Loch Lochy munros in rain, cloud, snow, sun, wind...
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:22 pm
better late than never for this walk report (what a busy week it's been!) - hopefully i can remember it all
We had a weekend away last week and kicked off by camping at Fort Augustus. First camping trip of the year for me and time to test out my new sleeping bag (great birthday pressie form kiltedbiggles!!). glad to report the alpkit sleeping bag was truly fantastic - so much so that he's away with it this weekend as it is so much better than his (hmm now thinking the birthday pressie was maybe more for him than me ). It was also a chance to try out my new pacer poles... happy to report they seemed to be good too!
After such a great weekend the week before we knew we weren't going to have the same luck on this trip. We woke to the pouring rain but after some porridge we were set to go. A wee drive down to the car park at Laggan Locks and the waterproofs on and away we went.
This walk starts off as part of the Great Glen Way and it really is gorgeous round here - i'm def motivated to do the GGW now (and planning the WHW in the summer!).
at this point our main drama was deciding - jacket on or off - if only the rain would make up it's bloody mind!
As we made our way up through the forest we passed the waterfall - if only i'd brought my SLR - i love waterfall photos!
The walk report did warn that it was a steep climb through the forest - they weren't lying! It certainly got the heart rate up and i was glad when we broke the tree line
The rest of the walk towards the bealach was fine. Then we headed to the north to Sron a Choire Garbh. This is pretty steep going too but the stalkers path is fantastic - made it straightforward and not too bad going. Going up here we passed two folk coming down - the only people we saw all day! The weather was getting gradually worse at this point and by the time we got to the top we could barely see a thing (surprise surprise!) and we had a wee bit snow just to keep us entertained. The wind prompted us to try some stupid summit poses...
As we started to head off the summit the cloud suddenly cleared to give a view of the edge of the ridge but unfortunately not if the stunning views
a quick descent back to the bealach and munch on our ham and cheese wraps and then we made our way across to Meall na Teanga. We seemed to rock it up here in quick time - but looking at the pictures of my knackered face i dont think we were going too slowly!
Horrible wind, rain, hail on this summit so we didn't hang about and headed straight back down. It even got sunny at this point!! Again we were back to the bealach in no time at all.
The worst bit was the very long walk back to the car - this felt like it took hours to get back. As nice as it was going it it was a bit more boring on the return - or maybe it was just that we could taste that bottle of tiger from the fantastic floating pub - 'the Eagle Barge' - that place is great!! Once we got back - quick removal of waterproofs and off to the pub for a quick one, then Aviemore for the rest of the long weekend!
We had a weekend away last week and kicked off by camping at Fort Augustus. First camping trip of the year for me and time to test out my new sleeping bag (great birthday pressie form kiltedbiggles!!). glad to report the alpkit sleeping bag was truly fantastic - so much so that he's away with it this weekend as it is so much better than his (hmm now thinking the birthday pressie was maybe more for him than me ). It was also a chance to try out my new pacer poles... happy to report they seemed to be good too!
After such a great weekend the week before we knew we weren't going to have the same luck on this trip. We woke to the pouring rain but after some porridge we were set to go. A wee drive down to the car park at Laggan Locks and the waterproofs on and away we went.
This walk starts off as part of the Great Glen Way and it really is gorgeous round here - i'm def motivated to do the GGW now (and planning the WHW in the summer!).
at this point our main drama was deciding - jacket on or off - if only the rain would make up it's bloody mind!
As we made our way up through the forest we passed the waterfall - if only i'd brought my SLR - i love waterfall photos!
The walk report did warn that it was a steep climb through the forest - they weren't lying! It certainly got the heart rate up and i was glad when we broke the tree line
The rest of the walk towards the bealach was fine. Then we headed to the north to Sron a Choire Garbh. This is pretty steep going too but the stalkers path is fantastic - made it straightforward and not too bad going. Going up here we passed two folk coming down - the only people we saw all day! The weather was getting gradually worse at this point and by the time we got to the top we could barely see a thing (surprise surprise!) and we had a wee bit snow just to keep us entertained. The wind prompted us to try some stupid summit poses...
As we started to head off the summit the cloud suddenly cleared to give a view of the edge of the ridge but unfortunately not if the stunning views
a quick descent back to the bealach and munch on our ham and cheese wraps and then we made our way across to Meall na Teanga. We seemed to rock it up here in quick time - but looking at the pictures of my knackered face i dont think we were going too slowly!
Horrible wind, rain, hail on this summit so we didn't hang about and headed straight back down. It even got sunny at this point!! Again we were back to the bealach in no time at all.
The worst bit was the very long walk back to the car - this felt like it took hours to get back. As nice as it was going it it was a bit more boring on the return - or maybe it was just that we could taste that bottle of tiger from the fantastic floating pub - 'the Eagle Barge' - that place is great!! Once we got back - quick removal of waterproofs and off to the pub for a quick one, then Aviemore for the rest of the long weekend!