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It was a jolly good year
We climbed a record number of 107 hills: 42 Munros, 21 Corbetts, 27 Grahams and 17 Subs, with over 65 000m of ascent and 1200km walked. Some of our routes were repeats, but it doesn't really matter. Personally, I don't care if the hill is a new tick or a second visit, as long as it's fun!
We hoped for good weather on Boxing Day, to be able to burn off all the mince pies and cheesecake we consumed during the family meet, but it was not to be. But there was a glimpse of hope for Saturday the 29th - now we could finish the year with a bang. Well, a small bang as we only climbed an easy Corbett, but better that than sitting in front of TV and watching re-runs of "Home alone"...
We picked a couple of hills near Loch Glascarnoch. It was a toss between Beinn Liath Mhor a'Ghiubhais Li and the nearby Graham Meall Doire Faid, in the end we did the former as weather wasn't as good as we hoped. Indeed, when we arrived at the starting point, it was raining and low cloud obscured all surrounding hills. We sat in the car for half an hour, waiting for the rain to stop, but in the end we decided to kill some time by visiting Corrieshalloch Gorge. Rivers were in spate and the waterfall looked spectacular
Having walked the paths around the gorge, we saw that Meall Doire Faid was still obscured by cloud:
...but when we jumped in the car and drove back to the edge of Loch Glascarnoch, weather has suddenly turned for better:
We checked our watches: it was midday so we had about 4 hours of daylight left. Can we do it? Kevin asked, Of course we can!
Our route up Beinn Liath Mhor a'Ghiubhais Li follows the track through the young forest, then some peat-haggy ground on the northern slopes of the Corbett, wit the final rocky section to the summit.
It was our second visit to this hill. Indeed, Beinn Liath Mhor a'Ghiubhais Li was my first ever Corbett
I was going to add some photos from our previous visit here, but maybe that trip belongs in the "archive section" and requires a separate entry in my diary, especially that it was done in proper winter conditions, with plenty of snow around!
Back to the sad reality of December 2019, snow was only a distant dream now...
Looking across the glen to Meall Doire Faid and Beinn Dearg - not that there was much to see!
At least the track was relatively dry:
The good forest track ends about 2km into the forest, and from here, it's the kingdom of bog and mud...
The end of the track:
Not the best photo but it shows the route up, through a dilapidated gate in the deer fence. The previous time, we left the track much earlier and followed Alltan Odhar Mor up the slopes, ended up clambering over the fence, so it's better to stay on the track.
Weather was improving as we gained height. We didn't count on bright blue sky all around, but a few rays of sunshine would be welcome
Abhainn a'Ghiubhais Li and the Fannichs ridge slowly emerging from the cloud:
Beinn Dearg still out of sight:
Summit in sight:
The final 100m to the top are a bit rocky...
...but we made it without any nasty incidents. The summit has 2 cairns, I don't know which one is higher but we visited both. Stopped for a short rest by the southern one, which is bigger and offers better protection from wind. I had to wrap up in extra layers as the wind on the summit wasn't joking...
Lucy celebrated her 80th Corbett
Views from the summit were not as good as we hoped for, a small but stubborn cloud drifted around. But we still enjoyed the experience.
Loch Glascarnoch:
Sgurr Mor hidden in cloud:
An Coileachan ridge:
Cloudy Ben Wyvis and the nearby Lochluichart Windfarm:
We descended via the same route, enjoying the sunset. It was a nice if easy way to finish a successful year of climbing. May the next one be as good if not better
We returned to the hills on New Year's Day and kicked off the 2019 campaign by exploring a new route on Meall Doire Faid. TR in progress
