WH Meet - The infamous Fuar Tholl split ;)
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 3:17 pmOur second WH Meet and the first one with an overnight stay. I could write a whole book about it 
but due to our journey to Poland I'm really short on time. So please forgive me, for this report will consist mostly of photos.
Kevin had to work on Friday and because he finished late, there was no point to go to Sands campsite on Friday evening (unless we fancied pitching the tent in pitch dark ). So we only came to Gairloch YH on Sat morning (4:30 wake up time, arghhhhh!) and immediately got caught up with the atmosphere of the meet. The hill planned for the group was Fuar Tholl. We had done it before, but honestly there's very little new stuff left for us in Torridon... The Nose would do. The first time we did it we saw nothing due to clag, maybe the second time would be luckier...
To start with it didn't look like it, our happy group, led by Rod and Martin, walked up the road to the station in pouring rain.
Our route (drawn as Kevin forgot to switch on his GPS in all that WH madness):
The rain thinned as we climbed up the stone path but the cloud still lingered...
Me and Rod "the legends" as he said
Happy Kevin in the mist:
2016-04-09 walkhighland 002 by Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
A lot of time was spent photographing and posing for photos:
As we reached the river crossing, Martin was eager to test his special boot protecting thingies Here comes the full photo documentary of his crossing!
Getting ready...
2016-04-09 walkhighland 010 by Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
The first step into water...
Testing the grip...
The hairy moment half way across!
He made it, hooray!
The rest of the group struggled a bit, some folks adapting the "close to nature" method
Once across the river, we continued up the path, with generous breaks for undressing
The cloud began to lift and at last we could see the splendid scenery around:
BP filming:
Hey ho, hey ho, up Fuar Tholl we go!
Not up this side, of course...
The mist lingered on over the tops...
The Wellington's Nose and the steep cliffs of FT:
From the highest point on the col we left the path and pushed straight up Creag Mainnrichean. No photos, as it started snowing heavily and we could see zilch!
It was a hairy scramble up the rocky slope, in dry summer conditions it would be nothing but with sticky, slushy snow everywhere, well, it was a different matter. Eventually, we made it all to the ridge and up Mainreachan Buttress, where Mountain Thyme was very disappointed when I told her this wasn't the summit just yet
The cloud was lifting again and we could actually see the top from where we were standing, just a short stroll away...
The final push:
Kevin and me lingered behind to take more photos:
The Nose from near the summit:
When the happy team reached the summit, it was time to have lunch...
...and pose for group photos:
Views from the summit were a bit limited by clag, but still splendid. I absolutely love this mountain. Maybe the next time I climb it, I'll get the full extension of the panos!
Getting ready to descend:
We didn't fancy going down Creag Mainnrichean (up was hairy enough!) so we started the descent south into Coire Dubh. Somehow, half way down our group split in two, the front half continued straight down across boggy and slippery, but reasonable ground. The tail half preferred to circle around the buttress to pick the original path. Just a bit of mess-up in planning, I only made sure that Kevin was in the same group as me (he had the car keys!). In the end, the Fearsome Five made all the way down safely - and we were first back to the car park!
Loch Carron:
Down the wet ground:
Regrouping
Fearsome Five tackle the steepest part of the descent (on heather, so it wasn't too bad):
Lovely afternoon:
Kevin and me lingered behind again, taking advantage of better light for photos. I must say, this side of FT is quite interesting.
2016-04-09 walkhighland 058 by Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
The South Cliffs:
Steep...
Steeper...
Kevin and rarely photographed Allt a'Mhuillin waterfall:
Impressive:
2016-04-09 walkhighlands 093 by Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
We crossed the railway, climbed over a couple of fences and eventually reached the road - hoooray!
All right, almost 7 hours, but who cares! We had fantastic time and I would like to thank all the fellow walkers for accepting us into the group, even if we spent too much time lingering at the end of the line
We didn't wait for the second part of the group as it was already 5 pm and we still needed to go pitch our tent. We drove to Sands campsite - what a fantastic place to spend the camping night... If only it wasn't so cold
My poor not-fully recovered knee kept sending me messages all night
This tent is only good for car camping and we need a new, light one for tackling Ladhar Bheinn etc. but I like our old tent, it's very spacious and easy to pitch:
Views from the dunes:
Skye on the horizon:
2016-04-10 walkhighlands 015 by Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
The best was yet to come, as we walked from the campsite to the hostel for the evening meet and quiz! It was great to meet so many Walkhighlanders in person! Apologies to all those whom I didn't speak to, but with so many people in the room I got a bit confused!
The quiz was a good laugh!
After the quiz, most folks still stayed up and chatted, but I was falling asleep, having started so early in the morning... Maybe I'm getting too old for drinking and partying
Many thanks again to the WH community for having us and tolerating the meowing one
Hopefully next meet will be just as much fun if not better and may the weather gods smile at us in July!
.................
