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Boom, a 7 day week at work done so it's time to hit the hills again. My mind had been made up to finish off the Glen Lochy hills, 2 Munros and 1 Corbett it should be ok.
I filled up the car for another expensive trip to do my free hobby and off I went. An uneventful drive to the carpark where there already was 1 other car and a campervan parked up.
A very friendly Chaffinch in the car park asking for crumbs.
Just after leaving the car park there's a mile of road to cover to get to the old car park, it's good for stretching the legs.
The old car parking area.
The first part of the walk is up this very bust privet road...
Looking down Glen Lochy towards the rain
Looking up Glen Lochy to the sun
This pipe runs right across the Glen, ugly but impressive.
The sun trying to come out, here's hoping!
The walk along the hydro track is long and it didn't help, pretty depressing. I'm sure my feeling would have been different if I could see the tops of the hills around me and if I didn't have to watch the walls of rain approach me blasting straight into my face
I kept walking, very slowly, like a kid being dragged bra shopping his mother. I did get to the last gate before heading up to the hill. I took sometime to make up my mind about actually climbing the hill. I had forgotten my maps (this walk is split over 2 maps) and the hills were covered in clag and the weather was now pretty shocking. I was already starting to get soaked but as I turned to head back to the car I could see another walker coming along the road. This filled me with a little confidence, knowing there was going to be another walker on the hill was enough for me to change my mind. So off the hill I went.
The fist part of the walk is steep but we all know steep = height gained fast.
Another shower just passed so I got the phone out for a quick picture before the next one.
Hitting the wall. I just worked my way around it being carful on those slippery rocks, avoiding them where I could. I could see the other walker not far below me so I gave him a wave and ploughed on.
Another shower and a decent looking waterfall coming off Creag Bhudhe. The wind had really picked up to uncomfortable levels and the rain was swirling around me. Thanks to MWIS for their forecast...wind effect on you 'little'
Looking into a wet Coire Cheathaich. At this point the other walker was right behind me and we chatted for a bit. I told him that I didn't have my maps and he offered to walk the walk with me.
The guy was parked up in the car park in his campervan having spent the night there and would be spending another night as well
As we walked on up the hill chatting away we were getting battered by the wind and the noise from my pack cover flapping in the wind was giving me a mental problems, I'll be investing in a dry sack very soon! However on a positive the cloud was lifting above us so we were hoping for a cloud free summit...MWIS gave us a 20% chance
John from Durham. Can anybody tell me what this structure is?
At the summit cairn. It didn't feel like it took that long to get here from the gate where you start the climb proper. We didn't linger on the top long. This was the coldest I've ever been at a summit of a hill. My legs were soaked and the water was running down my left leg into my boot...
John announced that he may just exit the walk once off Creag Mhor, his decision was weather dependent.
We were unlucky to miss out on a cloud free summit so off we headed trying to get out of the wind and avoid falling off the side of the hill, it might be fun to pick your way up or down these crags on a nice day.
The route off makes the distance to cover between the 2 hills longer than you'd it would be. It was wet on the surface of course but the ground was soggy thank goodness so the going wasn't that bad.
The weather wasn't improving...this was my first decent view of Beinn Heasgarnich. The photo doesn't do the size of the hill justice. All I could think about was how the bloody hell am I gonna get up that
But in the mean time I had the ground to cover
Why couldn't that sunshine be shinning on me right now? I'll even take the rain dying out for a while...
...and just like that, the rain wet off. We just need that thin blanket of cloud to lift.
John decided to continue the walk. He had travelled up from Durham for a 3 day trip to bag a few Munro in the area so he wasn't ready to give up.
We had a bite to eat before starting the long steep climb up all the time hoping the break in the weather holds for the next few hours. A wee break form the climb to get a good look back across to Creag Mhor which now was clear of cloud, typical!
The cloud had lifted. It doesn't take a lot to give a sodden hill walker a moral boost but a lengthy break in the rain with the added bonus of a cloud free summit. Lets get moving!
Once the steepest part of the hill is over there's a fair amount of 'flat' ground to cover before reaching the summit. It's a lot longer than it looks.
Durham John taking a peak at the now increasingly extensive views, I think he was checking out the hill he had planned to walk the next day, Sgiath Chuil I think.
Just a quick shot back over to the now clag free munro tops...I guess I should have left it 6 hours before starting the walk
After arriving at the summit I got a view to my next target of the day. A busy looking Corbett called Meall nan Subh, it wasn't the most inviting looking hill but it's needing done. This would be the last hill for me to do in Glen Lochy.
Looking down onto an empty looking Loch Lyon with Beinn Mhanach rising above it.
The summit cairn on Beinn Heasgarnich was pretty big, it was a surprise to me because there's not a lot of loose rocks laying around in the immediate area.
We made our way off the summit in a series of steep drops keeping sure not to allow our selves to drift to far down the hill. We were heading straight for the Corbett. John wasn't going to walk that hill with me but he had given me a printed out map for that hill.
As we walked long chatting about various thing the big vote was obviously mentioned and we had a brief discussion about it without letting each other know what we were voting. He predicted the outcome and how his area was going to vote. I should have asked him to pick my lotto numbers!
As we made our way over, up, down around and through the hellish terrain I almost crushed this little beauty. A young Stonechat??
It didn't seem the least bit bothered we were there.
Once you've crossed the long long long streach of boggy ground you get to so close to the road but then blocked by this fence. I was pretty tired but not whooped, I was fairly pleased with my fitness so far. We jumped the fence and crossed the plantation towards the gate in the corner which turned out to be locked so over it we went. The road was metres away and was a welcome sight. It was late in the day. The walk took longer than expected and it didn't leave me anytime to do the Corbett, a pity as I felt up to it.
After a short distance along the road we noticed how the fence looped back on it's self to head back to the gate, bugger! When you get to the fence just walk along it to the right
The road allowed for some quick walking and we bombed along then down the hill above us was a massive bird. It was a Golden bloody eagle. What an incredible beast the shear size of it was very impressive. I was impressed
I thought it was a great end to the walk and I was chuffed to have spotted the bird that may have dropped the feather I found on my last walk in this Glen.
BUT
That Eagle proved not to be the highlight of my walk...a large white/grey bird was flying above in the plantation opposite Kenknock. There was something about the way it moved and swerved, it was turning on a sixpence. It was only a
effin ' Male Hen Harrier'. We watched it for a bit before in disappeared into the trees somewhere. Within 180 degrees of my field of vision there was a Golden Eagle and a Hen Harrier, brilliant. John was cursing himself for not taking his binoculars
Back at the car it was a case of getting changed as fast as I could before the dreaded midge hordes set about me. I struggled more changing my clothes than I did on the actual walk and as a result I had my ankles and shins totally devastated with midge bites, 3 days later they are still giving me problems
John had a nice cosy campervan to ready himself in