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Had a Burns supper last Friday and the meal didn't quite agree with me so I was feeling a bit under the weather on Saturday and fretting about whether and what I could climb in Sunday's forecast fine weather; a climb out of and back into bed I thought at one point.
So I went through the motions of planning a hill on Saturday whilst not really feeling like walking but felt I still had to do this because I would likely be feeling better come Sunday morning. Still, the under-the-weatherness had me taking the precaution of looking for something undemanding. And so I decided on Enaiglair because it is a relatively short drive and I could start gaining height as soon as I left the road. I had also considered Ban Mor north of Loch Glascarnoch but with the longer walk in I might have my defeated my purpose of catching the early light plus there had also been an option three in Beinn Bheag south west of Braemore but I knew that was way too long for what might be a day of soft snow but still noted for the near future.
An afternoon walk would perhaps have made more sense in terms of allowing for shaking off the grogginess but for practical purposes an early morning start wins; no sitting in traffic, a happier other half because I get home at a reasonable hour, prospect of a sunrise with scope to extend the walk if desired etc. Well that is how I rationalise it though I realise there are some downsides.
Got a decent if short sleep then was up and away by 4.15am, the latest I thought I could leave and still catch the early morning light if not the sunrise.
As I got towards the end of Loch Glascarnoch in the half light at 7am I had a change of heart about where to walk. I had often admired the roadside view across the loch and in to Ben Dearg and Cona' Mheall and it occurred to me that an elevated prospect of the same could be even finer plus there was a longish looking ridge behind me that might afford that imagined view. I didn't know what I was looking at name-wise but I could discern a route up and it looked like it would be a straight forward walk so I parked, got changed and got walking.
It was 7.40am by the time I started though so I thought I'd left it too late for the sunrise but I did harbour hopes of Ben Dearg and Cona' Mheall being lit up appropriately as the sky was fairly clear, the last of the disheartening drizzle having been left behind at Garve.
My pan was basically to head directly west through the trees and then to cut south once above the tree line. A little boggy in places but overall not bad going. One deer fence gate to climb and one deer fence to climb. Thereafter it was a straightforward stomp through the heather and snow with very good views opening up north, east and south but with the west bound by the Fainnichs.
Interesting light to start with; greys and whites of the snow clad tops backed by the faintest of pink skies mixed in with grey cloud, this gradually giving way to the first fiery bursts of a darker rosy pink hitting the summits and cornices. This wasn't actual sunrise colours though as the first direct sunlight had been delayed by banks of cloud to the south and east. This had though given some bonus time for getting near to the top of Meall Daimh in time to catch the best of the light.
Couldn't have worked out better in the circumstances. It wasn't that I didn't know which way to look but each of AnTeallach, Ben Dearg and Cona' Mheall seemed to be screaming for attention and trying to outdo each other. An Teallach was losing though as it quickly acquired a cloud cap that obscured its initially roaring forge, then Ben Dearg held the stage as its grand half dome became lit like a beacon but soon it too had to give way as the sharp edge of Cona' Mheall's south west ridge was thrown into relief. Or fairer to say that they now shared the top billing. The closer at hand Fainnichs perhaps lost out by virtue of that very proximity; too close up for a proper appreciation or maybe relatively lacking in aesthetic appeal.
Was this the magic hour? I suppose so though it felt like a continuum of magic minutes.
Anyway I, in rather less splendid form than the light, also hit a top eventually. I didn't light it up but I had at least got there soon after the sun had got above the banks of cloud to the south. By now though the colours were whites and blues but with a sparkle off the snow.
I walked south to try to get a better view across the loch but this didn't really work. I just seemed to get a more distant version of the same view. Still pretty good though.
I could have then headed south west to Beinn Liath Mhor a' Ghiubhais Li to extend the walk but I think that would have been something of an anti-climax so I made do with the short walk and light show I'd had.
I got back to the car after three and a half hours of walking and thought that was that, time to head home. However it took me another hour to reach the east end of Loch Glascarnoch such was its appeal today. Been past hundreds of times but never seen it look quite so beautiful, the surface the most mirror like I have seen there.
DSC04762 by
John Little, on Flickr
Ben Dearg's cloud-topped half-dome in the grey half-light.
DSC04773 by
John Little, on Flickr
Dear and Cona' Mheall in the subtle pre-dawn light.
DSC04780 by
John Little, on Flickr
What is that leviathan.
DSC04790 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC04795 by
John Little, on Flickr
An Teallach.
DSC04815 by
John Little, on Flickr
The light hits the gloom on the grey.
DSC04809 by
John Little, on Flickr
Spellbound.
DSC04825 by
John Little, on Flickr
The fire going out but still glowing.
DSC04847 by
John Little, on Flickr
Rosy pink turns to white.
DSC04848 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC04851 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC04861 by
John Little, on Flickr
A more glaring white now but with reflections in Loch Coire Lair.
DSC04865 by
John Little, on Flickr
Looking back south east along Loch Glascarnoch.
DSC04878 by
John Little, on Flickr
The angles of Cona' Mheall.
DSC04879 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC04883 by
John Little, on Flickr
Loch Glascarnoch again and a now clear Ben Wyvis.
DSC04885 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC04897 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC04898 by
John Little, on Flickr
From the farthest south point.
DSC04904 by
John Little, on Flickr
About turn and a very mild manifestation of the red dots that plague my camera when pointed anywhere near the sun.
DSC04916 by
John Little, on Flickr
An Teallach now cloud free.
DSC04918 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC04919 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC04920 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC04926 by
John Little, on Flickr
Beinn Dearg Mor.
DSC04929 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC04939 by
John Little, on Flickr
On the way down.
DSC04940 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC04943 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05003 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05008 by
John Little, on Flickr
There's that cloud bank on the horizon that gave me extra time before first light.
DSC05009 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05010 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05012 by
John Little, on Flickr
Took me another hour to drive the five mile length of Loch Glascarnoch.
DSC05052 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05055 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05063 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05073 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05076 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05080 by
John Little, on Flickr
View of An Teallach.
DSC05083 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05084 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05085 by
John Little, on Flickr
DSC05087 by
John Little, on Flickr
