A short afternoon on Meall an t-Slamain

[rob munbett]

Opening the curtains in our house in Glenfinnan revealed yet another day of wind and rain. There was an air of disappointment in the group as we had hoped for better. However, come the early afternoon, the skies cleared a bit and I decided to drive along the south side of Loch Eil to Achaphubuil to try a walk up this hill. I started by walking steeply up the track to the mast and trig point at 291m. Initially this track was fine underfoot but there is now a new argo track (shown as a path on OS maps) which is comprised of jagged red stone which has not yet bedded in - on the steeper sections it was rather unstable and on the descent, it was like scree. Anyway, after a bit of huff and puff, I reached the mast and looked over the rough terrain to the south west.

The trig beside the mast looking up the broad ridge

The route was trackless and, after the continuous heavy rain, very boggy. Still, it was dry and bright by now and I started to enjoy the walk and the views.

Looking along Loch Eil

However, there were many ups and downs and several high points which seemed as if they were going to be the summit but weren't and I started to enjoy the plod a bit less.

Looking over to what I thought was the summit

Finally, the real summit comes into view

Eventually, though, the final cairn was reached and I felt some satisfaction about getting myself out there despite the poor conditions.

The summit cairn and The Ben

I descended to the car by the route of ascent.

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