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The Longer the Road the Greater the Reward
After safely abandoning my car in Carrbridge, Andrew and I made our way northwest towards Attadale Estate. It was the 05th March 2022 and Andrew was just out of isolation so nothing like “A serious expedition, far from help, requiring experience of wild country” to blow off the cobwebs! Or a weekend sharing snacks, a car, and a tent to test my immunity.
We set off from Attadale car park just after noon as the only car in the car park – slightly surprising given the upbeat weekend forecast. We opted for a luxury overnighter for the 38km trip, and by that, I mean exceptionally heavy packs. Sometimes feel like there is no in-between option with me… Ultralight or everything plus the kitchen sink.
Setting off 
Some deer just before crossing the River Attadale 
Once we were about 4km in and over some of the initial steep ascents we got the first view towards our intended target. Really does feel far away! Although classed as wild country the land rover track makes progress quite monotonous, but thankfully quick. I wouldn’t class it as wild country.
We were holding a reasonable pace but didn’t have an intended final target, options were; the Bendronaig Lodge bothy, somewhere down at Loch-Calavie, or up near the summits.
Are we nearly there yet…
Crossing over the Black Water and replenishing water supplies
It was only 14:30 when we reached the bothy where we stopped for a quick bite to eat, but, the inside was colder than if we just sat outside.
Candlelit lunch
That above photo somehow reminded me of one of the key success factors from this outing. We both took a separate pair of lightweight boots / running shoes for the approach into the bottom of the hills. Given potential winter conditions that were impossible to see from the roadside, we also had full winter boots and crampons stuffed in the bottom of the bag.
Looking back to the bothy
By 17:00 we had reached Loch-Calavie – looking back at time stamped on the photos I’m not sure what took us so long to make the 4-5km from the bothy, but by now Andrew would be the first to admit he was beginning to flag after his weeks in isolation.
As it often does in early spring the light was promising to become quite spectacular for sunset. There was now a 50-50 discussion on pitching the tent down at the Loch, very scenic… or gambling and continuing up.
We decided to gamble, which meant depressingly getting out of the comfortable running shoes and into the winter boots. Looking back at photos there wasn’t a great deal of snow looking up to the 800m height but driving across there were plenty of Torridon peaks covered, so we played it safe.
The Loch
Heading up
The memories of being the one in the group struggling tend to be more prominent when it’s me that’s struggling, or maybe more often than not it is me struggling… This evening poor Andrew was not enjoying this route up from the Loch at about 400m to the intended target at 800m. But we battered on. Slowly.
On the plus side the views were incredible 
Can anyone ID? Definite light-coloured head, but poor camera exposure so can’t see the rest of the body properly.
It was 18:30 by the time we reached the bealach between the two Munros, Lurg Mhor on our right and Bidien a’ Choire Sheasgaich on the left. The remaining amount of daylight was limited so I left Andrew to find a suitable spot for the tent, whilst I retraced my steps a few hundred meters to top up water for dinner and breakfast.
The ground wasn’t ideal, but we found a spot that had an appropriate balance between flat and not too boggy. Or at least it would suffice for one night!
Once the tent was up, we began rehydrating some boil in the bag chilli con carne with rice whilst we were treated to one of the best evening light shows with epic views, particularly across to the Cuillin ridge.
Moments like these will last long in the memory!
The last few hours of slogging it up were worth it for these views. It also had the extra benefit that we had now completed the majority of the ascent, so in theory could relax with another hour in bed. Obviously, we decided that would be a waste of a promising forecast and we would crawl out of the tent in an attempt to make it to the summit of Lurg Mhor for sunrise.
Our tent was a mere kilometre and only a few hundred meters of up from Lurg Mhor so we got out at about 07:15 and raced the sunrise.
Cold early morning as we set off
The first part of the ascent up Lurg Mhor felt surprisingly steep and treacherous, or we picked the wrong route. Slightly stressful only emphasised when my headtorch for began to give up the ghost. Talking of giving up the ghost, the night of rest hadn’t done much for Andrew’s energy reserves – thankfully the 1000kcal boil bag of porridge a few hours later did!
Looking back to Andrew and Bidein a’ Choire Sheasgaich
We reached the summit just in time for sunrise, and it didn’t disappoint! 
It was looking like it would be another perfect day, but the summit of Lurg Mhor is the furthest away from the car, so we didn’t hang around for too long.
We made out way back down to the tent which we had left in situ, to save some weight before boiling up breakfast and my favourite part of the day, coffee! Looking back, it was clear we hadn’t picked the best route up in the dark, but thankfully the route up to Bidein a’ Choire Sheasgaich looked nice and simple.
The best part!
Nice and simple 
Nearing the summit
The summit and views
A brief stop to enjoy whatever food we had remaining before making the final 3km or so of descent back down to the land rover track where the thoughts of lightweight shoes were circling around in my head, nearly as much as how long that track looked from up here…
The section from Bidein a’ Choire Sheasgaich to Sail Riabhach made for pleasant walking and by now the heat of the day was picking up, so there were a number of de-layering stops.
Technically winter boots were the right call (just in case!)
Even the bothy looked a long way down
You know it’s a long way when you can’t even see the car park 
It was 13:00 when we finally reached the beginning of the end, i.e., the land rover track. By now our bags were crammed full of slightly less efficiently packed overnight kit, winter kit and nearly all our layers. I remember thinking with the dampness of tent my bag had never felt heavier.
15kg when I weighted it at home (without any water or food)
The walk back was honestly a bit of a drag, but it could have been far worse. Or it could have been far easier. If you were just wanting to bag the summits, a lightweight bag and mountain bike is 100% the way to go. If you want to make the absolute most of the weekend whilst simultaneously shredding your neck and back muscles for the next week, do what we did.
I would never have it any other way!
It’s hard to explain how sweet seeing the car park felt
It was now after 17:00 when we reached the car, and the thought of a McDonalds in Inverness was particularly appealing. We launched everything in the car and set off, vowing to tidy up when we reached my car in Carrbridge.
It didn’t live up to the media hype but the 99p coffee did, as always
I had a relatively uneventful drive back up to Aberdeen whilst Andrew broke down in Perth – thankfully the AA were able to get him back up and running and he made it to Glasgow with minutes to spare on his weekend insurance coverage!
These two hills don’t get the same affection as some of their neighbouring Torridon companions, but for what it’s worth I thoroughly enjoyed the entire trip, and despite thinking at the time I would never want to walk down that track again – I know for certain I’d do it without hesitation! The healing power of time…
Thanks for reading,
Andy
