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I'd attempted to climb Liathach a few days earlier but after taking 3hrs to swim through powder and only reaching 700m I decided I was too tired to carry on and headed back down, especially when it looked like the tops were in cloud, I wasn't sure of how much snow there was on top and it was my first time so route finding may have been a problem. But on the plus side I'd seen a good sunrise
So this time I tried again and reached the same spot in just over 1hr, also someone else had been up as well so the route up was much easier
On reaching the summit of Spidean a Choire Leith I could then see what lay ahead and was feeling quietly confident that I could tackle the pinnacles and with the added bonus that someone had been across so the footprints in the snow would hopefully guide me along
I tried to stay on the crest as much as possible but was not comfortable with some of the down climbs and back tracked every now and then to take the bypass path lower down. Even those paths are exposed and certainly let you know that your alive as you feel your heart pounding
I was so glad the footprints guided me along because otherwise I wouldn't have believed there was a route around some places but eventually I was through the worst and heading for Mullach an Rathain feeling pretty chuffed
I resisted the temptation to play on the ice on the way down, I think I'd had enough fun for one day
All that was left was to get back to the road and hope some kind soul would offer me a lift back to the car but alas it was not to be
So ended a cracking 10 days out on the hills with an overnight stop at the Clachaig then home the next day.
