Fisherfield,fail,but no regrets.

[gammy leg walker]

The time,distance and accent is only from bothy to bothy.....Fisherfield the great Wilderness,this was the challenge a few brave souls set out to conquer over the weekend of Aug 10/11/12.The plan,Corrie Hallie to Shenevall Friday 10th Aug,6 munros at Fisherfield Saturday 11/th Aug,Shenevall to Corrie Hallie Sunday 12th Aug.
Alan S.......Rocket-Ron.....Jonny 616......Savage Alice......Gammy Leg Walker.....& JB Likes a Beer,sadly the weekend for jb never got started,work got in the way at the last min and now we were down to 5.Me,Jonny & Alan S,met at mines & drove up to meet R.R & S.A at Corrie Hallie,got there around 4.45pm and started walking around 5pm,The 8k walk in is stunning,if anyone gets the chance,even to walk to Shenevall and walk back out, do not hesitate it is truly an amazing walk,it has some of the best views I have or ever will see anywhere.There was no need to rush,so we didnt,a nice easy stroll in the early evening sunshine took us the best part of 3hrs.
Shenevall was a busy place,Ron and Alice managed to grab the last 2 empty areas of floor space,so Alan,Jonathan & me pitched the 2 Vangos,dumped the gear,then went in to sample "bothy life"an alien world to me,but amusing none the less.Jonny,bless his soul had carried in half bottle of Jura,and a 6 pack of beer that refreshes parts other beers cant reach ( no wonder your pack was heavy ) Ron had a 2 litre bottle of "leg openers",Strongbow Cider to those who wondered what that was.A fine crack was had by all made even better watching two German walkers wrestling with their stove for 2hrs trying to get the thing to work,so much for German engineering,Vorch Sprung Derch Technique is was not,in the end RR took pity on them and offered his jetboil,a few beers,a fine crack,and then to bed,big day tomorrow.
Everyone up and ready for the off by 5.30am the next day,erm apart from me,got up fine,but it went down hill from there on in,not sure what went wrong just felt grim,not what I wanted,full marks to my comrades,plenty of encouragement got me on my way,but things did not look good,all I can do now is see what goes down.After the walk in I did not think the views could get any better,I was wrong,so wrong,stunning,just stunning,not a cloud to be seen,blue sky all around,great everything is perfect,and I feel s***e.The views walking along the glen took your breath away,the views onto the mountains better if thats possible,the company brilliant.
Now for the first climb of the day,for me it was brutal 850m of accent,the worst thing on my part was I was holding everyone back,everyone trying to keep me going,c"mon big man the views on the summit will be worth it,so we plodded on,and they were right,the views on the top blew me away,how can one area have so much stunning scenery that gets better the more you see,awesome,just awesome,we reached summit no one in over 4 hrs(not good) already behind schedule,20min break for food,water and pictures,I know I need to eat,so force down a roll on cheese and a power gel thingy,jeez power gel thingy,how can anyone take these,said to jonny its kill or cure time for me,well I"m still here,but it did not cure me,to make matters worse I could see Ron begining to get a wee shade impaitent,so had a wee chat with him and said,look mate,get yourself going no need for me to hold you back anymore,no Willie,c"mon you can do this,so off we set,a steep drop down to the bealach,followed by an easy walk across the ridge,and then the climb to Sgurr Ban................FFs.................that boulder field,it did for me good and proper,found this brutal,Ron,Alice,Alan way,way ahead,but jonny kept me company,we took turns at leading,trying to keep a slow but sure pace,but for me it was done and I new it sometimes its not your day,sometimes you need to know your limits,today I had reached mine,eventually reached summit number two,with only Alice & Alan on the summit,Ron had taken my advice and walked on ( ron you made the right call mate ),just like I made the right call today.Spoke to Alan & Alice,"look,my days done,no need for me to spoil your day,please keep walking,and thanks for getting me this far".Jonny had also called it a day,the boulder field had done for him also,plus we were now a good 2 & a half hours behind our schedule with know way of making this up.
Alan wisnae happy with this,but they eventually walked on,the new plan was for them to climb the next two and then see how it went,for Jonny and me it was a 30 min break and then find a route back down,this we did,but it still took us the best part of another 6hrs to reach the bothy.
Do I have any regrets,none at all,it had been an amazing day,we took our time dropping from Sgur Ban down to the lochan,had a long break here,got the boots & socks of,sunk the feet in the lochan and just soaked in the scenery,it wont get much better than this.
The walk out,was just an easy stroll,no need to push now,lots of daylight,just soak it all in..............and then we hear this whistle............... ......its Ron......where did he come from,from just doing the full 6 thats where...............13 hrs for the lot. RESPECT,he looks a broken man,but plans to walk back out tonight and head home,so after sayiny our goodbye"s its just a waiting game now for Alice & Alan,so we wait and wait and wait,8pm.......9pm.......10pm,getting worried now,both have plenty experience,plenty food,water,kit,maps,gps,satmap,but its still a worry,a few folk at the bothy are talking to us,and one fella is part of Dundonell MRT,telling us not to worry,then up valley 2 lights appear,jeez thats a fine site we watch them all the way down,and then 2 or 3 hundred meters from the bothy they stop and are greeted by some other campers where they stop,this is not good,more worry for Jonny & me,and so the wait goes on.....11pm comes and goes,the MRT guy,says,nowt we can do tonight,but first thing,I will walk out and raise the alarm....................then way,way up we see another to torches,but who can it be,we ask if anyone in the bothy is waiting for fellow walkers,anyone not accounted for all say no,please let this be Alice and Alan,we watch them getting nearer,it takes for ever,but finally they arrive,,,,,,,,,,,,,over 19hrs........6 munros.....what an effort...............RESPECT TO BOTH and man its the best I have felt all day,a brilliant end to an amazing weekend,thanks to everyone.

