I should have been in Glen Etive tackling Ben Starav and co with the usual suspects, though with Sunday being mentioned due to the weather I decided to have a look at something closer to home (If you can call it that) which had decent weather. so I set myself on the Loch Lochy duo. Unfortunately Martin PM'd me as I was leaving to tell me that Saturday was still on (oops
)I arrived at the start point about midnight, had a beer and got my head down.
I was up, organised and ready to go for 8 and headed off down the track.
1st Thing
P1180682 by GaryE1872, on FlickrAs everyone knows it's a pleasant enough stroll along the track and there was a couple of things to keep me company.
Waterfall
P1180683 by GaryE1872, on FlickrI turned right at the wee cairn and made my way up through the forest, where I promptly started blowing out my backside
I promised myself a sit down once I got clear of the trees. Once up I plonked down on the 1st rock I could find and was inside shouting at myself to pull it together. I binned some layers and carried on, my pep talk seemed to work as I found a 2nd wind which was to last all day
I carried on up the path making some good progress and the bealach seemed to be getting nearer.
The Loch's under there somewhere
P1180687 by GaryE1872, on Flickr
P1180688 by GaryE1872, on Flickr
P1180689 by GaryE1872, on FlickrLike when I was on the Grey Corries last week there were a few stags roaring, except this time it sounded like they were right next to me and what an amazing racket.
Soon I was on the Bealach and I had a decision, left or right, I opted for right and away I went. The zig zag path is a big help and really takes the sting out of the ascent (and descent)
Some deer
P1180692 by GaryE1872, on FlickrThis is like some horror film, the fog's following me
P1180693 by GaryE1872, on Flickr
P1180697 by GaryE1872, on Flickr
P1180698 by GaryE1872, on Flickr
P1180699 by GaryE1872, on FlickrThanks to the path it wasn't long before I was on the summit
Summit Cairn
P1180702 by GaryE1872, on FlickrThe views from up here were very atmospheric thanks to the cloud
P1180703 by GaryE1872, on Flickr
P1180705 by GaryE1872, on Flickr
P1180706 by GaryE1872, on FlickrAfter satisfying myself that I wasn't going to see anymore I headed back down, a nice easy plod back to the bealach. I stopped for a quick bite to eat before heading on to No2
The Way ahead
P1180708 by GaryE1872, on FlickrThe route higher up is quite boggy but nothing too serious and is just a case of following the path, unfortunately the only views I was getting were the same ones I had been getting almost all day day so far.
I was only about 45mins getting from the bealach and onto the summit, unfortunately there were very few views except toward the north
Summit Cairn
P1180716 by GaryE1872, on FlickrI sat for a few minutes hoping it would clear but the clag didn't look like shifting so I made my way down. I made rather quick progress and before too long I was back on the forestry track, I resisted the urge to borrow the bike that another walker had obviously brought with them
and quick marched it back to the car.If you're wondering about the title, every walk report I've done when filling out the time taken box is usually half way between the quickest & longest time. This time I beat it by about half an hour.
