mhor. Loch Grobaig to Lochan Carn na Feola, to Gorm Loch na Beinne, to the bothy at Poca Buidhe. A sign on the door saying “This bothy is no longer open to the General Public”. “What's that about” I wonder? The heavens open I have my cag on but not my over trousers. I'm soaked in minutes, too late to stop now. I'm back on a path, along the shore of Loch na h-Oidhche, across a great open expanse of moraine covered treeless moor. It seems that after their Lordships had chucked the peasants off, after their experiment with sheep farming had failed they had any remaining trees chopped down to give them a clearer shot at the poor deer or grouse. All along this stretch I could see no where to put up a tent, so I kept on going. In the end I found a half decent pitch by Am Feur Loch almost at the road. I was quite pleased as I'd covered fifteen miles that day. All that messing about in the bog south of Glen Carron had put me a bit behind. So, if I was to get An Teallach done and get to Ullapool by Friday night (I was booked on the coach Saturday morning) I needed to get a wiggle on.

I met one cyclist on the road next morning as I walked down to Slattadale forest, there I followed the path down by the shore of Loch Maree and into Poolewe. I raided the village shop, ham and salad sandwiches, scotch eggs, cake, an orange and a can of coke, I sat on the beach and eat it all. From the village a nice well made path took me around Loch Kernsary, then through a plantation and out onto the open moors on the north-east side of Loch Maree. This is an area of complex geology, I was now off the sandstone and on the metamorphic rocks of the Moine group much better for camping on. I walked past lots of really good sites but I was set on reaching Carnmore that night so I pushed on. The path contours around Beinn Airigh Charr and under the very impressive crag of Mama's Peak before dropping down to the shores of Fionn Loch. All around were massive crags, you could loss Glencoe and the Llanberis pass twice over here. I was wandering around eyes out on storks, gob-smacked. I'd heard of this place but had no idea just how big it is. There's a causeway across Fionn Loch that saves walking all the way around, this leads to Carnmore.

There's a fancy fishing lodge and a little way beyond an old barn that climber and walkers can use. Compared to most bothies I'd stayed in this one is very basic, but I was here now and beggars can't be choosers. There was a woman in the barn, her partner and his mate were away climbing on the crag behind the barn. They'd set off at 11.00 to do a ten pitch climb, it was now 19.00 and they were still very low down on the crag and not moving anywhere very fast. She was beginning to fret. In hindsight I think maybe I wasn't that sympathetic, I'd just walked twenty miles I was tired and hungry. I took one look and said “yes, their going to be late” and went back into the barn to eat. They eventually got back sometime around midnight, I'd long since gone to bed.