A long but rewarding day on the Easains
Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 1:19 pmA free weekend had appeared 
and after a week of studying weather reports we decided to head for Tulloch, with the Easains in our sights.
My rehearsal on Friday night had gone insanely late so I’d only had 3 hours sleep when the alarm went off on Saturday morning
But the sleepy realisation that it was mountain day and not work had me awake and excited 
Threw on clothes, made cup of tea and dragged bags and bags of stuff down to the car (always better to have too much, right? 
)
As it got light we were getting fantastic views everywhere and it was shaping up to be a perfect day. Meeting Scoob and Fi in the layby just past Fersit at 9 (well, just after 9. We were late… ), we booted up and set off down the track. It was very cold, there was ice on the loch and there was frost everywhere. The whole valley was sparkling
The track branched and we took the right fork up the hill before heading off up the open hillside.
It was very crunchy but would have been a total bogfest if not for the freezing temperatures. Scoob’s impressive array of gadgets informed us that wind chill was -8.4
Chilly!
Happy campers
Ahead of us was Meall Cian Dearg, an imposing looking crag that we were supposed to be able to get up…
Conditions underfoot were becoming increasingly icy – all the water from the recent deluge had frozen and was very slippery, meaning a fair few ‘Woah’ moments and crazy pirouettes, mainly from me.
We climbed up to the base of the crags, eying up a wee gully. Scoob and Fi headed into this; I waited to see what would happen....
Scoob thinking about the gully...
On hearing ‘I’m not sure this is a good idea’ I decided to try further left. We scrambled and slipped our way across the steep slopes to what looked like a path. Unfortunately it turned out to be a very frozen path and I lost my footing and crashed into a rock, creating what will be a very impressive bruise in a few days time. 
Continuing left, we tried again. My plan of attack was heading for a small diagonal looking ledge and after a fair amount of scrambling, sliding and swearing I clambered over the top, crossed a load of icy snow and met the others who had ice-axed their way up the gully!!
Changed my wet gloves for dry ones and we headed off up the ridge.
Back down
Contemplating....things
Ahead
Fi wondering what sort of crazy person this was...
The snow was deep and the wind was much stronger now, making it quite hard work. We reached a piece of sheet ice which someone had fortunately cut some steps in, so we all nervously tottered our way across The visibility was disappearing and before long we were trudging up a snowy slope in the clag; it was blowing snow in our faces and it was really cold! We were overtaken by a man who said that there had been an easier way up Meall Cian Dearg on the right. D’oh! He also turned out to be a WH lurker, so Hi Mr Mysterious! 
Conditions underfoot started getting icier, there were some really impressive ice formations but no photos as it was too cold to stop! The ridge went on, and on, and on. It probably felt longer than it was because we were so cold – the wind chill gadget was reading at -15.4! Eventually we reached the summit of Stob a’ Choire Mheadhoin where there was a small shelter but no view to admire. Summit shots were quickly taken and we were off. It wasn't until later that I realised that this was my 40th, a pretty pathetic number considering present company, but a milestone none the less!
Me looking cold
Fi's group shot
The descent to the bealach was steep and icy but there was enough deep snow to avoid having to stop to put on crampons. We had a look down from the bealach as we knew this was a possible return route, but it looked very steep and snowy and we couldn’t really see anything. Putting off that decision for later, we pressed on.
Stob Coire Easain was extremely steep. We were all pretty tired by this point so we took our time. At the top, the view was unimpressive (non-existant) so again took summit pictures and got moving.
Perfect summit views.....
Woohoo!
Selfie time taken with Fi's amazing selfie feature
When we reached the bealach we decided the steep snowy descent was probably not a good idea as it could be really icy, so reluctantly headed back up to the top of summit number 1 and back down the ridge. It was quicker going once we were heading downhill but it was still very cold.
One more of Fi's, trudging downhill in the snow
We realised it was nearly 3 o clock and we hadn’t stopped for food, so found a relatively sheltered spot before I could start getting cranky and munched sandwiches as quickly as possible (although not quickly enough to avoid more numb fingers)
We finally came out of the clag and could see what we thought might be an alternative to climbing back down the icy scrambles. Thank goodness!
Out of the clag!
We headed down steep snowy slopes which were totally fine, but then realised we would have to traverse around the head of the Meall Cian Dearg in order to bypass the crags falling into the loch.
Looking back from our alternative descent
We were back into icy river territory, so there was some sliding around, but some had melted so a small amount of bog trotting also. We eventually picked up what we thought was a quadbike track, slipped down a steep slope, crossed a (fortunately for me, very small) burn and we were back on the track. It was nearly 5 o clock, it was almost dark and we were all knackered so we initiated a very quick march along the track back to the car. Although there is something quite nice about finishing in the dark
Back to the hostel for copious cups of tea, showers, dinner (pasta has never tasted so good), planning for the next day and plenty of banter.
It was a lot of hard work and the conditions were far from ideal, but it was a lot of fun. It was great to meet some more WH celebrities, so thanks to Scoob and Fi for putting up with me. Here's to the next time!
