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After giving myself a weekend off last week I felt the urge rising to climb some sort of hill somewhere as the working week wore on. After a two month hiatus my regular walking buddy Derek was keen to get back on the hills and he gave me the unenviable task of choosing somewhere for us. I was mindful of his absence from the hills as well as my reluctance to go on another walk like my last adventure on Ben Starav so I set to work when I should have, eh, been working.
The thought of driving up the A82 again was bringing me out in a cold sweat and with the MWIS forecast suggesting the West Highlands may only be suitable for those in an Ark, I chose the circuit around Loch Skeen which would take in the Donald of Lochcraig Head and latterly the Corbett of White Coomb. The drive down the M74 was uneventful although it was refreshing to be able to go at a decent speed and not be stuck behind a bus/lorry/camper van which was obvlivious to the large queue behind it.
We arrived at the car park around half ten and were soon on our way up the excellent path which would very quickly take us above the magnificent waterfall that I neglected to take any pictures of
In my defence I had left my DSLR in the house and would be relying on the limited camera that comes with my phone so I couldn't do the waterfall justice (and thats the story I'm sticking to).
The waterproofs were off at this point and withing about half an hour we reached the mouth of Loch Skeen and were delighted with the view we were treated to. After a pause to have a look around it was off down the path which soon disappeared and left us to fend for ourselves.
As we got further into the peat hags, it became clear that we would be doing well not to end up knee deep and as you might have guessed, I did have a leg disappear right up to the knee. I couldn't help but laugh as we zig zagged through the bog and just to round it off, the rain made an appearance and it was on with the waterproofs.
Having finally broken free of the bog and started ascending towards Lochcraig Head, the sun broke through the clouds and the views around us opened up. Some hills were glowing in the sun like ours whereas others were covered in rain which did seem to be moving quickly. It also allowed us to have a good look back down at the Loch as well as a chance to look at the last part of the climb ahead.
We were on the 801m top in no time at all but by now we were walking into a fairly brisk wind. The thought of food had crossed our minds but it looked as if another shower was headed our way so we decided to charge on and after a brief descent, it was time for another short ascent up to Firthybrig Head at the 763m mark.
In what felt like no time at all we were approaching the summit of White Coomb but not before we were given a view of Carrfian Grans which stood out in the afternoon sunshine. Again, the wind at the summit wasn't ideal for sitting in so we had a look around and then started our descent.
After stopping on the way down for some food, we made good time back to the car and managed to complete the walk in just under 4 and a half hours. It was enjoyable to head to any area that I've never been to as well as explore some of our lesser known summits. Over the last few months, I've been guilty of only going for Munro's and given the number of Donalds in the area as well as the other Corbetts down that way, it won't be long before I'm taking the road south again.
