free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Decided at the last minute to do this walk with my brother - the weather seemed a bit unpredictable! One forecast said sunshine another said rain... Oh well, off we went prepared for the worst, wet weather gear and so on.
We managed to get lost before even reaching the start point and ended up at stronuich reservoir - we had missed the turn off for the start point
about turn and a few minutes later we headed off on the correct direction only to find a gate blocking our way up the road a bit!!! After a moment or two my brother - "Delberto" caught me by surprise by coming up with a solution - "well, go open it then!" he said. Why didn't I think of that? You would think that after such a poor start things could only improve right?... Well yes and no....
We parked up fine and set off up the route only to discover a gate across the bridge - I managed to solve this problem myself.
- Crossing the bridge
on to the hill itself and I was never sure if we were walking up a path or a stream.
The water wan't deep so we plunged ahead. And boy was it steep - especially as this was my first real climb since my Hernia operation, so I just took it easy with plenty of pauses to enjoy the wonderful view of the loch - the sun was shining...Things were looking up
- Enjoying the views of the loch
After a brief unscheduled stop I continued up the initial part of the route until after about 1 hour 30 minutes we came to the small cairn where the path joins another with fence posts, things were less steep here.
- The small Cairn
Shortly afterward we reached the top of Creag an Fheadain (888m), were we again pause for some snaps.
- top of Creag an Fheadain
It was at this point that I should have been alerted to a possible problem... When taking a drink I noticed one of the zips on my backpack was opened - a quick check and all seemed present and correct
Idiot!
Anyway - we continued on an easy path to the next top of Sron Chona Choirein (920m) for another spot of posing for snaps.
- Posing with Stuchd an Lochain behind
A little further on we caught sight of lochan an Cat and stopped for even more snaps - this was wonderful... Great weather and lots of posing for photos.
- Lochan nan cat
We reached the summit of Stuchd an Lochain 3 hours after starting off.
- Delberto at the top
- Me at the summit
I think the views that day were amongst the best I have ever seen. We could clearly see for mile upon mile of unbelievable scenery - 17 miles away Buachaille Etive Mor could clearly be seen.
- Buachaille Etive Mor
26 miles away Ben Nevis could also be made out.
- Ben Nevis
We spent about 30 minutes relaxing and taking pictures in the perfect conditions.
- Enjoying the perfect conditions.
It was here that I noticed I had lost something (my compass) - no big deal, a quick retrace of steps to find it, no doubt where I had been taking photos. Oh how I wish I had checked if anything else was missing
Sure enough I managed to find the compass where I took the pictures of the Lochan - I felt smug with pride as I marched down the hill. Saved myself a couple of quid there I thought!
We continued to take pictures and relax in the warm sunshine - It was so warm I even had to go topless
I appologise to the family, on their way up, who had to witness this horrible sight. We arrived back at the car 5 hours 30 minutes after starting off and it was one of the best days out in the hills I've had. The road was then blocked by several Highland Coos - who were determined not to move out of the way for the car. Even when I got out of the car they just looked at me... and I looked at their horns and I got back in the car - "beep your horn" I said. He did and they continued to ignore us until finally they got bored and wandered off. This day had indeed got better after its poor start after all... Or had it?
When I returned home in East kilbride I discovered my wallet was missing
It must have fallen out of my backpack when the zip was open - Why did I even take it????
After a while my wife stopped calling me an idiot as well as other choice phases which I won't repeat. She then phoned the bank to cancel my card. Luckily I was skint as usual anyway so no big loss - but it is damned inconvenient.