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2.5 days / 4 Munros / 37.95 miles / lots of rain.
Great few days rambling around the hills around this area. Got the train to Corrour on Monday afternoon, dumped my bag at the youth hostel and jumped up Beinn Na Lap. The rain had already taken hold and I was pretty wet by the time I got back to the hostel. Luckily a very warming fire was on the go and I managed to dry the things that had gotten wet. This was the last time I'd have the luxury of this over the next two days.. Had a nice night in the hostel chatting to some old boys and listening to their interesting hiking stories. Mental how you can talk about hills for a whole night!
Set off on Tuesday morning and climbed Càrn Dearg and Sgòr Gaibhre, then made my way down to the wee lochan from the first bealach after Sgòr Gaibhre. I then walked through the biggest bog I’ve ever walked through to reach the Ben Alder bothy.
Dried off a little, chopped up some wood (this was futile as it was still too green to burn, but it’ll be there for someone to burn once it’s sat a bit longer) emptied my bag and started up the path to the bealach between Ben Alder and Beinn Bheòil.
The plan was to do both of these munros but I decided to save Ben Alder for a day that I’d get a good view. Plus my boots were totally sodden. Up to the windy and wet summit of Bheòil and then back down to the bothy. I was the only person staying in there and it was cool but also slightly creepy, especially with no fire on the go! Woke up to the sound of rustling by a mouse at my rubbish bag this morning. My socks were still wet, but somehow you seem to forget about your wet feet once your boots have warmed up.
I walked the long path northwards, on the western side of Loch Ericht. It's a good path for most of the way, but there are a couple of very sketchy sections at the start just after you leave the bothy.
This was a very enjoyable walk, I'm going to sleep well tonight!
- The view from the bothy at 5:30am, just before setting off to Dalwhinnie
