free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Now then, this was my fifth munro and by far the toughest day iv had yet - and not solely due to the walking!
Twas a fine summers day, we arrived at the carpark at Inverachil around 2:30pm. We intended to camp somewhere reasonably near to the base of slioch as we didnt expect to have time to make it back to the carpark before dark. So we set off around 3pm hauling half our body weight in bags on our backs, with little idea of the horrors our plan would provide us with. Ignorance isnt always bliss!
Arrived at the base of slioch around 4:30 and decided the only reasonable place to camp was this random patch of delighfully green looking grass not far from the path. This grass dry but the surrounding area.. bog. BIG MISTAKE. Anyway, off we went around 5pm. The walk up slioch was tough. We wanted to be back down before dark, which didnt leave much time for breaks. Views were.. well iv provided the pictures. I would have let my jaw hang loose if it wasnt for the fear of a gobful of midge.
By the time we made it down onto the final stretch back down towards the loch it was dark, and anybody that has tackled slioch will know that this is not a place to be in the dark! Trying to locate any sort of path with a torch in this terrain was about as much fun as a poke in the eye. We just followed the sound of the waterfall, stepping in all manner of boggy delights in the process. To top it off, we arrived back at the tent to find half the countries population of midges waiting for us. I have never, ever experienced such density of the remorseless little sods in my life, and im a highland man born and bred. Utterly fearsome. Lesser men would have fled for there mothers arms with tearful cheeks.
Anyway, enough rambling. Here are the piccies:
