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Kev and myself did An Dun back in October 2014 on the occasion of his 40th birthday. Other than it being his 40th, it was an instantly forgettable day and we quickly abandoned any notion of doing both Corbetts, settling for the lower of the two and leaving A' Chaoirnich across Loch an Dun for another, hopefully better day.
Fast forward almost 18 months and the fine spring weather of the last few weeks had got me into the mood for an evening walk, starting in daylight and finishing in the dark, so with no Friday afternoon teaching commitments for the next few weeks, I took advantage and headed north up the A9 to the Trinafour junction.
It was a glorious afternoon, almost summer like, as I played chicken with the heavy goods vehicles thundering along the dual carriageway section of the A9 before reaching the safety of the landrover track leading into Dalnacardoch Wood on the other side at 3.15pm.
You have to dice with death from the very start of this one - crossing the A9 to get to the track
Ha! Too late sucker! You missed!The initial kilometre or so through the trees does not really hint at the splendour of this walk on a day like this but I soon emerged from the wood and caught sight of the two Gaick Corbetts peeking above the skyline in the far distance, some eight kilometres away.
Leaving Dalnacardoch Wood and onto the open track - the Gaick Corbetts only just visible above the skyline to the right, Am Meadar the prominent hill to the left
DrumochterThe steady hum of the A9 soon faded away behind me to be replaced with the sound of silence. There was barely a breath of wind and the only sound to pierce the stillness was the occasional bird cry overhead or somewhere off on the moors.
Looking back to Schiehallion
Am Meadar ahead
Back to the Fairy Hill againI soon passed the ruined building at Badnambiast and was relieved to see that there was no longer any evidence of the festering sheep carcass which had inhabited the place 18 months ago.
The deserted shell of Badnambiast
Schiehallion from BadnambiastPressing on, aware of the still limited daylight hours of mid-March, An Dun and A’ Chaoirnich soon came more into view on either side of the Gaick Pass and the still hidden Loch An Dun.
The long and winding road
First proper sighting of An DunAfter a brief stop to attempt some arty farty shots by the bridge and the lone red traffic cone marking the spot where the edge of the track has fallen away into the river, presumably a victim of the severe winter storms that are hopefully now behind us, I soon arrived at the concrete slipway that acts as a vehicular fording point of the Edendon Water.
An Dun from below the bridge
And again from above
That's my guy coming into view now on the right
Road works at a flood damaged section, or have some students simply passed here on their way home from the pub?
The Gaick Corbetts close upTo my horror, I immediately realised that I had totally overlooked this potential aspect of my route. 18 months ago, Kev and I had sauntered across this, barely breaking stride and barely getting the soles of our boots wet in the process. But that had been in October, at the end of summer, not in March during a spell of warm, settled sunny weather with the snowmelt on higher ground in full swing.
Schoolboy error - didn't factor this in!I cursed under my breath and tried to establish how deep the water was coming over the slipway. It was certainly moving fast, and it was more than just a hop and a skip to the far side. I lamented the fact that I was wearing my old Brasher boots and not my new Aku ones. There was no way I could simply go for this in the Brashers without getting a soaking, whereas I might have been tempted had I been wearing the Akus. I detoured a short distance downstream to see if there were any easier options, but it didn’t look promising. Back at the slipway, there was nothing else for it but to get the boots and socks off and do a spot of wading.
Returning from a brief reconnaissance mission to face the musicPoles out for additional support and my boot laces wound firmly round my hands and I was off. The water was not nearly as cold as I had imagined it would be, but the concrete was smooth and slippery, and the force of the water was considerable out in the middle at the deepest point, where it came up to about knee height. Going for it with boots on, even the Akus, would clearly have been a grave miscalculation. I had to resort to hugging the upstream lip of the concrete slipway with my left foot for additional grip, but after a minute or so of slow steady progress, I reached the other side.
Oh well, at least I got my feet washed for my troubles, or was I just getting in the mood for my charity leg waxing next week?
Is it just me or does it look worse from this side looking back?What was troubling me now was the knowledge that I either had to find an alternative crossing point for my walk back out from the hill, or I would be faced with the same crossing in reverse, only this time in the dark.
I got the socks and boots back on and took the opportunity to have a bite to eat before continuing a short distance along the track, at which point I left it and went off-piste, aiming for the corner of the fence surrounding the new plantation above Sronphadruig Lodge. From here I contoured above the trees to reach a gully which gave me access to the bealach between Meall na Spianaig and my target, A’ Chaoirnich.
An Dun
Loch an Dun wedged between the two Corbetts
Onto the curving approach ridge to A'Chaoirnich
Back over Meall na Spianaig to SchiehallionAn acrid smell hung in the air and soon enough I came across the several blackened patches of heather responsible for the smell. I hugged the edge of the broad ascent ridge as closely as I could to get the benefit of the views over to An Dun and down to the deep trench holding the loch of the same name.
Loch an Dun way belowEventually I accepted that I would need to bear right away from the edge of the cliffs and make my way across the large, flat, featureless summit plateau. After a bit of wandering I managed to establish the high point of the hill roughly where my bearings said it should be and thus claimed my 80th Ronnie.
Pale sunshine on the featureless expanse of the summit plateau
After a bit of wandering, I found this cairnI had originally hoped to descend from the summit to the far end of the loch and return on the path along the lower flanks of An Dun before picking up my inward route back to the start, but with the temperature having dropped considerably and the light fading fast, I decided to simply retrace my steps. In any case I still had the river crossing to deal with and had been unsuccessful in identifying possible crossing places upstream of the ford.
Loch an Dun and the steep eastern slopes of An Dun are down there somewhere
Am Meadar and the southern end of the loch
An Dun
Light fading fast
Fire in the sky way out west
The moon and Schiehallion above the clouds
An Dun about to be swallowed by the nightI briefly toyed with the notion of walking out over Meall na Spianaig before descending back to the track at the old stone bridge, but given the fact that I had a good solid landrover track most the way, I decided that this was worth undertaking a repeat crossing of the slipway for.
Here we go again! - me about to be swallowed by the Edendon WaterThe same modus operandi was employed, only difference being that the head torch was used and the water did seem considerably colder, painfully so by the time I reached the far side.
I put the head torch away again as there was more than enough light coming from the three quarters or so moon to light the way, and put the socks and boots back on again. After a few minutes sitting on a boulder enjoying the solitude, the river and the moonlight, I started back on the long winding track to the car, very glad to have made the decision 18 months ago to leave the second Corbett to fight another day.
Camera flash picks out the gable end of Badnambiast
An eerie sight in the dark when illuminated by the flash!