- Comin' to getcha!!!
However this time we were graced with the presence of our No 1 son, Sam -home from Uni for Easter.....hence the "banter" thankfully Sam's banter has moved on from throwing sarky insults at his parents and now manifests itself in pithy witticisms and a LOT of Lord Of the Rings /Hobbit/ Harry Potter banter. This we can cope with.
Nudge came along too, so it was four Railtons versus two Munros...and a lot of weather.
- Tom a Choinich beyond the bogfest
- Pretty but you need the waterproofest of waterproof boots. A veritable bogfest. Sam rolled in most of it. The dog however, did no such thing.
- Hopefully Munro No79 for the Hubs and me (27 for Sam)
The track at the start of the walk was clear and easy to follow and a mini cairn on the left indicated the turn for the ridge walk up to Tom a Choinich via Creag na h-Inghinn.
- Nice path to follow.
- Tom a Choinich looms ever clsoer
- With my furry boy on Creag h na-Inghinn
Ridge ascent made somewhat more challenging by the snow and ice. Really added to the drama of the day though. Sam opted to spend most of his ascent on all fours. Solidarity with the dog perhaps?
- Sam on all fours again...muttering something about his "precious"
- On the snowline.
- Creag h na-Inghinn...a bit steep in places.
- A fine Golden Eagle. Sam's main contribution to the day was spotting this. Nice one, Sam
Predictably fantastic views as we climbed and fine blue skies with snow showers sweeping across Glen Affric and beyond.
- Tom a Choinich
- Trying to beat the snow shower to the summit
- Fantastic views before the whiteout. Looking out over Wester Ross
- This rounded beastie is Toll Creagach...a much less challenging prospect than its rockier neighbour
Made it to the summit and a nice fat snow shower blew in. In the complete whiteout we opted to huddle in at the summit cairn as trying o find a safe way down seemed rather tricky given that the ground plummeted in the direction that we were to travel.
- Tom a Choinich. Munro 27 for Sam
- Munro 79 for me.
- Munro 79 for the Hubs
- The many footprints tell of our failed blunderings in the whiteout and yes we have a map, compass and GPX
Eventually the skies parted a little and we made our way down the very steep rocky eastern ridge. The dog required more than one offer of help from Sam and dog lifting proved to be a good test of upper body strength.
- Some dog-lifting WAS necessary. A wee bit steep for little furry legs.
- The eastern ridge leading to Bealach Toll Easa
- Loch Mulladoch comes into view with Toll Creagachup ahead.
Picking our way carefully down to Beleach Toll Easa where the nature of the walk changed abruptly from a scramble to a far less challenging hillwalk on the rounded slopes of Toll Creagach. Again as we hit the summit, the weather once more closed in and my idea of dramatic summit shots were scuppered.
- Yet another snow shower. Timed perfectly to hit when we reached the summit cairn and trig
- Cracking cheese. Hubs hits 80. Toll Creagach.
- Celebrating Munro no 80 with a leap that's enough to alarm the dog.
The descent was straightforward and in parts like a giant astroglide. Maybe that's what prompted Sam to roll downhill, thoughtfully clearing it of deer poo as he went (he had to return home in his boxer shorts). No way was he getting in our car like that. Picked up the track and made our way back to the car being just 5mins from the end when an enormous raincloud blew in soaking us all (still at least it washed some of the deer faeces off of Sam).
Walked in 6 hrs and 15mins by Sarah David Sam and Nudge
