Seana Bhraigh - the week long hike (or so it seemed!)

[sakura1989]

It had been almost a month since I had been out and was desperate to get back into the hills again. In the week leading up to the trip the weather forecast changed almost on a daily basis so I took a leap of faith and headed up north along the A835 on Friday afternoon. I was joined by my colleague and hiking buddy Stewart. It is a long drive from Midlothian so we car shared, myself being the designated driver. I picked Stewart up at around 2pm, loaded the camping gear and food for the weekend into the car and headed up the road. We finally arrived at Loch Glascarnoch (a camping spot I used on several occasions before and now lay claim to as my own) around 7pm. I normally take my 4x4 which I can drive almost down to the water on a seldom-used Land Rover track but the old Suzuki was awaiting parts at the garage so I took the sports car. No danger of taking that down to the loch without getting stuck so parked it in a lay-by, took our camping gear and went to set up camp. As per usual, the boy racer car attracted the only cop covering the whole of north west Highlands and he came over to inquire if we by any chance lost a kayak that was found floating in Loch Glascarnoch (which we did not), wished us a pleasant camp while pretending not to check the car out and went on his way.

The weather was clear but rather cold for late April so we decided to treat ourselves to a hot dinner at the nearby Aultguish Inn (far more civilized than my usual wild camping). Having stuffed ourselves full we went back out into the cold and to our camping spot. By that point the breeze had picked up and I had to make some adjustments to my tent by turning it into the wind and making it more streamlined. It was too cold to sit out - 7 degrees air temperature but felt colder in the northerly breeze so each of us retreated to our tents to get a good rest before the next day's adventure.

Home from home

The forecast for the day was cloudy with potential spots of rain but as we were having breakfast and preparing our day packs for the day's hike we were pleasantly surprised that the cloud started to clear and the sun came out. We drove up to the walkers car park, near Inver Lael bridge, parked up and donned on our boots and packs and started the hike at 09:00. The first part of the trail led through a farm - I have an irrational fear of livestock so awkwardly tip-toed behind Stewart, avoiding eye contact with the cows, and was relieved to reach the end of the farm with a gate that led through to the forestry plantation. We followed the track for a few kilometers until we reached a fork in the road marked by a small cairn and started the climb up a much smaller, steep path through the trees. The path led out of the forest, into open moorland and leveled out. Looking back the views of An Teallach opened up with the last bit of cloud hanging on to the jagged peaks and the ridge connecting them. It was turning out to be a much pleasanter day than forecast with the spring sunshine warming up the landscape. There was a clear path to follow which gradually gained altitude through the moorland and we took plenty of breaks for snacks and photos.

The path eventually took us past some beautiful lochans with an easy stream crossing marked by a cairn, and continued to climb higher up the glen. Despite the warm sunshine there was still a chilly northern wind so we stopped to put on an extra layer before heading up to the plateau.

Lochan

Upon reaching the plateau the path stopped rather suddenly and we were faced with a vast expanse of bog and rock and the Munro summit still seemed miles away. Navigating this part was difficult - we saw the direction we needed to head in but had to make many detours to avoid the worst of the bog and hidden rock shelves which were not visible from a distance. We eventually picked up a path near the edge of the corrie, climbed up to a minor top and continued to the Munro summit.

The summit is marked by the remains of a wind shelter, doubling up as a cairn. The views were fantastic in all directions - Assynt to the north, An Teallach and Fisherfield Forest out west and Beinn Dearg & neighbours to the south. It was around 16:30 in the afternoon by the time we reached the summit so took a few photos, had a snack and headed back the outward route.

The crags were more visible on the return route therefore was easier to avoid them and soon we started the descent back into the glen, towards the lochans. The sky started gradually clouding over again but it remained dry. Being back on the path again was a relief but we were aware just how long it took us to get to the summit so tried to keep the number of breaks to a minimum, stopping only to top up our water bottles at the streams. By the time we got back on the forestry track it felt like we left the car days ago, not on the same day! We met a fellow walker who was climbing Beinn Dearg that day - I did jokingly ask what day we were on but don't think he understood my sense of humour! It was 20:30 by the time we got back to the car and drove back to our camping spot where we left our tents what felt like days ago! That was a long hike for a single Munro! It was only back at the camp that we realised that the one thing we did not pack was sun cream and therefore I ended up looking like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer and Stewart was just a tomato. Stewart managed to get sunstroke (even though it was chilly in that breeze) so just took a couple of paracetamol and retreated to his tent. I lit a fire in a portable firepit I take when camping and sat out enjoying my Summit To Eat pouch meal as cooking anything elaborate was out of the question after that long hike.

Slept well that night until I was woken up at 4:30am by black grouse fighting outside the tent - only one thing to do - get the telephoto lens out and start taking photos! Had no problem getting back to sleep though and after having breakfast and a refreshing swim in Loch Glascarnoch, we packed up and headed home.

4:30am alarm clock

Summary
Munro summited: Seana Bhraigh
Munro count: 112
Height: 926m
Distance: 27km
Time: longer than it took Frodo to get to Mount Doom (11.5 hours)
Conditions: Better than forecast, dry, bright, good visibility, chilly northerly breeze
Lessons learned: Take less snack breaks on the way up. Bring sun cream even is rain is forecast.

[perr]

Well done, the route finding up beyond the lochans is really hard. Fabulous picture of black grouse!!

[sakura1989]

Well done, the route finding up beyond the lochans is really hard. Fabulous picture of black grouse!!

Thank you, we were lucky we had good visibility (or not so lucky as the summit never looked any closer ) The grouse was called a few names when it woke me up!

[rockhopper]

Great weather for it. I do like this hill and the dramatic cliffs round Cadha Dearg - cheers

[sakura1989]

Great weather for it. I do like this hill and the dramatic cliffs round Cadha Dearg - cheers

It's definitely grand! Think I'll approach from the East next time, and take a bike!