Woke up this morning and decided that I wasn't coming home. Not yet. Maybe later. Who knows!!??

It's one of the great pleasures of the school summer holidays - getting your head down in a tent somewhere amongst the hills on a Sunday evening and waking up on a Monday morning and going for another hill walk! After Sgurr Ghuibhsachain and Sgorr Craobh a'Chaorainn yesterday I decided to stay local and drive the short distance west along the A830 through Glenfinnan to the roadside parking spot just over the Allt Feith a'Chatha. Destination - the Corbett of Sgurr an Utha.

Luna had been limping a bit on Saturday morning when she first emerged from my tent. Then, as now, it seemed to be the pad on her right rear leg that was causing her a problem. She had developed a bit of a sore spot on the same pad after doing The Brack and Cnoc Coinnich back in May so I was now wondering if she had a particular weakness of some sort on that pad. She had seemed to walk it off on Saturday on the walk back to Inverie and the rest of the day was pretty much down time. It hadn't appeared to bother her yesterday but she was holding it a bit gingerly this morning. I wondered if we might not get a walk in today, or if we might need to actually come home but I thought I'd start of up the Sgurr an Utha access track for a bit at least and see how it went.

Parked up just west of the bridge, we walked the short distance back along the road to the track off to the left heading into the forestry. If Luna's pad was bothering her, she wasn't letting on. She had the scent of another hill day in her nostrils and she was literally straining at the leash!

Reaching the top of the short section of forestry

We took the track off to the right just before the quite modern looking concrete bridge built over two massive blue pipes in the stream. This lead us up into the coire of the Allt an Utha before taking a sharp hairpin bend to the right and coming to a sudden stop on the slopes of Druim na Brein-choitle.

It wisnae me, honest! I just found him like this!

Into the coire of the Allt an Utha

Sgurr an Utha from the hairpin bend

After a short sharp pull up pathless slopes the gradient soon eased and we enjoyed that great pleasure of a day on the hill, what Cameron McNeish refers to as the "high level promenade", across a series of rocky outcrops and between little lochans adorned with bog cotton and various other forms of flora.

Across Loch Shiel to memories of yesterday

A rocky and watery high level promenade

A wee pause on the promenade

Bog cotton framing Sgurr an Utha

Sgurr an Utha from the next lochan

South west to the Moidart hills

More Moidart

Closing in on another Ronnie

As I reached the bealach between Fraoch -bheinn and my target of Sgurr an Utha, the views north east towards Streap and the Glenfinnan Munros began to open up and brought back their own fond memories of another summer holiday hill expedition from many moons ago.

Sgurr Thuilm and Streap

A more fulsome view of Sgurr Thuilm and Streap

Summit ahoy!

Sgurr nan Coireachan, Sgurr Thuilm and Streap

I paused for lunch at the summit, accompanied by the first of the bottles of the Knoydart Brewery ales. I was in two minds about whether to tag on the Graham of Glas-charn or whether to leave it for another day. As I sat and took in the view to the west of the summit of Sgurr an Utha, I became more and more inclined towards leaving it for another day and I began to ponder ways of combining it with Meith Bheinn and a closer inspection of Loch Beoraid.

Loch Beoraid sandwiched between Glas-charn to the south and Meith Bheinn to the north

Sgurr Thuilm and Streap

Luna feeling the pace?

Just an Utha Ronnie

I headed west from the summit still not entirely with my mind made up. I decided to drop down over Sidhean Mor and take stock when I got to the stream and the path shown on my 1:50K sheet.

Between Sgurr an Utha and Sidhean Mor

Across the long ridge sweeping up from Meall Coire na Saobhaidh to Sgurr nan Coireachan at the head of Coire Odhar Mor, with Sgurr Thuil off to the right

South west towards Moidart

Last look back to the Glenfinnan Munros

Back to Sgurr an Utha with Streap peeking out

Glas-charn and Loch Beoraid

Descending to a likely looking dooking spot - Luna is off like the clappers

Two feet and a heid

Shadow on Sgurr a'Mhuidhe

Down at the bealach, the stream turned out to be real, the path shown on my map less so, leaving me with a rough old plod of a kilometre or two back to the little dam where I hooked up again with the track that would lead me back down to the A830 and the car.

No path to see here - move along!

Luna eyeing up another dip in the dam!

Glas-charn from the dam

A final dip in the Allt Feith a'Chatha