Sabotage on Mayar

[ngm1scot]

I knew Saturday was going to be a difficult day weatherwise even before setting out. Low cloud and high winds were forecast but I know how to use my compass and map, and had spent a good bit of the previous night getting the basic bearings from each turning point of the route once on the plateau so that I would have a least a half a chance of coping in the wind and rain.

Cloud lingering

The trip up to Glen Clova from the A9 was unremarkable although once in the Glen and I saw the threatening dark, low cloud over the smaller tops I began to wonder if this was a wise expedition especially as I was going solo today. Although it wasn't going to be my first solo Munros - they were to be my first in potentially bad weather.

Once I had parked up, filled in the route card and chatted to the Ranger ("its not going to be very nice weather today", he said.) I set off at a fair pace along the easy forest road, making the bridge over the river in just over 20 minutes.

Crossing over the burn

Even the next bit which was mostly uphill wasn't too bad and I emerged on to the edge of the Corrie Fee just about 40 minutes after setting off.

Start of the Nature reserve

And then the full force of the wind hit me then as it headed down through the Corrie.

I'm going up into that cloud!

I added my fleece and hunkered down behind a huge rock just at the entrance to the reserve and had a quick cup of coffee and half a roll. Then it was on through the beautiful heathery mounds and before hardly any time,

Heathery hummocks

I was starting up the headwall of the Corrie. The path is excellent and although it disappears on the map, it is real and evident enough on the ground. The waterfall draws your eye for the whole of the walk through the floor of the Corrie.

The famous corrie fee waterfall

As I emerged from the first steep bit onto a second steep bit I began to think I had misread the map as I had anticipated a slightly different terrain and so mentally I was confused and only when I realised that the stream had been crossed and was now on my left did it become apparent I had come further than I had thought! I was by this time already on the final approach to the top! I was feeling like I had made good time too so it was with high spirits that I continued up the sometimes muddy but ever present path.

Good Path. Bad Cloud

But the rain had now started and my rain jacket, which had been on for a while, was starting to get soaked due to the driving nature of the rain but on I trudged up to the top which (as anyone who has ever walked in cloud will know) seems further away every time you look and then suddenly Woosh! you're on top of it. The wind had changed direction a little and was now coming in from the West but the rain mercifully had stopped by the time I reached the summit. A few pictures taken,

Reasons to be cheerful

another cup of coffee and a roll and I then took some bearings on the compass. Pity the visibility was rubbish. There are no more pictures now till I got back down again.

There is one fencepost at the summit and I could see no other. I set my compass and watched in horror as it pointed to a different North. Panic began to set in. I remembered Heather Morning talking about compasses becoming affected by phones and metal at our Navigation course. Had this happened to me now? On the one day I was on my own in thick cloud?

The fenceline heads slightly NNE on the map and so I headed along what looked like the way the fenceline would go if the first post was anything to go by. I saw no more fenceposts. I checked the compass again - and here was the fatal mistake - as it seemed to be reading 90 degrees out, I adjusted the bearing by 90 degrees and headed off confidently in the wrong direction. It took a while to realise it was the wrong direction but the rocky craggy things straight ahead were my first clue that made me stop dead and reappraise the situation. Reappraisal led to checking with my iPhone compass - how could I have forgotten it was there? - which actually proved that the manual compass was correct. So how to get back on course now? Although my GPS was working and I could see where I had been, I couldn't get any map details and so all I knew was I had to head due South now to pick up the original route but how far? I headed South and after a while decided that rather than wander aimlessly forward towards possible disaster that I would head back up to the summit (behind me it was all uphill whereas around me was up and down on all sides and cloudy and indistinct images set my imagination racing) and that is what I did. My return time at the ranger was scheduled for 17.20 and I was concerned that if I restarted my route down to Driesh I could end up being late back and then perhaps the rescue services could become involved so I took the safe option and returned back along my outward route. I was massively disappointed at being such an eegit and at failing to just take a bit of time to think things through ( I know now why the compass "read" wrongly). I was even more annoyed when as I approached the edge of the corrie, the cloud lifted above 850m and the sun came out. But having made my decision I felt - for the original reasons - that I needed to stick with it having committed to it now..

I did consider doing this walk the other way round with Driesh first and I think with hindsight that would have been easier in the poor conditions.

I had a great day though despite all of the mishaps and I've learned still more about cloud and what it does to your brain!

after the sun came out back at the start

PS the route shows where I ended up and is not recommended as a route to follow whether in or out of cloud!

our_route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

[bigjimmy]

Hi, it is slightly (only slightly) comforting to read a more experienced walker such as yourself ran into problems on this route. Looking at where you went we almost made the same mistake in similar visibility but did manage to correct it and did reach Driesh only to run into problems coming down from there, which tbh makes me feel like a complete muppet. When the time is right I may recount the whole story of initial achievement then tempered by inexperience, lack of technical knowhow, slight injury, and then one sensible decision which got us down although not in the right place but thankfully towards 2 guardian angels who got us back to Glen Doll. A lot of lessons learned and they will be heeded.

[dogplodder]

It's miserable on your own in cloud and easy to get disorientated. You did the sensible thing retracing steps to summit and back the way you knew.

[Backpacker]

I had the same problems yesterday, one being clag and the 2nd not paying attention

[ngm1scot]

Thanks guys - it really does make me feel better to know that its not just me that gets into such fixes. especially when it looks like such an easy walk on paper you do feel a right idiot when you cant do a simple (!) bit of navigation! Good thing is I ended up safe which is the most important thing and every time you learn something new.

[basscadet]

Och I experienced almost the same thing on Dreish.. In horizontal snow I took a bearing for Mayar from the summit, walked for half an hour on the bearing then found myself back on the summit of Dreish
I found when I got home that the polartity of the compass had switched so north arrow now pointed south..
A good affeort though in the conditions and not much of a shame you will have to go back to such a bonny place