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There are two areas in the Gàidhealtachd i find have an especially strong pull on me , one is Braigh na Albainn or Breadalbane and the other is Knoydart ,something deep inside and in my blood tells me i have ancient connections to both these places.
In 2011 when i scooted up Sgùrr na Ciche via Glen Dessary for the second time, something woke up inside me. I still remember the rush as i broke onto the summit and felt that uplifted air in my lungs as the view West beckoned toward Eilean Eige mo dhachaidh.... that was my ninth munro and the first in likely 15 years.
.....October the 16th 2015 and i am back on the borders of Knoydart looking for my last Munro summit on a misty morning with the promise of a superb day ahead.
- filleadh sgòthan
- A'Chabair
Cnòideart agus Na Garbh Criochan tir nam sluagh Gleann a' Gheàrradh ,Knoydart and the rough bounds , land of the Glengarry people ..... MacDonnels ,MacMillans , MacMartins ,MacPhees and of course the Camerons of the South facing glen of Deas Airidh . The population are gone but their presence remains and i think of the rich cultural legacy they have left us which lives in the placenames of the mountians
Sgùrr , Bidean , Sleibh , Monadh , Beinn , Binnein , Sliabh
Rùithe nam beann ............
We found the trail over the bridge and headed up into the sunshine over onto the Fèithe a Cìocheanas , a boggy place with the row of bawling stags echoing from every coire .
- Anns a' Mhadainn
- Sgòth
As we progress over the Fèith i see Sgurr Mor poking out her low ridge bathed in sunlight and i am glad l have left her till last , a decison i made over a year ago when the list of remaining hills started to shrink
- Sgurr Mor
The sloping ground into Kingie has an interseting name on her Glac a ' Bhreatunaich " the narrow defile of the british" which references the route that the redcoated troops , brittania's huns , took during the rape of these Glens after the 45' laying waste to every home ,byre and carrying away or slaughtering all livestock as they burnt their way back to the black garrison of Inverlochy.
- Gleann Ceannaige agus Glac a Bhreatunach
The river was very low and i can see that she could be a challenge in spate ,we scuttled over easily and headed straight uphill toward Bràigh a' Coire Bhuidhe but with a lean toward Sgurr an Fuarain the Corbett which i wanted to tackle first .
A long pull but we soon found ourselves on the shoulder
- Am Bealach agus druim
- An cù
The clarity was superb with visual perfection 360 degrees over into Gleann a' Ghèarraidh over Cnòideart and indeed every direction. We wander along the gentle incline and onto the summit of the Corbett
- A'Mhullach
From here the route over to Sgurr Mor beckoned ,sharp , clear and it was not going to take me long to leather back along the druim and onto her summit .
- Sgurr Mor
We trundled back after a good break on the Corbett , a nice wee hill in its own right with smashing underfoot conditions ,mossy ,easy grassy a pleasure to walk on .....The ascent was now well underway and i was soon looking at the last 50m of a long journey.
- Suas
I often wondered what i would think when i reached this stage and today in such pleasant weather i could only think of the old song " tha sior choineadh am Beinn Dorain" which describes the strange wailing that was often heard on that Breadalbane hill by the Gàidhealachd herdsmen and hunters and was reputed to herald approaching death
"Tha sior choinneadh am Beinn Dorain
tha gal is choinneadh a bheinn ud thal
tha glaoidh mo laoigh ..sa bheinn sa bheinn"
I m a hellish singer and Ben Dorain is a fair way from here so lucky i was the only fella on the hill at this point and i think even the stags stopped roaring in awe at the noise
Then all of a sudden i was there on the last of the munro summits no 282 !
- A' mhullach a h aon
So it was out with the dram and a wee seat to contemplate a decent achievement , fair chuffed with myself . It is a long road to get to this point and a lot of hill miles under the belt .
- S'mise agus an cu
- Loch Cuaich
- Cnòideart
Sin agad e ...as we say there you have it the end of the beginning so to speak but i am not finished yet.
If you have read my post before you probably can guess that i'm political , that i detest the unionist cabal and the geo- political term "british" as much as i detest their empty failed state. The cultural appropriation of my people has been a tragedy and the genocide commited by the british establishment is largely unrecognised but our extermination experience echos that of the First Nations people the world over.
The munro bagging lark has taught me much but most of all it has learned me that you will achieve a goal eventually, overcoming the obstacles and trials on the way and at times thinking you are never going to get there . That lesson can be described perfectly by the Gaelic proverb
Chan ann leis a’chiad bhuille thuiteas a’chraobh .....it is not with the first stroke the tree falls
and that is a lesson not lost on a movement that is not going to go away . I have a flag that i have kept for this day, it is our future and we will take its control back into our own hands .... tis only a matter of time.
- Am Bratach Ban
Cheerie an drasta
