Bothy Culture and my 100th Corbett

Over the years bothies have featured as the accommodation of choice around this time of year. Chances are the gear is a bit on the wet side and you carry more, so it is good to have the space to spread out a bit - with some time off due, a bit of bothy culture was in order.

Graham Pascall (aka The Gnome) and myself headed north towards Fort William and it was tipping down with rain to the point we had an extended stop in the Fort which included a ramble round the various outdoor shops and the Morrisons cafe. With fading light beginning to be an issue we nipped round to Fassfern, loaded my bike trailer with coal and started the cycle up Gleann Suileag. Gear dumped in the bothy, a quick ascent of Meall a Phubuill filled the remainder of the afternoon.

Guid wee night with a fire and whisky to keep the cold out.

Next morning was a pack, cycle out and drive round to Glen Dessary and A'Chuil bothy with another afternoon ascent of Sgurr Cos na Breachd Laoidh. Snow towards the top was a sign of things to come - deep powder which took a tremendous effort to move through. I got back to the bothy just after dark ...the Gnome shortly after dark !

I had a fairly big route planned for the next day and we agreed I would head away a bit earlier in order to maximise daylight since the route finding off the first hill and up onto the second looked to be interesting. The Gnome opted for doing just the first hill so enjoyed a bit of a longer kip.

Again the snow made things a bit difficult but managed onto the summit of Carn Mor in about book time.On the descent in the spectacular Gleann an Lochain Eanaiche I was able to spot a good line up through the crags and onto Sgurr na h-Aide. Had a bite to eat since I was well ahead of schedule and enjoyed a bit of sun before pushing up to the summit. Getting onto the summit proved tricky with a short but steep rocky step buried in loose snow. I realised that I could not reverse this section and following a brief photo stop at the cairn, set about finding a alternative route down. In the end it was fairly simple to drop off the ridge and traverse back under the step - phew !

Dropping back down into the glen, it was just a case of following the forest road back to the bothy.  I got back to the bothy just about 15:00 ...the Gnome long after dark !
Next morning was time to pack, return to the van and for me a quick ascent of Froach Bheinn & Sgurr Mhurlagain in rather drab cloudy conditions.



Having been out for three nights, we choose to head up to Invergarry and the tremendous hostel to get sorted out again. Had dinner in the hotel and it was nice eat off a plate again instead of direct from the pot or bag.


Ben Tee was the choice to celebrate my 100th Corbett - getting onto the summit was less than easy with silly high winds (100mph was recorded on the nearby Aonach Mhor). Managed to get a wee summit pic however.

The minature from the 10 year old Speyside bottle !