It has been a busy month since I was last out with holidays and big birthdays as well as finally catching Covid, so I was glad to find a wee window and try and get a single Munro in.
There aren't many left that I can do comfortably in a day from Glasgow, but I reckoned if I ran it, Gairich would be quite achievable.
I was up at 0600 and on the road for 0715, stopping for petrol on the way up. The journey did seem to take a long time with a large number of campers and caravans on the road, however, the wee Mazda once again headed down the Kinloch Hourn road and I was at the dam for 1030. I stopped to chat with a nice fella who was waiting on his son coming off Gairich - they had been in Knoydart for a couple of days. He reckoned I'd meet him on my way up, and I did.
I headed over the dam at 1045 and was on my way. The trail was decent, the hills were relatively dry and it wasn't too hilly at this point, so I was making good time.
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| Over the Dam - note the landslide |
Pushing on, I came to an ascent of about 200m which was fairly easy going too, then onto the big plateau at the foot of Gairich.
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| On the plateau |
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| On the plateau |
I made it to the foot of the main climb about 1210 and it was quite warm and sweaty. The next stage is the final 300m of ascent or so and it does involve a couple of wee scrambles. I never realised it before, but it was actually made easier in trainers and without a rucksack pulling you off balance.
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| Rock scramble |
Before long, I was on the top - precisely at 1250. There wasn't much of a view, the cloud hadn't really lifted (it would about 30 mins after I left the summit), but it was nice to be on a summit again. I didn't need to put another layer on, I was warm enough, so I munched some more jelly tots, then headed back down.
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| Summit Selfie on Gairich |
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| Gairich summit |
The descent was great, but I lost the path a couple of times and had to dog-leg to rejoin it. However, I made it back to the dam and over in 3h 16mins, so I was quite happy with that.
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| Dam and Gairich |
Once I got back to the car at 1405, I spotted that no one else was around so headed down to the reservoir for a swim in the strangely warm waters. That freshened me up and meant I was ready for the long drive home, stopping for a coffee at Tyndrum.
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| Down for a swim |
Here's the Relive:
Run Distance: 16.96km
Run Time: 3h 16m
Hike Ascent: 854m
Munros Completed: 194
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