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Another beautiful morning and a weather window not be missed... A fairly late start today after the five Fannaichs of the day before and the 400 mile drive that went with it...
So just a 100 miles today to Fort William to pop up Carn Mor Dearg...
Couldn't resist stopping on the way to take a snap of Rannoch Moor; this is where Scotland really begins...
- Rannoch Moor...
And it's followed by the Buch; there's no finer country than Scotland I swear it...
- The Buch...
We're soon at the North Face Car Park; and pretty much set straight off... It's a decent wee climb out of the forest and Scraggles is off at a pace; punishing me for the Fannaichs clearly!! It's going to be hot work today but we only stop for two mini breaks on the ascent of Carn Mor Dearg... Mainly to take on fluids as we're sweating a lot...
- Scraggles on the Ascent...
The views of the North Face get better and better with height... I've not seen it before; so am excited... Is this where mountaineering all began? My mind wonders to the sheer mass of it; the steepness of it; and the many many people that have sadly lost their lives to it...
- Me on the Approach Ridge...
The snow firms up around 200 metres (height wise) from the summit and so it's on with the crampons...
- The Approach Ridge...
And before long the summit is in sight...
- Carn Mor Dearg Summit...
We stop for a few shots and take our time on this last part as it's just beautiful with the Aonach's off to the left and The North Face to the right...
- Me on the Final Approach...
And finally my first sight of what has to be one of the most iconic views in Scotland; or indeed the world of mountaineering... The CMD Arete; could it look any better?
- The CMD Arete...
There are climbers all over The North Face... In places I fancy I'll never venture too haha... It's quite a sight though and we spend ages just watching them climb up some extremely challenging bits of rock!
- The North Face...
We have some lunch and just absorb the views...
- Scraggles on the Summit of Carn Mor Dearg...
And look across to Aonach Beag where we'd been a couple of days before...
- Aonach Beag...
And across to the Mamores... I can't wait to walk The Ring of Steall again...
- The Mamores...
We won't be walking the Arete today... It's tempting... Very tempting... But we've a big walk tomorrow; and need to keep something in the tank for it... So after absorbing the views for as long as we choose to; we head off down via the ascent route...
Another gorgeous days with great company; some unbelievable views; and the two of the finest sights in Scotland; The North Face; and the CMD Arete... Superb
- The CMD Arete...
And the stats...
- The Stats...
And the route...