We're leaving tomorrow for the land of adventures (mostly sausages, gingerbreads, pierogi and other delicacies), so I wish you all good weather and many happy summits in the next couple of weeks. I promise I'll be back to meow even more on Scottish mountains very soon!
but due to our journey to Poland I'm really short on time. So please forgive me, for this report will consist mostly of photos. Kevin had to work on Friday and because he finished late, there was no point to go to Sands campsite on Friday evening (unless we fancied pitching the tent in pitch dark
). So we only came to Gairloch YH on Sat morning (4:30 wake up time, arghhhhh!) and immediately got caught up with the atmosphere of the meet. The hill planned for the group was Fuar Tholl. We had done it before, but honestly there's very little new stuff left for us in Torridon... The Nose would do. The first time we did it we saw nothing due to clag, maybe the second time would be luckier...To start with it didn't look like it, our happy group, led by Rod and Martin, walked up the road to the station in pouring rain.
Our route (drawn as Kevin forgot to switch on his GPS in all that WH madness):
The rain thinned as we climbed up the stone path but the cloud still lingered...
Me and Rod "the legends" as he said
Happy Kevin in the mist:
2016-04-09 walkhighland 002 by Ewa Dalziel, on FlickrA lot of time was spent photographing and posing for photos:
As we reached the river crossing, Martin was eager to test his special boot protecting thingies
Here comes the full photo documentary of his crossing!Getting ready...
2016-04-09 walkhighland 010 by Ewa Dalziel, on FlickrThe first step into water...
Testing the grip...
The hairy moment half way across!
He made it, hooray!
The rest of the group struggled a bit, some folks adapting the "close to nature" method
Once across the river, we continued up the path, with generous breaks for undressing
The cloud began to lift and at last we could see the splendid scenery around:
BP filming:
Hey ho, hey ho, up Fuar Tholl we go!
Not up this side, of course...
The mist lingered on over the tops...
The Wellington's Nose and the steep cliffs of FT:
From the highest point on the col we left the path and pushed straight up Creag Mainnrichean. No photos, as it started snowing heavily and we could see zilch!
It was a hairy scramble up the rocky slope, in dry summer conditions it would be nothing but with sticky, slushy snow everywhere, well, it was a different matter. Eventually, we made it all to the ridge and up Mainreachan Buttress, where Mountain Thyme was very disappointed when I told her this wasn't the summit just yet
The cloud was lifting again and we could actually see the top from where we were standing, just a short stroll away...
The final push:
Kevin and me lingered behind to take more photos:
The Nose from near the summit:
When the happy team reached the summit, it was time to have lunch...
...and pose for group photos:
Views from the summit were a bit limited by clag, but still splendid. I absolutely love this mountain. Maybe the next time I climb it, I'll get the full extension of the panos!
Getting ready to descend:
We didn't fancy going down Creag Mainnrichean (up was hairy enough!) so we started the descent south into Coire Dubh. Somehow, half way down our group split in two, the front half continued straight down across boggy and slippery, but reasonable ground. The tail half preferred to circle around the buttress to pick the original path. Just a bit of mess-up in planning, I only made sure that Kevin was in the same group as me (he had the car keys!). In the end, the Fearsome Five made all the way down safely - and we were first back to the car park!
Loch Carron:
Down the wet ground:
Regrouping
Fearsome Five tackle the steepest part of the descent (on heather, so it wasn't too bad):
Lovely afternoon:
Kevin and me lingered behind again, taking advantage of better light for photos. I must say, this side of FT is quite interesting.
2016-04-09 walkhighland 058 by Ewa Dalziel, on FlickrThe South Cliffs:
Steep...
Steeper...
Kevin and rarely photographed Allt a'Mhuillin waterfall:
Impressive:
2016-04-09 walkhighlands 093 by Ewa Dalziel, on FlickrWe crossed the railway, climbed over a couple of fences and eventually reached the road - hoooray!
All right, almost 7 hours, but who cares! We had fantastic time and I would like to thank all the fellow walkers for accepting us into the group, even if we spent too much time lingering at the end of the line
We didn't wait for the second part of the group as it was already 5 pm and we still needed to go pitch our tent. We drove to Sands campsite - what a fantastic place to spend the camping night... If only it wasn't so cold
My poor not-fully recovered knee kept sending me messages all night This tent is only good for car camping and we need a new, light one for tackling Ladhar Bheinn etc. but I like our old tent, it's very spacious and easy to pitch:
Views from the dunes:
Skye on the horizon:
2016-04-10 walkhighlands 015 by Ewa Dalziel, on FlickrThe best was yet to come, as we walked from the campsite to the hostel for the evening meet and quiz! It was great to meet so many Walkhighlanders in person! Apologies to all those whom I didn't speak to, but with so many people in the room I got a bit confused!
The quiz was a good laugh!
After the quiz, most folks still stayed up and chatted, but I was falling asleep, having started so early in the morning... Maybe I'm getting too old for drinking and partying
Many thanks again to the WH community for having us and tolerating the meowing one
Hopefully next meet will be just as much fun if not better and may the weather gods smile at us in July!.................
We're leaving tomorrow for the land of adventures (mostly sausages, gingerbreads, pierogi and other delicacies), so I wish you all good weather and many happy summits in the next couple of weeks. I promise I'll be back to meow even more on Scottish mountains very soon!
...you tower over Rod in one of the photos too 
