walkhighlands

A touch of Heaven after a day of purgatory.

Munros: An Coileachan, Beinn Liath Mhòr Fannaich, Meall a' Chrasgaidh, Meall Gorm, Sgùrr Mòr, Sgùrr nan Clach Geala, Sgùrr nan Each

Date walked: 18/09/2014

Time taken: 18 hours

Distance: 44km

Ascent: 2726m

Our first walk report comes after a very fitting series of events; arranged meet up, a great day out with WH friends, first wild camp at altitude and last but not least first cloud inversion. :D
After heading out with Karen (kmai1961), Martin (FF), and Gary (backpacker) on the Saturday we trudged with our previously mentioned, sizeable packs with everything and a couple of kitchen sinks. :lol: (as eloquently described by Martin in his report of the Saturday)
This was quickly repaid by the almost spiritual experience of a first cloud inversion that lasted well over an hour and put us on such a high that even when we 'fell off' later :shock: , we still couldn't come down!

After saying goodbye to our WH friends, at the eastern end of the Fannichs, we headed back to Sgurr Mor to collect our heavy burdens with dread. :shock: It suddenly looked a very long way!

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A long way back to Sgurr Mor...


After battling our fatigue on the long trip back, (and re-united with our heavy packs :roll: ) we headed over SM and down to the Loch south of Carn na Criche, where we would pitch camp, not long before dark!

Camp Site.jpg
Looks like a nice place to camp.


Looking back at Sgurr Mor.jpg
Looking back at Sgurr Mor (wasn't an easy descent with our packs!)


Chris tent.jpg
Pitching just before dark.


After a hot meal and donning our down jackets :shock: , we got a great view of the stars. So much more detail to the naked eye, than available near our urban dwellings. Breathtaking.

On Sunday morning we awoke in the mist with hazy sunshine, looking up at Sgurr Mor from about 2820 feet.
But, as soon as the direct sunlight arrived the mist cleared, leaving us with a beautiful sunrise, certainly the most memorable for me. Looking down into the Glen over the western side of SM, we caught our first sight of our first cloud inversion. Words and photos don't do it justice, but we'll give it a try. :D

Inversion1.jpg
Morning treat


Before long the mist rolled in, so we had breakfast (lamb casserole :lol: ) and then headed up Sgurr nan Clach Geala, hoping for some views higher up.

Inversion2.jpg
Climbing out of the clouds


Inversion3.jpg
Ooh, this should be nice...


Inversion4.jpg
Beinn Dearg in the distance.


Inversion5.jpg
The money shot! Sgurr Mor from Sgurr nan Clach Geala


Inversion6.jpg
Clouds shrouding Sgurr Breac and A'Chailleach


As we descended to Sgurr nan Each, the cloud took over again, but we were not down heartened after the earlier treats of that morning.

Frog.jpg
Made a new friend (obligatory wildlife shot)


A quick snack and then back to the tents to pack up and return. The cloud disappeared after the second climbing of SnCG, leaving great views and photo opportunities in all directions.

Tents.jpg
Our home for the night (spot the tents)


On returning to pack up the tents, we met the only other person we saw on the hill that day. A real surprise considering the weather. Then headed off to the last of our weekends' seven Munros, Meall a'Chrasgaidh. We had intended to do all nine, but the weight of the packs and all the effort of Saturday's excursion had got the better of us! :crazy:

Meall a'Chrasgaidh view.jpg
An Teallach and the Fisherfields from Meall a'Chrasgaidh


On the final summit we made the decision to ''straight line'' our return route to the car, instead of the lengthy, gentle path back to the western car park with several miles along the road. This turned out to be both a blessing (quicker) and a curse (steep with a capital S). :lol: It was incredibly steep, but looked so inviting compared to the 'long way round'.

Our proposed route home.jpg
A short cut?


Maybe too steep.jpg
Hey Chris, how steep is it?


When we looked back up the way we came down, we weren't really surprised that we fell!! :lol: I'm not sure we'd have attempted it, if we had even a glimpse of the look up! :crazy:

looking back at the steep.jpg
We couldn't believe we came down that, only fell once!


The return back to the car gave some great photo opps, especially as the sun moved behind the hills to our west.

sun going down.jpg


Our final view of the hills, before setting off through the midge swarm in the car.

getting dark.jpg


A fantastic weekend all round.
Saturday was a day of gruelling effort but with good friends on some great hills. Over 6000 feet of ascent. A real achievement as neither of us had ever walked that far with that much kit before. :D
Sunday was very different, almost effortless by comparison. What a morning wake up, followed by such incredible beauty seemed to rid us of all sense of fatigue. A huge tick on the ''bucket list'' and something I shall never forget. Still on a high after a week! :D

A huge THANK YOU to all of you on Walkhighlands for all of your encouragement, wisdom, enticing walk reports, tech advice, lifts, sweets but most of all a warm welcome to the club and helping us feed our passion for the hills.

Cheers all,
Chris (jepsonscotland) and Andy (Flump)

Sorry it's taken a week to create, but it's our first go and we've been on different shifts.
Maybe if we start another one now we can use it for our 100th celebration. :lol:

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Comments: 19


jepsonscotland


User avatar
Location: Broughty Ferry
Occupation: Engineer
Interests: Mountains, Liverpool FC and Outdoor gear! (in red!)
Activity: Walker
Mountain: Bidean
Place: Glen Coe
Gear: Montane Prism
Member: Michelin hill walking club.
Camera: Samsung phone!
Ideal day out: Big plateau with great views, preferrably in the snow.
Ambition: Compleatist........by 50!

Munros: 282
Corbetts: 9
Fionas: 1
Donalds: 2
Wainwrights: 1
Hewitts: 1
Sub 2000: 1



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Statistics

2014

Trips: 1
Distance: 44 km
Ascent: 2726m
Munros: 7


Joined: Jan 02, 2014
Last visited: Feb 21, 2023
Total posts: 332 | Search posts