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After weeks of nursing my sore knee, the time has come to test it on a proper hill, something more difficult than 300m of walking up and down a wide track. Beinn Tharsuinn seemed like a reasonable option: good access track to the bottom of the actual climb and relatively gentle slopes. We had done this route before and knew exactly what to expect. I was a bit apprehensive about my first significant climb after the injury and nagged Kevin to start as early as possible "in case I have to limp down at snail's pace". In the end, I needn't have worried. I could still feel some ache, especially in descent, but overall, my leg performed much better than expected
We shortened the WH route by coming down straight from the summit, rather than making a larger circuit including the wind farm:
The initial approach turned out more slippery than an ice rink, Cautiously, we had packed Yaktrax grips and they helped us avoid a painful fall...
It was still early and the sun has just come up, the world still dressed in the colours of sunrise:
Our target Graham kept its head in the cloud, we hoped it might burn off later, but even if it didn't... We were so hill-deprived that even a walk in the clag would do!
The track was less icy further on, so we removed the grips and continued to the quarry. It has grown in size since our previous visit and a new fence is in place, but we simply followed the edge of the fenced-off area and it took us around the quarry and onto the open hillside.
As it was bank holiday, the quarry was deserted:
Above the quarry, we encountered only a thin layer of snow, easy walking. My knee felt OK at the moment so I didn't even think about it, just enjoyed the freedom of being out on the open hillside:
Looking back down to the track in the glen, Dornoch Firth seen on the horizon:
Beinn Tharsuinn windfarm across the corrie:
It didn't take us long to reach the summit of Torr Leathann, a lower top of the Graham. No views, sadly:
We had the grid reference for the summit proper, so we just set the GPS and descended to the bealach, where Kevin volunteered to investigate frozen peat hags:
I decided to let him play on his own for the time being, after all I was the injured one in the party
There was more snow on the final climb to the summit of Beinn Tharsuinn plus a few extra peat hags to negotiate:
At some point the clag thinned and we had a moment of hope for some views at least...
But our optimism was short lived. In the end, the only view we saw was a total whiteout:
Because we couldn't count on any vistas, we just concentrated on having fun in winter conditions, in my case it was too much fun with deep snow
Knee-deep in places:
Black Panther slowly turning into a snowman:
We found the trig point easily but didn't linger: it was cold and windy and no views. A new summit for Lucy (94th Graham):
First hill this year - no fireworks, just a local Graham, but hopefully, a good prelude to 2021. May it be better than 2020...
We didn't see the point in continuing to the windfarm, especially that the clag covered whole mountain, so the easiest descent was due east, back towards the quarry. More snow has accumulated on this side and we were caught in a snow shower...
...but we made a good progress and soon walked out of the cloud. My knee started aching a bit about half way down, but I was still very pleased with the progress so far. I can now climb easier hills and walk up/down rougher terrain without having to take painkillers. A few more weeks and I'll be jumping and hopping again!
Out of the cloud, the access track in front of us:
Beinn Tharsuinn from the return walk:
The next morning my leg was all right and I felt like trying another easy hill. We went for it and ended up fighting through knee- and thigh-deep snow, all in the name of returning to fitness
TR to come soon.