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When Lucy the Lamb first moved in with Black Panther and Kevin, she spent most of her time sitting on a shelf between a clock and a pile of mountain guides. It was quiet yet very boring life and at some point Lucy thought she could do with some outdoor activities. She found it annoying that BP an Kev kept talking about climbing mountains, exploring coastlines, visiting castles... She wanted to see the big world outside, even if Panther kept saying, that the big world outside was too dangerous for little, fluffy lambs. Lucy believed that there must be safe places for little lambs to go and enjoy the sunshine!
Eventually, BP and Kev agreed to take Lucy out for an adventure. Panther explained, that they were going to climb a Corbett. Lucy wasn't really sure what a Corbett was, so Panther gave her the book definition. Lucy was a bit confused when she heard that a Corbett must have at least 2 and a half thousand feet to be a Corbett
She couldn't quite imagine how one would cope with so many legs - she had only four digits and even that seemed a lot! Kevin just laughed and said that a foot was actually a way of measuring distances rather than a literal foot, but Lucy decided she didn't understand this whole Corbett philosophy at all. The important thing was, she was going to climb a mountain!
The mountain was named Carn na Saobhaidhe which means "the cairn of the fox's den". Lucy was a bit apprehensive, she had heard that foxes were predators and could one possibly snatch her? Panther assured Lucy that even if there were foxes about, they would never approach a big cat. "Just stay close to me" BP said "You'll be safe then."
The start for the route to Carn na Saobhaidhe is only a short drive away from Beauly. Panther and Kevin had been planning to climb this local hill for ages, but because the route was described as "long, boring trudge up bulldozed track", they kept putting it off in favour of other, more inspiring mountains. Now, they decided that this would be an ideal walk for an inexperienced hiker like Lucy.
Cars can be parked next to a red phone box off B851, near Dunmaglass. When they arrived, there was nobody else in sight...
The whole walk is about 27km long and on estate track basically to the summit of the Corbett. If one likes mountain biking, this is a hill for cycling:
When Lucy popped out of the car, she noticed some familiar-looking creatures in the field nearby:
She was fascinated, they looked very similar to her, as a matter of fact! Panther explained that they were indeed Lucy's relatives, the sheep. Lucy wondered what was the difference between her and the sheep, and Panther said with a wry smile, that in opposite to Lucy, the sheep will one day end up as steaks or mince meat
Well, Lucy understood that everyone had to eat something and if it must be her relatives, so be it!
Lucy posing with edible relatives in the background:
It was a lovely, sunny morning as they set off from the roadside parking, soon they turned to a private road signed "To Dunmaglass". The track was wide and well-beaten, as it was an access road to a new windfarm. Lucy wasn't quite sure what a windfarm was - possibly a place where little winds are farmed before they grow up to become big gusts? She wanted to ask Kevin, but he was too busy photographing...
The yellow brick road:
They walked maybe 2 km and suddenly a two-winged, black and white creature appeared from nowhere, circling around their heads, squeaking loudly. Panther explained, that this creature was called lapwing and it must have its nest nearby. Lucy decided, she didn't dislike the lapwings after all. They might have spooked her a bit, but they were just making sure that their offspring was safe.
They were walking at a brisk pace through the green countryside:
Despite the wide road, walking was quite pleasant and quiet. It was Saturday and they didn't expect huge windfarm traffic. As they passed a small woodland area, a strange, ginger-coloured animal appeared on the road and quickly hopped to the other side. Lucy noticed it had a long, fluffy tail and moved with so much grace! Panther said, the animal was called squirrel. Lucy decided, she liked squirrels. They were a nice addition to the landscape.
They reached the turn off for Dunmaglass Lodge and followed the big track along the river, Allt Glac an Tuir, all the way to a bridge. Here, Lucy spotted more edible relatives:
Lucy also noticed a few big, slowly moving animals, busy chewing grass. Panther said, they were called cows and they provided people with fresh milk. Lucy couldn't imagine how does one squeeze a cow to get the milk out of it, but she didn't ask. Sometimes it's better not to know certain things!
They climbed a short distance on the big track and stopped for five minutes. They were still in the windfarm building site world and Lucy decided, she didn't like the windfarms at all, if so much fuss was needed to build access roads!
Views back to the new Dunmaglass Lodge:
At the moment, Lucy was comfortable holding onto BP's rucksack
They were entering more remote area now and Lucy believed they would see more interesting (or scary) creatures of different kinds.
From higher up the road, they spotted snow on the distant hills...
They ascended about 200m, still on the main track and reached a funny iron bridge, which seemed to lead nowhere across a ravine!
