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What do you do if you've booked a trip to the highlands two months in advance and managed to pick the exact dates when a major storm is blowing in? Storm Caroline was forecast to be bringing 90 mph winds and snow on the day I was traveling up and 45 mph winds, snow and -8 Celsius temperatures with a -20 windchill the day I was supposed to be walking. I'd originally planned to climb Ben Lui but it didn't seem sensible to be attempting a steep and potentially avalanche prone mountain in stormy conditions. I had no idea what the snow cover was like on Lui, and to even take a look would have involved a long walk up to Cononish. So I opted instead for the easier Munros of Beinn Dubhcraig and Ben Oss. Remarkably, it turned into one of the best days I've ever had in the highlands
Coire Dubhcraig by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
I'd decided on a slightly different route to normal, heading up the North East shoulder, which leads directly to the summit.
Beinn Dubhcraig NE shoulder by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Beinn Chuirn by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Up to now, the wind was reasonably light but picked up significantly as I made it onto the shoulder:
Beinn Dubhcraig NE shoulder 2 by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Fiarach by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Spindrift everywhere:
Spindrift by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Beinn Challuim and Tyndrum hills by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
On the summit of Beinn Dubhcraig:
Beinn Dubhcraig summit by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Ben Oss from Beinn Dubhcraig by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Ben Lui from Beinn Dubhcraig by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
While descending from Beinn Dubhcraig, conditions started to deteriorate. The Tyndrum hills were now obscured and it was only a matter of time before Ben Oss was gone, too.
Bealach Buidhe by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
The last time I was in the highlands I lost one of my crampons. After getting a new pair I was determined to be more careful this time. While descending from Dubhcraig I noticed the left crampon had come loose. I took my gloves off to sort this out, while casually trapping the gloves with my knee. After I'd re-attached the crampon, one of the gloves escaped and started blowing away. I lunged for it without securing the other glove, and suddenly I was faced with both gloves being blown out of my grasp. Over the next few seconds I made a series of wild dives over the snow and somehow managed to catch both of the gloves. It was a good job. Later I took one off to eat some lunch and by the time I'd eaten a sandwich my right hand was throbbing with pain from the cold. If I'd lost even one glove I would have been forced to descent sharpish.
Beinn Dubhcraig from Ben Oss by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Ben Oss East face by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Ben Oss by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
On the summit of Oss:
Ben Oss summit by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Cruachan range by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Ben Lui from Ben Oss by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Ben Lui from Ben Oss 2 by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Beinn Buidhe looking brutal. It seemed to have an aura of spindrift:
Beinn Buidhe by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Arrochar Alps by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Ben Lomond by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Without really thinking about it, I started descending Oss to the South West, towards Lui. I figured that I could easily return via Coire Laoigh after reached the low point of the bealach between Oss and Lui.
Coire Laoigh from Ben Oss by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Up until now, the wind was just a minor annoyance, but down here it started to get seriously unpleasant. I was getting blasted with spindrift and repeatedly slapped in the face with loose straps from my rucksack.
Ben Oss descent by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
I decided to head straight down into Coire Laoigh, from just before Creag Dhubh a' Bhealaich. It looked a more interesting route and got me out of the wind almost immediately. It was a fairly easy decent, except for a bit of very minor ice climbing at one point:
Coire Laoigh descent by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Ben Lui from Coire Laoigh descent by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Coire Laoigh by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Nanga Parbat:
Ben Lui from Coire Laoigh by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
I'd finished my flask of tea but still had a bottle of water left. It wasn't until I reached for it that it occurred to me that it had been out in -8 degrees for several hours and has almost entirely frozen.
Oh the irony....
Frozen water by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Ben Lui from Coire Laoigh 2 by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
At this point, I caught sight of other walkers for the first time, near the end of the Cononish track. The next time I saw them I realised they were heading up Ben Lui, not down. It was 1.30 pm, so they were leaving it pretty late if they wanted to descent before darkness
Coire Gaothach by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
This is where I completely screwed up. I'd managed to find my way across the Allt Coire Laoigh OK, but forgot about the smaller Allt an Rund. I didn't spend enough time looking for a good crossing point and tried to step across via an unlikely looking red rock submerged under the water. The moment I put my weight on it, I slipped straight off and soaked my left foot.
Ben Lui from Cononish track by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
K2 from Concordia:
Ben Lui from Cononish track 2 by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
Beinn Dubhcriag from Cononish by
the pointless parasite, on Flickr
