What a glorious few days…. and my first full day off in ages. Decided to head for Creag Mhòr with Bee, my small furry companion, rescued from behind a bush on the shores of Loch an Eilean many years ago, damp and lonely and needing a new home.

When planning this hill I had thought I might be able to cycle a good bit further than I actually did. If you're thinking of doing this, I'd say leave the bike at the Green Loch, or maybe at the bridge over the river, a bit further - but past there it's a real nightmare of drainage channels and steep narrow rubble.

I left Inverness at 9, and started cycling at 10.20, passing the stunning Green Loch around ten minutes later.



Off to the right before Ryvoan Bothy, and the sun was beating down. I did in fact forget my sunscreen and get burnt.



I hadn't been expecting this much snow, and wondered if my target hill of Creag Mhòr might, in fact, be white!




The track was rougher than I had anticipated and I pushed the bike up a lot of rough track before eventually giving up and abandoning it to collect later. With nothing to lock it to I locked a wheel to the frame, not that I think there are many bike thieves out there in the wilderness! This meant I was going to take longer to get to the hill, but with the great weather and daylight until 7 ish, I carried on.

Once I'd passed the turn off for Bynack More and walked around its base, the rocky summit of Creag Mhòr came into view. There's quite a bit of up and down and a lot of distance to cover, but the crisp snow helped and I only ended up knee deep in a bog once or twice!

There had been a handful of people along the same path in the days before me, so a very clear way to follow. I crossed the water, counted 300m and struck off up the slopes, which were quite easy in these perfect conditions.




The summit is a delightfully grippy rocky thing, and it was possible to find shelter from the freezing wind and have a half hour lunch break.



I had worn an enormous feather gilet under my Paramo, which I was glad of, but it made me look like I'd suddenly gained a large amount of weight!



At this point I messaged my other half to say don't worry if I don't move for a bit, I haven't fallen off, I'm just having lunch. I had put a GPS tracker in my backpack which he can log into to see where I am in case of emergencies - it's one meant for a car or a caravan, but works very well for hill safety too.




The views from here are spectacular, situated underneath Bynack More and with a great view of Beinn a Bhuird and Ben Avon. I looked at the time and set off back down the way I'd come, hoping to be back at the car well before 7 and hopefully by 6, as I'm always faster on the way back.




Wildlife was rather scarce on this walk once I was out of the forest - I saw a stonechat, a red grouse, and a tiny shrew.

I picked up the bike, and attempted some risky downhill biking, but realised I would have to get off for every drainage channel, and trying to stop on a slope was difficult. I ended up being flung off into a heathery ditch and walloping my head off a conveniently placed rock, so I abandoned the idea until it was safer, and ended up walking the bike DOWNHILL, aargh!



Once I got to the bridge, I was back on it and as soon as I came to the main track again it saved a lot of time and allowed me to make it back to the car by 5.30, giving me time to stop at Loch Morlich for a cuppa and watch the sunset.




Having counted up, this was my 23rd Corbett - not that I'm trying to do them all, but nice to keep track!