Well Deserved......
It's been a tough few weeks at work. I've been working mind numbingly quickly on a secret project for the Government, but I've been learning fast which is the only way to do things really. So I felt that I deserved a well-earned wee break. The call went out to the walkers and Speccy and BeatleMan joined me.
Saturday was myself and BeatleMan on Beinn Sgulaird. Suprisingly enough we were up, fed and away from the glen by 10.30am which is no mean feat considering that we hadn't arrived till 12.30am and didn't hit the hay till after 3am. By the time we drove round to Druimavuic on the South East side of Loch Creran it was 11.35am. It was cloudy, but there was no wind so we made good time on the way up. The point at 488m is deceptive - there's a drop in height of around 40m just after it - it's not a big deal but it could make you think you were on the wrong heading since it's not so obvious on the 1:50,000 map. It's a bit of a slog after that really; there are 2 other peaks above 850m before the summit. We summited at 3pm in visibility down to 50m or less at points. Knowing that we only had a few hours of light left we decided to take the route which would lead us away from the car, but would have us on a well defined road by nightfall - as long as we kept the pace up. This was easier said than done because any snow had been wind blasted into almost solid ice. BeatleMan took a tumble and panicked a little but I caught him in time - neither of us were in any danger though.
We made a beeline for the river and made it onto the track at 5.10pm and had a lovely hour long walk back to the car in the dusk, with owls hooting and only our footfalls to break the silence. We were back at the car at 6.05pm. Few phonecalls then off to the Kingy for a drink then back down the glen road for a showdown with the remainder of the Hogmanay red wine and to wait for Speccy.
Next day was marginally clearer and certainly warmer at sea level. BeatleMan's legs were agony after Saturday's walk, but I felt I could just about muster another Munro. So, with the bikes in tow Speccy and I headed for Invercharnan and parked up. We reassembled all the various parts of the bikes by 11.20am and headed up the forest track to the foot of Beinn Fhionnlaidh. Speccy had a slight bee in his bonnet about this one after September's "episode" on the hill. We locked up the bikes (after climbing 250m on them!), hid them well in the forest and began the muddy slog at 12pm. The climb seemed a lot easier than last time, despite a good workout and stiff legs from the day before. We summited at 2.35pm but it was cold, misty and very windy. There was a lot of snow around as well and it made us a lot more wary on the two steps that require some scrambling. Didn't see much up there until we came back down to 800m and the day started to clear a little. I did however see a brace of ptarmigan and something that looked like a ptarmigan but was red. Red Grouse perhaps - do they live above 800m?
We made it back to the edge of the forest to hit the bikes for 4.30pm and the forest track which, in September had taken us 50 minutes, and on the bikes on the way up around 35, now took just over 6 minutes. Plenty of time saved and a little more excitement to end the day. We were back at the car at 4.40, then we parted ways. I went home and Speccy went to get BeatleMan before heading down the road.
Saturday was myself and BeatleMan on Beinn Sgulaird. Suprisingly enough we were up, fed and away from the glen by 10.30am which is no mean feat considering that we hadn't arrived till 12.30am and didn't hit the hay till after 3am. By the time we drove round to Druimavuic on the South East side of Loch Creran it was 11.35am. It was cloudy, but there was no wind so we made good time on the way up. The point at 488m is deceptive - there's a drop in height of around 40m just after it - it's not a big deal but it could make you think you were on the wrong heading since it's not so obvious on the 1:50,000 map. It's a bit of a slog after that really; there are 2 other peaks above 850m before the summit. We summited at 3pm in visibility down to 50m or less at points. Knowing that we only had a few hours of light left we decided to take the route which would lead us away from the car, but would have us on a well defined road by nightfall - as long as we kept the pace up. This was easier said than done because any snow had been wind blasted into almost solid ice. BeatleMan took a tumble and panicked a little but I caught him in time - neither of us were in any danger though.
We made a beeline for the river and made it onto the track at 5.10pm and had a lovely hour long walk back to the car in the dusk, with owls hooting and only our footfalls to break the silence. We were back at the car at 6.05pm. Few phonecalls then off to the Kingy for a drink then back down the glen road for a showdown with the remainder of the Hogmanay red wine and to wait for Speccy.
Next day was marginally clearer and certainly warmer at sea level. BeatleMan's legs were agony after Saturday's walk, but I felt I could just about muster another Munro. So, with the bikes in tow Speccy and I headed for Invercharnan and parked up. We reassembled all the various parts of the bikes by 11.20am and headed up the forest track to the foot of Beinn Fhionnlaidh. Speccy had a slight bee in his bonnet about this one after September's "episode" on the hill. We locked up the bikes (after climbing 250m on them!), hid them well in the forest and began the muddy slog at 12pm. The climb seemed a lot easier than last time, despite a good workout and stiff legs from the day before. We summited at 2.35pm but it was cold, misty and very windy. There was a lot of snow around as well and it made us a lot more wary on the two steps that require some scrambling. Didn't see much up there until we came back down to 800m and the day started to clear a little. I did however see a brace of ptarmigan and something that looked like a ptarmigan but was red. Red Grouse perhaps - do they live above 800m?
We made it back to the edge of the forest to hit the bikes for 4.30pm and the forest track which, in September had taken us 50 minutes, and on the bikes on the way up around 35, now took just over 6 minutes. Plenty of time saved and a little more excitement to end the day. We were back at the car at 4.40, then we parted ways. I went home and Speccy went to get BeatleMan before heading down the road.
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