16 miles 6,500 feet
Bill decided to have a rest day, due to the effects of the previous epic day. So Will and I vowed to have an easy run. So the last 3 Munros on the round were a good suggestion by Bill. The plan was to take a direct route from Glen Nevis up onto Sgurr a Mhaim. We started off on a well worn path at about midday, and missed the cut up directly onto the top. So having realised this we looked at the possibility of cutting across onto the ridge, we both decided that we would take the longer route and dismiss this potentially dangerous short cut. So we tracked along to Lochan Coire nam Maseach and then proceeded to do the out and back on the Devils ridge. This was a bit up and down, and in places very exposed. But we took care and made it across. Going on to the summit of Sgurr a Mhaim we got hit by a wall of wind that pushed us to the floor – we were getting used to this level of obstruction now. We fought our way onto the summit and huddled behind a, thankfully, large cairn. I, or rather Will quickly got the camera out of my rucksack, and we speedily took some photos before retreating. Luckily there was only snow on 1 side of this summit so when we set off through this snow I realised we were heading in the opposite direction, a quick about turn and we were off fighting our way back down and across, the thankfully relatively sheltered ridge.
The next 2 Munros Stob Ban and Mullach Nan Coirean Were relatively uneventfull, occasionally we would take the usual battering from the icy wind. But as we started to descend the final Munro the wind gave us a pasting so hood in hand we fought our way off the summit. In failing light I missed the descent line, and instead of taking the right hand ridge we veered off to the broader left ridge. This lead us to the wrong part of the Sron Riabhach Forrest, and consequently we got lost. After the best part of an hour of me cursing and Will trying to draw positives, we donned head torches and vowed to continue to the end of the track. The end of the track was where it joined the West Highland Way. Luckily I had done it twice and so recognised the thistle symbol. We then followed the route to the Restaurant, which ironically brought us out about ½ mile form the bunkhouses we were staying at, and about 3 miles from Glen Nevis, were the car was.
The next 2 Munros Stob Ban and Mullach Nan Coirean Were relatively uneventfull, occasionally we would take the usual battering from the icy wind. But as we started to descend the final Munro the wind gave us a pasting so hood in hand we fought our way off the summit. In failing light I missed the descent line, and instead of taking the right hand ridge we veered off to the broader left ridge. This lead us to the wrong part of the Sron Riabhach Forrest, and consequently we got lost. After the best part of an hour of me cursing and Will trying to draw positives, we donned head torches and vowed to continue to the end of the track. The end of the track was where it joined the West Highland Way. Luckily I had done it twice and so recognised the thistle symbol. We then followed the route to the Restaurant, which ironically brought us out about ½ mile form the bunkhouses we were staying at, and about 3 miles from Glen Nevis, were the car was.
So after a quick stop to de-cloth, we ran most of the way down the road through the blackness back to retrieve the car. 6 hours 10. Not exactly an easy day. But I suppose its all relative.
No comments:
Post a Comment