The Christmas and New Year break were upon us and with that, some time became available to get out on the hills. Plans were hatched for a short-ish winter day and I awoke at 0530 to get myself fed and ready for the day. Steg arrived at 0630 to pick me and we headed up the long drive towards Kinloch Hourn.
It was cloudy and damp in Glasgow, but as we headed up and got to Fort William there was a thin dusting of snow on the ground, and the temperature started to drop. As we drove into Glen Garry, it was clear there was no grit on the road and it was pretty icy and slidy.
We arrived at 1005 just behind another climber who we never saw again the whole day. We got ready and were on the hill for 1015, gaining height quickly.
It was already looking like a belter of a day.
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| Looking to the Knoydart hills |
It was a surprisingly wind-free day and once the sun came up it did get quite warm. We pressed on up the hill, stopping every so often to marvel at the stunning scenery.
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| Stunning scenery |
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| Wider view |
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| Traditional ice axe view |
We made it onto the high point of the ridge at about 1200, then pressed on along the ridge, with a fair wee bit to climb after this.
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| Rocky ascent |
As we approached the summit, the thick easy snow started to get a bit harder underneath - it looked and felt like old snow. We climbed along the edge of a ledge with a drop to our rights and decided we should put crampons on. It was a good shout even if it was only really required for a couple of minutes. Once we had them on it made for easier going on the descent anyway.
We made the summit at 1320 and stopped for a well-deserved sandwich. The views to Skye, Eigg and Rum were tremendous, and further right, the Saddle and Sgurr na Sgine looked inviting.
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| Summit Cairn |
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| Summit Selfie |
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| Views to Skye |
We took a bearing almost directly south and bumped into someone else's footprints on the descent which we followed for a bit and then found our own way down off of Leac nan Gaidhseich to rejoin the gravel road and then the main road. We had a couple of kms back in fading light but didn't see another car the whole time.
We arrived back at the car at just after 1615, jumped in and headed for a very cold night in the hut.
Here's the Relive:
Distance: 12.60km
Hiking Time: 5hrs 38mins
Hiking Ascent: 896m
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