Scoob's epic video of the day can be enjoyed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwOfoGJLBg4 (Hope you don't mind me posting it - it's so good everyone should see it )
and after a week of studying weather reports we decided to head for Tulloch, with the Easains in our sights.My rehearsal on Friday night had gone insanely late so I’d only had 3 hours sleep when the alarm went off on Saturday morning
But the sleepy realisation that it was mountain day and not work had me awake and excited Threw on clothes, made cup of tea and dragged bags and bags of stuff down to the car (always better to have too much, right? )As it got light we were getting fantastic views everywhere and it was shaping up to be a perfect day. Meeting Scoob and Fi in the layby just past Fersit at 9 (well, just after 9. We were late…
), we booted up and set off down the track. It was very cold, there was ice on the loch and there was frost everywhere. The whole valley was sparkling The track branched and we took the right fork up the hill before heading off up the open hillside.
It was very crunchy but would have been a total bogfest if not for the freezing temperatures. Scoob’s impressive array of gadgets informed us that wind chill was -8.4
Chilly!Happy campers
Ahead of us was Meall Cian Dearg, an imposing looking crag that we were supposed to be able to get up…
Conditions underfoot were becoming increasingly icy – all the water from the recent deluge had frozen and was very slippery, meaning a fair few ‘Woah’ moments and crazy pirouettes, mainly from me.
We climbed up to the base of the crags, eying up a wee gully. Scoob and Fi headed into this; I waited to see what would happen....
Scoob thinking about the gully...
On hearing ‘I’m not sure this is a good idea’
I decided to try further left. We scrambled and slipped our way across the steep slopes to what looked like a path. Unfortunately it turned out to be a very frozen path and I lost my footing and crashed into a rock, creating what will be a very impressive bruise in a few days time. Continuing left, we tried again. My plan of attack was heading for a small diagonal looking ledge and after a fair amount of scrambling, sliding and swearing I clambered over the top, crossed a load of icy snow and met the others who had ice-axed their way up the gully!!
Changed my wet gloves for dry ones and we headed off up the ridge.Back down
Contemplating....things
Ahead
Fi wondering what sort of crazy person this was...
The snow was deep and the wind was much stronger now, making it quite hard work. We reached a piece of sheet ice which someone had fortunately cut some steps in, so we all nervously tottered our way across
The visibility was disappearing and before long we were trudging up a snowy slope in the clag; it was blowing snow in our faces and it was really cold! We were overtaken by a man who said that there had been an easier way up Meall Cian Dearg on the right. D’oh! He also turned out to be a WH lurker, so Hi Mr Mysterious! Conditions underfoot started getting icier, there were some really impressive ice formations but no photos as it was too cold to stop! The ridge went on, and on, and on. It probably felt longer than it was because we were so cold – the wind chill gadget was reading at -15.4!
Eventually we reached the summit of Stob a’ Choire Mheadhoin where there was a small shelter but no view to admire. Summit shots were quickly taken and we were off. It wasn't until later that I realised that this was my 40th, a pretty pathetic number considering present company, but a milestone none the less! Me looking cold
Fi's group shot
The descent to the bealach was steep and icy but there was enough deep snow to avoid having to stop to put on crampons. We had a look down from the bealach as we knew this was a possible return route, but it looked very steep and snowy and we couldn’t really see anything. Putting off that decision for later, we pressed on.
Stob Coire Easain was extremely steep. We were all pretty tired by this point so we took our time. At the top, the view was unimpressive (non-existant) so again took summit pictures and got moving.
Perfect summit views.....
Woohoo!
Selfie time taken with Fi's amazing selfie feature
When we reached the bealach we decided the steep snowy descent was probably not a good idea as it could be really icy, so reluctantly headed back up to the top of summit number 1 and back down the ridge. It was quicker going once we were heading downhill but it was still very cold.
One more of Fi's, trudging downhill in the snow
We realised it was nearly 3 o clock and we hadn’t stopped for food, so found a relatively sheltered spot before I could start getting cranky
and munched sandwiches as quickly as possible (although not quickly enough to avoid more numb fingers)We finally came out of the clag and could see what we thought might be an alternative to climbing back down the icy scrambles. Thank goodness!
Out of the clag!
We headed down steep snowy slopes which were totally fine, but then realised we would have to traverse around the head of the Meall Cian Dearg in order to bypass the crags falling into the loch.
Looking back from our alternative descent
We were back into icy river territory, so there was some sliding around, but some had melted so a small amount of bog trotting also. We eventually picked up what we thought was a quadbike track, slipped down a steep slope, crossed a (fortunately for me, very small) burn and we were back on the track. It was nearly 5 o clock, it was almost dark and we were all knackered so we initiated a very quick march along the track back to the car. Although there is something quite nice about finishing in the dark
Back to the hostel for copious cups of tea, showers, dinner (pasta has never tasted so good), planning for the next day and plenty of banter.
It was a lot of hard work and the conditions were far from ideal, but it was a lot of fun. It was great to meet some more WH celebrities, so thanks to Scoob and Fi for putting up with me. Here's to the next time!
Scoob's epic video of the day can be enjoyed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwOfoGJLBg4 (Hope you don't mind me posting it - it's so good everyone should see it
)
was a good forecast ass well. Nice meeting you and we'll prob see you again at some stage 
