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10 left for me on my 2nd round & for Parminder on his first round and boy were these four hard earned.
Not really sure where to start as the whole weekend was very eventful for everyone in Scotland, the rain was relentless. We drove up to Ullapool on Saturday having made the decision a day or two earlier to tackle the 4 hills on the Sunday, having watched the forecast change constantly on a daily basis.
We were booked into accommodation for the Saturday night so our other option was an early departure & tackle the hills on Saturday but the forecast wasn't very clever so we had a leisurely drive up the A9, stopping for a coffee etc. On our drive north the rain only relented as we drove through Garve. As we had plenty of spare time I suggested we call in at Corrieshalloch Gorge again and also to see if the new National Trust building had been finished.
The new building is quite impressive and a new path has been created from the centre down to the gorge.
To highlight how different my 2 visits to Beinn Dearg have been, first one was early October in 2015 when there was hardly a cloud in the sky, will make for interesting comparisons.
These were Parminder's first new hills since he tackled Aonach Eagach in May, they were my first new ones since June when I paid a second long overdue visit to Conival & Ben More Assynt.
Good track through the forest until you reach the deer fence and a gate, about 3.5km, opted to take bikes again, mainly for the rapid descent on our return
The usual blurb, we didn't have time to stand & read it
The gate and the hills in the far distance
White water a plenty
Same tributary from 2015, not even a trickle
The weir mentioned in the blurb
The weir from 2015, nice and calm
Making good time, path was dry here on our return 10 hours later it was a burn
River Lael, I was starting to get a bit concerned as I knew we had at least 3 fords to cross further up
River Lael again
Great stalkers path to follow, nice gradual ascent
Looking back
The way ahead, the big boys are starting show themselves
Plenty of standing water to avoid, not worth it on the return as the path was a burn
The power of water
The same waterfall from 2015, camera photo zoomed
A wee video so you can appreciate the noise of water - for some reason it isn't displaying as a video
Making good progress, that would change soon
The first problem, you can see the path on the other side
Another water feature video
Parminder thinks he can get across
Will he make it?
It was time to break these bad boys out of the wrapper, we bought them pre-covid. They were a bit of a faff to get on over wet boots, but once on they did the job. I wore them to the next ford
The next ford
Another Parminder masterclass
It was about here that rain started and continued for the 8 hours or so
It certainly looks pretty bleak, I wonder why we didn't meet any fellow walkers?
White water even this high up
The path on the right
Next phase follow the zig zag path up to the bealach
It makes you think how big the country is when you see Parminder blending in with the surroundings
Presume the green tint at the bottom of the lochan is some sort of algae?
There was plenty of it
Same lochan from 2015
Loch Broom in the distance
The ferry on Loch Broom in 2015
More green stuff in a lochan, the algae is much clearer
About to start the final push up Beinn Dearg
Spot the ptarmigan, saw at least 6 and all fairly close by
Parminder head down
The famous wall that signifies the start of the Beinn Dearg ascent
Quite pleased with this photo, cloud inversion on our next summit Cona' Meall
Parminder concentrating hard
Our 3rd summit appearing out of the gloom Meall Nan Ceapraichean
A few patches of snow hiding round the cairn on top of Beinn Dearg, first snow of the season for us
Not looking overly happy, probably the thought of enduring another 3 hills in awful conditions
Loch A Choire Ghranda
Cracking view from 2015 across to Ullapool
The way up to the second summit, plenty of boulder hopping ahead and it wasn't fun, wet rubber soled boots & slippy smooth wet rocks, not a good combination
Parminder approaching the second summit
Heading up to the 3rd summit, by far away the easiest
We got caught in a really heavy downpour on this ascent & my phone wasn't a happy bunny either, bit like us didn't enjoy the wetness.
The final push
Parminder arriving
A nice seam of white quartz
Yet another boulder field, we would be turning left & heading downhill soon
Yes, that is where we are heading, luckily the path down there is fairly obvious
Almost the same photo from 2015
A wee video of 3 ptarmigans, fairly amusing because I couldn't stop filming as the screen was so wet - so you get to see my wet boots!
Parminder and his summit ritual on the fourth & final
Deep joy, more boulder hopping, even harder descending - Parminder fell a couple of times
No camera today so you have to make do with phone photo's of the locals. The stags were making the usual October noises
River Lael on our way back, if you can be bothered you can compare with the photo's 9 hours earlier
Seeing the forest getting close was a really welcome sight
I apologise for the quality of some of the photo's, I tried my best to capture the best images, but even phones aren't immune to the weather. Once back at the car it was just starting to get dark, our priority was to get into dry clothes, then get the bikes in the back of the car, then hit the road to get dinner in Inverness.
This turned out to a proper epic and slots into third place in my ever growing list of 'tough' hill days, I know you will want to know what the top two are, in at first place is the Fisherfield 6 all on foot starting at Corrie Hallie at 8am & back at the car at 10.30pm, in second place is the Braeriach anti clockwise traverse, finishing with head torches on.
PS: For some reason the video's are just still photo's?
