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Saturday 7th March had been claimed as a hillwalking day and marked accordingly on the calendar for some time, because it had suited both me and my good friend Robin, with whom I had not walked "socially" (i.e. not on DofE expeditions) for some time. He has been becalmed on 220 something Munros since the days of Julius Caesar, and anytime we plan a walk together, I always turn my attention towards the small number of Munros that neither of us have done. This time the spotlight fell on the two Munros of Beinn a'Bheithir, neither of which I have done. Robin has done one but for some lame reason never did the second one whilst he was at it! However, he seemed unsure about my preference for taking the NE ascent route up the ridge via Sgorr Bhann, given that the mountain would still be in full winter nick and he hadn't worn crampons in anger since the French Revolution.
In any case, he pulled out a few weeks beforehand, due to a family commitment (or else he was just bricking it at the prospect). He needn't have worried anyway, as the forecast for anything west of the A9 on the day in question turned out to be dire. East looked to be faring better so after casting around, I settled on Cat Law and Corwharn near Glen Isla. Until recently these were a couple of Grahams before the latter was demoted to Sub2K status.
I had looked at previous reports and studied the route carefully and was in two minds whether to take Lucy with me or not. I probably wouldn't have done had my wife not asked that morning (knowing it was quite a light day by my standards) if I was taking her, and that swayed it.
At age 11, Lucy is well and truly at the veteran stage now. She has done a power of serious routes in her time, but it had been a good year or two since I had taken her hillwalking with me, even on something this straightforward. The mind is still willing but the legs do not carry her like they once did. The onset of arthritis and the dodgy left front elbow that she has had since being hit by a car when she was 6 have taken their toll. Still, I knew that I could always bail out after Cat Law if she was struggling.
We set off from the same spot near Balintore Castle where I had parked up a year past Christmas time to do Mile Hill and after a quick spot of cross country around the back of the forestry, we were soon onto the track leading up Cat Law.
Start just east of Balintore Castle
It didn't take Lucy long to sniff out a bog
Mount Blair
Mile Hill and the Loch of Lintrathen
Glen Prosen and hills beyondIf this was the place to be for the good weather today, I was glad I was not on Beinn a'Bheithir. The wind was fair whipping around my face and as we approached the summit of Cat Law, a fine drizzle set in.
Clagging in a bit as I look back down from near the summitAt least Lucy was coping well and so after a brief stop in the shelter cairn, we set off towards Corwharn.
Graham number 40
Shelter cairn and trig point
Lucy in her element
Descent off Cat Law
Glen Quharity and a distant Mount Blair
Back to Cat Law
CorwharnBeyond the point of no return however, she really started to struggle, so much so that on the ascent of Corwharn, she actually stopped and lay down on a number of occasions. I tried picking her up and carrying her at one point, but I would never have got very far like that even if she hadn't objected and struggled against me. There was nothing much I could do except sit down beside her and give her 5 minutes rest while scratching her ears and talking to her.
Lucy stages a protest
Across Hare Cairn and Crock to Meall Mor and Mount BlairEventually we made it to the top of Corwharn where she again plonked herself down and curled up. This time I got the 2 man emergency shelter out and threw it over the top of the two os us before settling down for a good 45 minutes or so while the wind battered the outside of our cosy shelter and Lucy dozed at my feet.
Glen Uig from the summit of Corwharn
Glen Quharity and the long road home
In the shelter
Zoomed to Hare Cairn and Glenhead FarmThis seemed to give her a temporary boost for the descent down into Glen Quharity but after that it was a long exasperating plod back out to the road and then around the back of Balintore Castle back to the car.
Down Glen Quharity
And back up the glen to the farm at Longdrum
Snowdrops at Westerton
Balintore Castle
Mile Hill and almost homeSo that's that. The dog who has tackled Beinn Alligin via the Horns, Snowdon via Crib Goch, Beinn Eighe and Slioch, to name but a few classic rounds, has hung up her walking boots and officially retired from the hills.