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Oh dear me. It's been a while since my last TR here, mainly for health reasons. Let's say that bacteria and bugs haven't been kind to me
Both me and Kevin had to suffer through a nasty flu-like infection, we survived it but lost a couple of weekends of potential hillwalking: we were simply too weak to head for the hills and we didn't want to make our throats and blocked noses worse by freezing our bums on some remote Scottish lump
But on Sunday the 4th weather looked great - as good as a winter day can be. Little wind, blue sky, crispy snow. I was so hill-starved that I cooked up the idea of traversing Beinn Alligin. Yabadabadoo, Black Panther is coming back!
Sadly, our hopes for going anywhere near the Horns or even Sgurr Mhor were cut short by... yes, those bl***dy bugs.
I was feeling OK the day before, throat infection gone at last, I returned to jogging and calla stretching just to keep my fitness on reasonable levels. Kevin was in good form, too, and since he's bonkers about Alligin and knows this mountain very well, he suggested, we start the traverse clockwise, leaving the Horns as an optional. He was concerned about snow/ice on the scrambling sections. We have both done the Horns scrambling before, but in summer conditions. I knew that winter traverse was a different cup of tea, so going just over the two Munros and back was the most likely scenario.
I got up on Sunday feeling slightly off, but wouldn't even think about giving up! I was hoping, as soon as I'm out and breathing fresh air, I'll feel better. Nodded off in the passenger seat on the way up to Torridon and when we arrived at Coire Mhic Nobuil car park, I was sleepy but just looking out of the car window to the blue sky and white mountain tops was enough to made me meow!
We got ready and started up the Coir nan Laogh path which was a tad boggy, but the views made up for it. Who would complain when you have that in the background?
Good morning Berinn Dearg!
Still OK at the moment, marching steadily up the slope:
We got to the stile over deer fence, here I had a mild attack of nausea when on the top of the stile, felt a bit wobbly but managed to pull it together. I told myself it was nothing, just a bit of breakfast indigestion, I could go on, it should pass. Looking up into the scoop of Coir nan Laogh, I really didn't want to miss it!
Panoramic snap from Kevin's camera, showing the ridge of Beinn Alligin, including the Horns:
Beinn Dearg, Liathach and Beinn Eighe:
Sgurr Mhor - zoomed:
Horns zoomed:
It was surprisingly warm and we had to strip outer layers (kinda mountain porn again
). Lower in the corrie the snow was very soft and slushy, so easy going.
Panther with Liathach in the background:
In the upper corrie, snow was harder and covered with a layer of ice in places, but so far we managed to kick steps in, higher up there was a trail of somebody's footprints which made things easier. But we agreed that on the was down we would have to put crampons on, just as a precaution.
The views, even though restricted by the vertical walls of the upper corrie, were still amazing. This was winter the proper way, so much better than last year
About 2/3 way up I started to feel wobbly again and slowed down, but we were only some 200m below the summit of Tom na Gruagaich, so turning back now was out of question.
Getting weary:
Coulin hills from near the top of Tom na Gruagaich:
Panther struggling:
Between bad burps and stomach twists, somehow I managed to haul myself to the flattish area around the summit of the first Munro. And surprise: somebody was camping on this top!
We reached the trig point and immediately put our crampons on, just to be safe on the ridge (the trig is very close to the vertical edge) and busied ourselves with taking photos and videos. I drank some water and my tummy seemed to be settling down. With a fresh layer of snow, the surrounding mountains looked simply stunning and we couldn't resist a lengthy photo-session. A few snaps below.
The west top of Tom, looking pristine in snow:
The Horns and Beinn Dearg from the summit:
Thin cloud drifting around Sgurr Mhor:
Zoom to mighty Slioch:
Liathach ridge:
Resting by the trig point:
Panoramic views of Alligin ridge:
Baosbheinn:
Peaking out from behind the trig:
Sgurr Mhor and the Horns once again:
Lucy the Lamb guarding our lunch box:
Having taken enough photos to fill the camera card, we sat down to have something to eat. Kevin said that my temporary stomach problem was probably "because you're eating to little, have a big fat sandwich". He's always paranoid with me getting too thin (actually, I could do with losing a few pounds TBH), but this time he got it wrong, sadly. Sandwiches were made with full fat blue cheese and greasy salami - yuuuuuck, far too much fat obviously. I was going to pay for that!
Having finished our lunch, we carried on to the rocky descent from Tom na Gruagaich. And here real troubles started. The descent is just a mild scramble, maybe a bit more difficult in winter conditions, but we have done it before in both directions, so under normal circumstances we would probably manage, if slowly. We had ice axes at hand and crampons fitted on our boots, but as soon as we started to scramble down the rocks, my stomach went on total strike and suddenly my mouth was full of salami + full fat cheese + stomach acids mixture. Plus I lost my sense of balance. Every time I looked down, my body felt wobbly and unstable. After a couple of near misses when I almost slipped off icy rocks, I said to Kevin, I didn't like it at all. I was scared. Not of the route itself, but of my body failing me. I was thinking, if we continue to Sgurr Mhor, we will have to retrace our steps all the way back to Tom na Gruagaich, including this pitch again - Horns were simply out of question. I was worried I might feel even worse and end up stuck on the ridge. Of course, I might just as well digest all that salami in 10 minutes and feel great for the rest of the day, but I just didn't want to risk it. Kevin was disappointed (he didn't say it but I saw it in his eyes, he was fully committed to the traverse!) but safety always comes first, so we turned around, climbed carefully back to Tom na Gruagaich and started the descent into Coir nan Laogh.
And here it turned out, the decision was right. Even when descending in crampons on easy snow slope, I was so wobbly now that I staggered, burping and spitting stomach juices all around me
I was praying that the bug stayed in the upper half of my digestive system - so far it hasn't affected the more embarrassing end of my body but it was still a long way down...
Burped off Alligin ridge:
Because I was so slow, Kevin had plenty of time to take photos when waiting for me...
Liathach in white:
Big Bald Head and An-Ruadh Stac, Beinn na h-Eaiglaise in the foreground:
A wider pano:
I was so paranoid on the descent, that I refused to take crampons off before we reached the end of the snow line. I thought without them I'll simply slip and tumble face-first down the corrie. When we reached the lower slopes and the angle eased off, I felt safer and a little bit better. Still, it took me ages to get back to the car, even with Kevin patiently escorting my burping body down the mountain.
Panoramas from lower reaches of Coir nan Laogh path:
It was a disappointing experience in one way, but looking at it from a reasonable point of view, at least I didn't attempt anything stupid and didn't end up being lifted of the mountain... A very special hill which we had done multiple times before and will return to again, as it's one of our favs. This time, the ridge traverse defeated us, with the help of salami burping bug, but from time perspective, we took the right decision. Beinn Alligin will always be there, tomorrow, next week, next year, proudly presenting its Horns, and we can't wait for another opportunity to pay this lovely mountain a visit.
We'll be back!
Thankfully, the salami burping bug didn't affect me in a long term and by the next weekend, I was all for another mountain adventure. Weather wasn't very cooperative with gale force winds high up, so we decided to stick to lower hills. We had a fantastic day in the area of Loch Ness, exploring Marylins and watching wildlife. TR to come soon.
