Alone in the dark

[tomyboy73]

l had planned an early evening climb up Beinn na Lap to catch the sunset and summit camp on what had been a remarkably warm and dry day for early September.

Beinn na Lap and Loch Ossian

But after deciding earlier to go up the nearby Corbett, Leum Uilleim first before catching dinner in the station house I was running later than planned and the sun was already going down as I set off down the track towards the Loch Ossian Youth Hostel. And the midgies were now out unlike earlier. I stopped en route to lighten my bag a bit and stashed a couple of kilos of unnecessary kit in a waterproof bag in a ditch at the bottom of a hillock by the side of the path. I found on the top of this a ceramic type of jar of some sort that someone had left there quite deliberately I think. If i remember right I think it had some holy meaning attached to it by it`s design. I got on my way again to keep the wee beasties away from me and I caught the last light of the sun going down Ben Nevis and the Aonachs, there was a lovely glow to it and left just a silhouette of the hills that were in full colour from Leum Uilleim but I knew that that meant I would be climbing this hill in near darkness.

Sunset

I wasn`t worried as I knew there wouldn`t be any great obstacles on the path up and it would be a relatively short climb. When I turned to face the hill and left the track behind me I did have a slightly envious look over at the hostel and thought would it be better to have a roof over my head and some craic with fellow walkers? But I knew from my earlier chat with the staff that it was fully booked and there would be no room at the inn.

Youth Hostel and Loch Ossian

Once onto the the incline of the hill itself the path is just worn grass and quite muddy in places. Luckily though it had there had been a real warm, dry period of weather which made it quite easy going most of the way. Eventually though around 700 metres where it changes direction eastwards along the ridge it changed to a more worn path with stone and rock underfoot. By this time though it was now pitch dark and I would have to be more careful of slips and trips to avoid any unwanted mishaps. I did consider stopping somewhere on the way up to pitch the tent but there was nowhere suitably flat or solid enough to do so, so I just kept on going with my headtorch pointing the way. I looked back far behind me as I could hear the sleeper train approach the station heading south from Fort William and wondered if it would stop for the handful of walkers who arrived as I was leaving. If it didn`t, they were stuck for the night! For navigation I would like to say I followed the north star and set a bearing but the Walkhighlands app kept me on the right track and as I neared the summit I spotted a few shelters and places nearby them that I could set up camp once I had summited. I was also mindful to avoid the lochan. At 9.45pm
I found the summit cairn and then began to set up camp.

Summit Cairn

There were now a few stars shining brightly in the clear dark sky and but couple of them were beginning to bother me a wee bit. Putting the tent together I couldn`t help but notice how some of them, just sitting above the mountain, back in the direction I had come from, were dancing from side to side and sometimes disappearing before bouncing back into view. They looked like headtorches. Was there some people coming up behind me? Was it mountain rescue ? Or was it just my eyes and mind being tormented by the darkness and solitude of being on the mountain alone turning up the paranoia in my head to eleven ? After convincing myself it was the latter I resolved to getting my sleeping arrangements sorted as it was beginning to get a bit windy and I was starting to feel the cold as the sweat on my body started to cool.

My tent

I sat out for a little while gazing at the stars and trying to take photos of them with the night mode on my phone but tiredness wasn`t far away and I soon crept into the tent and fell asleep quite quickly.
When I awoke I hoped for a nice sunrise or a cloud inversion but having checked the weather the day before, it was bang on low cloud and mist. I made some coffee, washed my face in the lochan and headed back down the mountain.

Morning!

The original plan was to try and get the other two Munros done that weekend but the weather was to deteriorate later in the day and I thought I had done enough in the last 18 hours or so. When reaching the lower end of the path some walkers were beginning to head up and some of them would have been lucky enough to summit in the fleeting patches of clear sky that appeared now and then. I thought I must drop by the hostel and check it out and grab a chat with Alec who I met on the train on the way up. He`ll be 80 on his next birthday and has volunteered at the hostel for ten years or so. Some man. We had more coffee and he told me some stories of his times here and talked about the Hermit of Loch Treig who he knows quite well before returning to catch the train home.

Big Alec

The journey home was fairly uneventful, quite unlike how I got there. I`ll tell you all about that in my next trip report !

Corrour Station and Leum Ulleim