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Three weeks after an unfortunate abdominal injury, Kevin told me he was ready to face the hills again. A bit reluctant to let him out on any Munros, I suggested climbing an easy local Graham, Carn na Coinnich. We had been there before and I described
our previous visit in my blog. Yet it was a good short route for a recovering walker.
Glen Strathconon is one of my favourite local glens, second only to Glen Affric and much quieter, no long cues of tourists and countless cars parked on the verge of the road (when the Affric car park is full). Glen Affric is good in winter and generally out of season, when the "just-visiting-for a few photos" crowds go back home and leave the glen to deer, midges and a few wandering locals
Glen Strathconon is never that busy (maybe due to lack of Munros to climb) and very few people walk the Grahams and Corbetts in this area. But this corner of the Highlands has its special charm and now, on the doorstep of autumn, it is a perfect place for panthers
Because we still were not sure, how much Kevin could do on his first post-injury outing, we didn't plan anything long and original, just a walk to the summit and back the same way. There is a good track almost to the very top and views are nice even from lower down. The only disadvantage of this route at the moment are KEDS. BLOODY KEDS!!! It's purely stalking estate grounds, deer are encouraged to live long and prosper, so no wonder keds are about in abundance.
We parked by a large wooden gate in Bridgend, just before the bridge over River Meig and got booted for the walk - I was eager to stretch my paws!
After about 1km of walking along the estate road, we turned up a rough track and started gaining height. We liked the views across the glen to Sgurr a' Mhuilinn and Meallan nan Uan. We used to come here to Strathconon more often in the first years of our hillwalking together, but recently, obsessed with ticking Munros of the list, we neglected it a bit. it was nice to see the familiar hills again
As I said, the track goes up to the height of 600m:
The track is rough and a bit eroded in places, but generally dry:
Good views from the early stages:
We took a steady pace. Kevin said he could still feel the injury a little but it was much better than the week before. As long as he didn't twist and turn abruptly, he was fine.
Panther enjoying the first touch of autumn:
It didn't take us long to reach the summit area - the trig point is visible from the track:
But before we reached the summit, we had to cross this:
Thankfully, the ocean of peat hags was mostly dry and after a few minutes of hopping and jumping, we climbed the final 70m to the trig point. It was a repeat Graham for us both, but a new one for our wee companion (she celebrated a round number of 75 Grahams climbed!).
It was a nice, sunny afternoon, if a bit breezy and the wind had a chilly edge, but we had plenty of time and agreed, if we had already come up here, we'd stay for some time and enjoy the first touches of autumn.
Kevin posing with the trig:
We're back! Hoooray! Panther in a moment of madness!
Loch Gruamach and the two Corbetts across the glen:
View east with Orrin Reservoir to the right hand side:
The Strathfarrar Munros:
Fannichs zoomed:
Beinn Eighe zoomed:
Liathach zoomed:
Some panoramic snaps:
We sat down by the trig point and enjoyed a hot cup of tea and biscuits, glad to be up on high ground again. Maybe it was just a short outing, but we really needed it. Hillwalking is seriously addicting. Once you've caught the bug, your life will never be the same again!
Back on the track, looking north:
We returned the same way. Kevin was not yet in a shape to prolong the walk by visiting the outlying tops (next time we will for sure). On the way down, we were in a very good mood until we descended about 2/3 the distance. Suddenly, a large swarm of keds attacked us. We spent the rest of the walk plucking them out of our hair, skin and clothes. For the first time in my life, I was bitten by two of these b*****ds. It seems that keds will bite a human if they are desperate enough.
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We returned home and I treated the bitten areas on my arms with antihistamine cream. They turned into red, swollen lumps and itched like mad for five or six days, but as I kept them clean and tried my best not to scratch, they did eventually disappear. Comparing to midge bites, much larger and much more itchy, but I guess, it all comes with the territory
The summer of 2018 was very bad for blood sucking horseflies and it looks like the autumn of 2018 is going to be bad for keds. Hopefully not bloodsucking too often!
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My next story, another step in Kevin's recovery, will see us meeting a pretty Miss Meggy