[gammy leg walker]

Some more pictures,hope you dont mind.

[Bod]

No regrets gammy, that's the way ! Amazing to get in there, have some bothy fun at Shenavall, climb two munros and be greeted with some glorious weather. Well done all with your achievements

(I think it's time for me now to start looking at this area seriously. Been putting it off for two long!)

[iainwatson]

well done on bagging the two,they are a big task without going any further and you made a good descision that enough was enough-no point pushing on and ruining the experience of a beautiful area,

love the pictures and you've got the excuse to go back and enjoy the fantastic scenery again

[basscadet]

Oh sorry you didn't make it.. I think turning back takes a lot more courage so hats off to you..

On the up side, sounds like you had a great time, and you definately fgot some cracking pics there..

[monty]

It truly is a remarkable place Willie.Cracking photos. Don't be hard on yourself. Some times we are just not on song. The walk in can take a bit out of you even though it was the night before and you didn't feel great before you started. Top marks to RR, Alice and Alan. On a brighter note, you have now been to Shenavil bothy and bagged two Munros. You can now plan doing the other 4 from Lochivroan bothy

[Scotjamie]

Bags of gritty character there Willie, just to get the two done, and good decision-making. (Was the drop down off Sgurr Ban straightforward?)
Reckon we'll change your handle to 'Game' Leg Walker.
Two more from the Incheril side and two from Poolewe and you can have the best of all worlds
ps - missed all you guys at Braemar

[morag1]

A great weekend, well done to everyone, especially Ron, Alan and Alice for that epic walk

Gammy, I've always believed the Olympic motto - the important thing in life is not the winning, it's the taking part, so well done to you and Johnny for being out there and trying your best. Two Munros is good by anyone's standard

I like the sound of the walk-in to Shenavall, might give it a go one day

[gammy leg walker]

I like the sound of the walk-in to Shenavall, might give it a go one day

Fine walk it is Morag,you can also find the walk on WH.

[gammy leg walker]

[quote="Scotjamie"](Was the drop down off Sgurr Ban straightforward?)

Pretty straight forward Alan,followed the grassy slopes down tp Loch "a Briseadh,then followed the out flow Allt Loch "a Briseadh down and picked up the Abhain Glean na Muice all the way back to Shenevall.

[scoob999]

Gutted for you GLW
But like everyone says, it gives you an excuse to go back again
Well done, great effort

[rockhopper]

You certainly had a rough time of it gammy but well done on achieving the two given all that was going on ! Glad you had a great time nonetheless and you got some great photos to look back on - cheers

[SAVAGEALICE]

Well done on getting a report done Willie
You did so well to get up those 2 big beggers when you clearly weren't on top form. Hats off.
I had no idea how worried you were about me and Alan. That waiting game must have been uncomfortable.
I guess we must have stopped too many times taking in all the views! and Not to mention giving the feet a rest. Jeez they were sore! ..that really is some walk ..spectacular scenery but pretty hardcore ..i think you may have done yourself a favour, by breaking these ones up into seperate trips!
what an experience though. Thanks for letting me come along. Great company. Hope to see you again
Alice

[Gavin99]

Top effort GLW , sounds like you had to work hard for those two , a good and brave decision to call a halt when you did . Now that you know the lie of the land you can look forward to next spring and the other four

Well done all

[soapy27]

Thats an EPIC!!!!