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After being a member here for a while, and using the website regularly, thought it was about time I contributed to the cause! So here lies my first report...
After setting off from Ayrshire at 5.45am (on a day off!!!), it was off to Glasgow first to pick up my friend, then on to Invervar for about 8.45am. Left the car park for 9ish and set off clockwise aiming for Carn Gorm first. After about 20 minutes it became apparent my new boots were going to tear my heels to shreds (more on that later), but after stopping to tape them up it was onwards and upwards...
- First sight of Carn Gorm
The next mistake of the day was losing my hoody somewhere on the way up Carn Gorm (if anyone finds it - black Ayr RFC - let me know!), but luckily between us we had plenty of layers to go round, plus I seem to maintain an inhumanely warm and sweaty body temperature no matter how cold it is outside.
- Creag Mhor and the misty valley below
- Practising the old self arrest
After reaching the top of Carn Gorm in around 2 hours, we stopped for some food and to take in the views. Definitely one of the clearest days I've been up the hills anyway!
- Ben Lawers (I think)
Next it was off to Meall Garbh, and its unsightly cairn was clearly in view as I put my crampons on (first time with proper ones) and set off down the flank of Carn Gorm. It soon became apparent they weren't required as Cameron set off sliding on his rear and made it down in about a quarter of the time I did... oh well. Took about 1 hour to get to the cairn itself, where we found the summit strangely clear of snow. Must have blown off?
- Meall Garbh cairn
The next part was a bit of a slog, with another Munro worthy summit at over 1000m (but not actually a Munro, presumably due to its proximity to Carn Mairg) and a fair few ups and downs. Great views though, and got to see Schiehallion, which had been a whiteout when I'd been up there a couple of months ago.
- Schiehallion
Once atop Carn Mairg we stopped for some more food and tried to rest my feet in preparation for the last ascent of the day.
- Icy view from Carn Mairg
After picking our way down the fairly steep face of Carn Mairg (looked a lot steeper looking back at it!) we dragged ourselves down to the bottom of Creag Mhor for one final push. By this time the previously hard snow had begun to melt slightly so the going was tougher, but we knew we only had one more to go. Once up on the summit it was one last rest before heading down after a hard but rewarding day's climb.
- Creag Mhor - final summit of the day
- View along Creag Mhor summit ridge
The descent was fairly uneventful, and it was a relief to get the crampons off and do some glissading! Got to the car park about 5.20 just as the sun was setting...
- Sunset at the car park
Hope you've enjoyed reading my first report on here, and my pics too! Here's one final one for you to 'enjoy'...
- A bit stingy!
...lesson learned, don't wear new boots for the first time on a 4 Munro day!