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So another weekend passed and no improvement in statistics. Not that this is my highest ambition. My hopes for some good, long mountain walk last Saturday were shattered by... a car that needed brake changing
Well, because my chum needs the four wheels weekdays to get to work (no bus services early in the morning), the only plausible time to book the garage appointment would be on Saturday.
Well, if one girl needs new brakes, she needs them - full stop. We got her back at about 12:30, too late to go anywhere climbing, but we still had a few hours of daylight so we drove to Abriachan to visit the trails.
We are lucky to have Abriachan Trails only a short distance from home. Last year we did some proper explorations here with great results (
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25997) and I wondered whether this route would be a good easy walk for a winter day.
The answer is yes as the next two hours proved
There is a whole set of paths through the forest and around Carn na Leitire. We took a slightly shorter combination this time - but still about 6 km of walking in fantastic scenery.
To start with, I was surprised by the amount of snow even down in the forest:
We walked up the well signposted route through the woods and soon we emerged above the tree line - the world was whiter than expected!
The path was covered with snow but not much ice underneath so it was easy to follow:
I was running uphill with such a desperation that I left Kevin far behind. He asked me, having eventually caught up with me - Are your brakes broken, too?
Views getting better:
We arrived at the first viewpoint, by the two carved wooden benches. Here, we were both enchanted by the colours of winter...
Luckily, our hill was low enough to stay clear and we could marvel at the cloud-and-snow spectacle around us:
Close-up to the distant hills on the NW horizon:
Looking north, Loch Laide at our feet... And behind, a sub-2000 hill, Carn'a Bhodaich:
We continued climbing, passing other people - the trails were pretty busy that day!
We stopped again by the pole-based sculptures:
The summit of Carn na Leitire was only a stone throw away now:
It was only about 2pm, but the surrounding hills put on a sunset mood:
The characteristic bulk of Meall Fuar-mhonaidh:
Affric peaks hidden in the cloud:
Close up:
Conditions were slowly changing, a big, dark cloud coming over:
We walked to the summit cairn of Carn na Leitire. At 434m, it is not high enough to be of any significance, but sometimes less is more...
OK, now a couple of panos from the summit...
Having taked enough pictures to fill half the memory card
we continued down the eastern slopes of the hill, to the spot where the path branches:
It is possible to continue east to make a longer, 9km circuit, but we shortened our walk by taking the path west. We passed by another set of poles (a good place for a Pole, Kevin said, chuckling
):
The path goes gently downhill, towards the forest:
In the woods, we even found the resting place for Titanic
The path joins a wider track eventually, and we finished the circuit by returning to the car park following that track. Such a shame we couldn't have planned anything longer, as the day was decent, not much wind and some good bright spells especially on the eastern side. But nothing lost, more chances will come...
Just as well we visited Abriachan on Saturday, as following Sunday was showery, windy and miserable. So although my patience is wearing thin, I still have to wait for the big adventure. Meow!
