Beinn a'Chlaidheimh and Sgurr Ban
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2016 10:35 pmFive of us - David, David, Rob, Liz and myself - did this walk on 16 April 2016, beginning from the Shenevall bothy.
The weather was mixed - sunshine, snow, sleet, light hail - though in fact the weather was better than forecast, with light wind only, and no buffeting. There was ice on top of the ridge and summits, and in places I had to cut steps with my ice axe, but we all managed fine without crampons.
Due to the fresh snow, some of us [i.e. me] not being hill fit, and time spent navigating the bog this walk in front of Beinn Dearg More and Loch Na Sealga, this walk took much longer than would be expected under Naismith's Rule! We left the bothy just before 10, and returned over 10 hours later...
In truth, the snow possibly speeded us as much as it slowed us: from the summit of Stob Ban there was some fun sledging to be had, and I got in some good, (mostly) controlled practice of my ice axe arrest technique.
We saw deer, and eagles - or the same eagle three times - and on the drive up to Dundonnell had seen wild goats too. I think I heard a peewit too.
We got back to the bothy in near darkness, to cook up a supper of supernoodles and frankfurters; and because it was my birthday on the Monday (today!) we shared prosecco and a squashed ginger cake lit up with dyscalculic candles. Both nights there were a total of 7 of us (+ one very well behaved red setter) in the bothy, so plenty of space. I was only just warm enough in my Tundra -5 sleeping bag; Liz was the only one to have a toasty night's sleep in her bag with its comfort level down to -26'.
While never again will I attempt to carry 18kg of luggage 7km in from Corrie Hallie to the bothy, it was a truly unforgettable excursion.
The weather was mixed - sunshine, snow, sleet, light hail - though in fact the weather was better than forecast, with light wind only, and no buffeting. There was ice on top of the ridge and summits, and in places I had to cut steps with my ice axe, but we all managed fine without crampons.
Due to the fresh snow, some of us [i.e. me] not being hill fit, and time spent navigating the bog this walk in front of Beinn Dearg More and Loch Na Sealga, this walk took much longer than would be expected under Naismith's Rule! We left the bothy just before 10, and returned over 10 hours later...
In truth, the snow possibly speeded us as much as it slowed us: from the summit of Stob Ban there was some fun sledging to be had, and I got in some good, (mostly) controlled practice of my ice axe arrest technique.
We saw deer, and eagles - or the same eagle three times - and on the drive up to Dundonnell had seen wild goats too. I think I heard a peewit too.
We got back to the bothy in near darkness, to cook up a supper of supernoodles and frankfurters; and because it was my birthday on the Monday (today!) we shared prosecco and a squashed ginger cake lit up with dyscalculic candles. Both nights there were a total of 7 of us (+ one very well behaved red setter) in the bothy, so plenty of space. I was only just warm enough in my Tundra -5 sleeping bag; Liz was the only one to have a toasty night's sleep in her bag with its comfort level down to -26'.
While never again will I attempt to carry 18kg of luggage 7km in from Corrie Hallie to the bothy, it was a truly unforgettable excursion.