Base camp at Glenuaig Lodge - Walk 1

[Dubh Linn]

With an exam coming up and a list of remote munros remaining, we booked ourselves into Glenuaig Lodge for 4 nights to allow for some revision time after walking. The first evening was lovely, with great views of Maoile Lunndaidh from the windows. I was almost tempted to set off and climb it immediately. Around 30 deer came down to graze around the lodge around 21:30 and all was well.

The plan for Walk 1 was to traverse Sgurr Choinnich, Sgurr a'Chaorachain and then attempt Maoile Lunndaidh, which would bring us back to the cottage. We awoke to a wet day.

Walking away from our cosy home.

It was an easy stroll along the track to the rope bridge over the river. However, the top rope was very slack and it was not possible to cross it. It was a bit of a detour to the lower bridge so it was boots and socks off, rucksacks undone, trousers rolled up and a quick wade across holding onto the lower wire. It wasn't too deep or slippery or even very cold, thankfully. It was then a steep schlep up the new track in the pouring rain. Lovely! We arrived at Bealach Bhearnais quickly enough feeling a bit discouraged by the weather.

Soggy terrain

It was an enjoyable climb up Sgurr Choinnich, with a few rock bands to negotiate.

The clouds were swirling around and we had glimpses of views but it was still raining hard and I was getting irritated with the persistent rain.

There wasn't much of a view from the top!

It cleared a little as we descended to give views across to Loch Monar and outline the route to Sgurr a'Chaorachain,

By the time we reached our second summit the urge to continue had been washed away.

Sgurr a'Chaorachain summit

We descended the mainly grassy slopes of Sròn na Frianich.

It was getting very wet underfoot so we left the ridge to descend steeply down towards the plantation by the track. There were plenty of deer tracks to follow making the going a little easier. As we hit the river pretty much at the watershed it was quite straightforward to jump across.

We arrived back at the lodge dripping wet on the outside but dry enough inside and with dry feet too (thanks Altberg). It was great to walk through the door into a lovely warm, large boot room with plenty of space to hang all our wet gear. The lodge has its own hydroelectric system so we were able to put all the rain to good use - it had generated plenty of heat for drying our kit and provided nice hot showers.

[Phil the Hill]

Interesting! I still have these hills to do, and driving in and staying in a holiday cottage sounds a nice alternative to biking in and wild camping, particularly if the weather is like you had.