The peak of treasure has been on my list for some time. After climbing Fionnlaidh and Sgulaird consecutively last year and then completing the Ballachulish horseshoe, Ulaidh's un-checked flag on my map was rather gaping. However, after naming it at the beginning of the year after a three hour walk in the snow from Elleric, car problems and twisted ankles delayed my first munro of the year until Now. And there was no questioning it, it had to be Sgur na h-Ulaidh.

I researched the various routes to the nth degree, finally settling on the approach from Glen Etive. The forestry works are now in full flow and the 'car park' which most reports allude to is now blocked entirely. I drove an extra half-mile to a layby that didn't have the no-parking sign, and walked back.

There is a sign to ask politely not to walk through the house grounds (as shown on the map) and instead walk round to the bridge and the start of the forestry road to the left. I then followed this forestry road for just over 40mins, stalking slowly upwards. I had a pep in my step - the first munro of the year and with reasonable weather - cloudy but warm. I passed through two gates. Basically don't turn left or right until the road comes to a sudden end, with the death marshes opening up in front of you as far as the eye could see.

Which wasn't very far, given the mist now obscured my views of everything. I couldn't even see the towering Beinn Fionnlaidh on the left as i trudged through the sodden ground. It did clear up a bit as i closed on the base of Ulaidh itself, so i quickly paused for a dramatic selfie.

There is a path, although in traditional fashion it likes to disappear and reappear every so often. It wasn't until the very bottom of the mountain itself that i spotted it alongside helpful old cast iron fence posts. This journey is very much one of three halfs. The first half is deceptively simple - a lovely solid forestry track - then the next is energy-sapping marshland, then the final one is a cliff-face with tiny footholds and a real sense of height.

Scaling Mount Doom through the encroaching mist and occasional rain, i started to really feel it. The burning on the legs and the cracking of the knees. And it didn't help that through the mist behind me i could see the smaller Meall a Bhuiridh, reminding me that i'm not high enough yet. Everytime i climbed what i'd thought was the last hurrah, there she was, ominous in the mist ahead. The seemingly unreachable summit.

There are some real exciting challenges here; weaving in and out of dangerous near-vertical slabs following tiny footprints in the ground, guided occasionally by little cairns of hope.

The summit itself is one of my favourites, actually, flanked by a huge, terrifying gorge. I sat for thirty mins hoping the mist would burn off and i'd get some views, but alas no. I was sitting at 994m and could see nothing. But its funny - you still KNOW you're high. Probably because you've just climbed it, clawing onto the earth itself to reach for the sky.

Now. The fury part of this mountain is entirely of my own doing. You see, in the descent i found myself wondering why i didn't notice certain rock formations. In the mist, i was going in the right direction surely... so i checked my map. Ladies and gentlemen, a heavy recommendation that you always plot your route somewhere, where its in the OS App or something like Komoot. Because i could then see i was nowhere near the route i'd taken up. I was nearly 90 degrees and 45 mins in the wrong direction. I direction that would have brought me onto the nearby Stob an Fhurain and nowhere near home.

Raging, i trekked back up the 100m i'd just descended vertically and discovered my error. A simple left turn instead of a right. Cursing myself i found the right road and dropped down into the glen, passing two amused sheep that clearly found humour in my misfortune.

Back in the marshes again but by this point so sodden i didn't care, i just marched steadfastly back down the hill. I arrived at the car about 6.5 hours after i'd left, soaked to the skin and knackered. But full of a great sense of achievement. The mist may have obscured the treasure from the climb, but it didn't dampen my accomplishment. Hooray for h-Ulaidh!