The bridge again, this time with distant Ben Wyvis in the background:
Panther told Lucy, that it was probably an access bridge for stalkers. Lucy didn't understand who stalkers were, so Panther explained that they were people hunting deer for steaks and mince meat. Aha, so we are back to the subject of cuisine, Lucy thought, but kept silent.
A few hundred metres on they saw a small group of brown animals on four thin legs. Panther pointed at them and said - And that's a herd of deer. Lucy decided, she liked the deer. She felt sorry for them, 'cause they would be one day killed by the merciless stalkers and eaten. The circle of life goes on.
Suddenly, an estate vehicle appeared on the road. Lucy was afraid that the estate worker would chase them off the track, but he only stopped to have a friendly chat and assure BP and Kevin, that the track was good all the way to the summit of the Corbett.
They turned onto a less brutal road at 602197 (the latest tracks are not marked on 1-25k map, so GPS and WH walk description were very useful!). Lucy admitted, that the landscape was now confusing. Many unmarked tracks and bridges to nowhere:
They did cross a small bridge eventually and stopped again to have a drink and photograph a cute, little waterfall on Allt Uisg an t-Sidhean:
Lucy posed with the fall behind:
As they were getting ready to continue the trek, a small but very noisy flying thingie showed up and buzzed around for a few minutes. Panther explained, that the thingie was called bumble bee and though it had a sting, it was not very eager to sting you if you left it alone. It was very important to flowers as it flew around pollinating them. Lucy didn't have a clue what pollinating was, but she felt it was better not to ask
The track was now more "natural" as it continued along a gorge with a small burn:
They crossed the gorge higher up and the track took them to another small stream, called Aberchalder Burn. Weather was changing, with cloud pushing in from the west, Panther quickly did some recording of the surrounding landscape. Lucy transferred to the front of her rucksack, just in case if a fox appeared and tried to grab her:
It was also the first time, Lucy saw a wind turbine. Se was disappointed - she thought that a windfarm would be much bigger!
Weather getting grey:
The hill behind BP is actually not Carn na Saobhaidhe... Not just yet. it's a lower top, Beinn Bhuraich:
Lucy admitted that this was a long trek and the landscape was a bit monotonous, just lumpy-bumpy hills, moorland, burns, tracks and a solitary wind turbine:
They had to ford the stream a few times, luckily it wasn't in spate so it was easy to hop to the other side. Kevin complained a bit about a rubbing boot so a short distance from the summit they took another break:
View back along the track:
Lucy posed again for a photo with a patch of snow in the background:
As they were leaving, a small, sticky creature hopped across the track. Panther explained that it was called frog and it lived near water. She also said, that certain people called the French caught and ate these poor creatures! Lucy couldn't imagine how anyone could swallow a frog (yuck!!! they were so slimy!), but she didn't question Panther's knowledge. After all, Panther had lived in France before she moved to Scotland, so she definitely knew more about the French than Lucy did.
The sky was now getting a bit grey-gloomy as the cloud thickened...
The remnants of winter:
They reached a small, wooden shed, called Diamond Jubilee Hut, but didn't linger about, just continued up the final slope to the summit plateau of Carn na Saobhaidhe. It's a bit of a problem, which point of the plateau is actually the true summit, as the area is wide and flat, but Panther and Kevin decided, they were not purists and that they considered the mountain "ticked" when they touched the cairn at the end of the track. After a 13 km walk it would be a bit silly to argue about 50m to the left or right...
Lucy didn't mind, either, as she was glad to travel so far in the first place!
The summit of CnS is not a great viewpoint, sadly, and that's due to the nature of the landscape here:
Kevin photographing, as always...
Back to the lonely wind turbine:
View west:
The end of the track:
The hills to the north-east, what Panther calls "Drynachan Lumps"
To the south, the higher mountains still holding on to some snow:
Ben Wyvis:
Black Panther and Lucy on the summit of Carn na Saobhaidhe. Lucy was so happy to have climbed her first Corbett
They spent some time on the summit. They even met a few other walkers who arrived some time after them. The other walkers were a bit puzzled to see Lucy the Lamb, but nobody commented on her presence. After all, little fluffy lambs should be allowed to enjoy the outdoors from time to time, shouldn't they?
They returned the way they came up, the long trek back to Dunmaglass and the car took the best of three hours. One can't cheat the distance on this Corbett, but at least the tracks make for quick walking. Not the most exciting of Corbetts, but once away from the windfarm access track, it's very quiet and tranquil. Plenty of wildlife about, not only edible relatives!
Since that Saturday, Lucy the Lamb has bagged one more Corbett and two Grahams and now she's getting ready to tackle her first Munro. Baaa!