December Bothy Culture ...

The big team bothy trip had been reduced to just me and Joe so taking the Berlingo north gave more scope in terms of Sunday hills and also allowed an excellent bothy fire scene to be planned.

We finished our Christmas works lunch (interesting experience staying sober whilst folks around take advantage of a free bar) and headed north. Stopped off at the Green Welly for fuel, food and fire material. We opted for 10kg of coal, 10kg of peat brick things and a big bag of kindling.

Just north of the Fort the fog started and heading along the side of Loch Eil was plain eerie. Finding the car park was going to be a challenge – thankfully the catch feature of the railway bridge was not required and we had the car parked up and I started loading the bike trailer with provisions …it felt very heavy indeed. The forestry tracks did not “appear” to match the map but after taking a bearing we headed off up the hill (our first mistake) – we noted that the river should be on our right hand side (and was not) but hoped the track would swing back round again (which is kind of did). Very soon we were on a steep climb …so steep I had to get off the bike and push (which did not seem right at all). The gradient got worse and soon Joe was pushing back of the trailer whilst I wrestled with the front of the bike. Sweat dripping off, I commented that I would not like to be trying to ride down the track with the weight at the back (I was to prove myself right). Out of the darkness came a radio mast …which was not on the map …or was it. The long and short of it was we took the wrong track and an hour after leaving arrived back at the car (seems to be a habit these days)

Try again ….

Correct track identified, we scooted into the bothy in no time at all. We had the place to ourselves and by the time I had gone down to get water, Joe had the fire on ...

Next morning dawned with a good heavy frost …the kind of frost that makes you appreciate warm gear. Not long after first light, we headed north along the track towards the first hill of the day Streap. Stopped briefly for some photographs before ascending onto the ridge which leads to the summit. Not much snow but what was there, was solid – thankfully we were able to pick a line which joined up grassy sections ! The views from the summit of Streap were impressive – over Rhum, Eigg and over to the Cullin on Skye …and back down towards Ben Nevis. Happy, we began the long descent to Lochan a’ Chomhlain and another lunch stop. We noted a rather strange wall on the slopes opposite as we made our way down.

The re-ascent to Braigh nan Uamhacan was around 400m and of a gradient which can only be described as “sair oan the heid” …not steep enough to be interesting but steep enough to get under the skin a bit. I went at my chosen pace …and Joe at his. Once on the ridge we took a ramble to the most northerly point to get a look up towards Knoydart and Loch Arkaig. With the light starting to fade, it was time to start the return journey to the bothy. We did stop however to look at the wall – kinda sad that we could probably find out who owned the estate at the time it was built …but not the names of the men who actually built it. We followed it for a while before dropping back down into the glen and back to the bothy.

Dinner was noodles for starters, curry and rice for a main and jaffa cakes / tea to finish with. The size of the fire appeared to be directly proportional to the amount of beer, cider and whisky consumed ..and in hindsight was a good one.

Sunday morning plan was to get up fairly early, head back to the car and do a hill on the Ardgour peninsula. I was able to more of less freewheel down the side of the river whilst Joe did a walk / run / wobble thing. I got back to the car frozen solid …Joe warm.

Berlingo loaded up, we drove round to Stronchreggan and started up the glen to the chosen hill for the day – Stob Coire a Chearaill. One of the things I loved about doing the Munros was the fact it took me to bits of Scotland that I might not of otherwise visited – it was now obvious the Corbetts were doing the same. The route we took was via the Braigh Bhlaich ridge (which actually took longer than it felt it should have). Again, the view were impressive as we looked back towards the previous days hill and across to Ben Nevis. On the descent we met a man and his dog …stopped to chat for a bit on the merits of outdoor gear before continuing back to the car and towards Strontian and the Corran Ferry. Was pleased to find that despite the fog, it was running.

A grand trip indeed !