More midweek Mountains

Anyone reading this may be forgiven for thinking I have not been at work much – suppose they might be right but it is only due to keeping some annual leave for early winter raids given a fair weather forecast.


This trip was to sweep up a couple of Corbetts at the east end of Loch Arkaig. I drove north on the Sunday afternoon after getting confirmation that the roads were open (if a tad on the icy side). Stopped off in the Fort for some additional food supplies where I bumped into Oli Bloomfield before heading to the Grey Corries Bunkhouse before and early night. Woke up to that dead sound only ever associated with a significant dump of snow outside (confirmed that was a fact by a glance out the window). Delayed my departure a bit to let the roads get themselves sorted out a bit. The decision point was at the commando monument which sits about Spean Bridge, a decision made easy by seeing a snow plough heading towards me – the road was passable!

Left the car beside the Glean Cia-aig before tramping up through the forest. Where the trees started to thin out, the snow got deeper and it was time for my Yowies. I had used more traditional snowshoes before and was pleasantly surprised to discover you can more or less walk as normal with the Yowies version. They are made over in Australia of all places (maybe gives a bit of a reason why the binding resembles a Teva sandal). Without snowshoes, I am doubtful if it would have been possible to make progress up the hill on my own due to the depth of the powder snow. Even with, it took an age to get up the final slope and onto the summit of the first hill Meall na h-Eilde. It was nice to sit and look over the Dessary hills and all the way round to Ben Tee but cold enough not to sit too long.

The descent off the summit and on towards Meall coire nan Saobhaidh was great fun but I soon found out that running with snowshoes does require a different style and went “base over apex” on a couple of occasions.

The short but steep slope onto the summit of Geal Charn challenged the slope angle that the snowshoes were comfortable on – not helped by an excess of snow hiding small rock features! With fading light, it was time for a swift drop down into the glen as the light was starting to fade. I yomped along the 2.6km road section to arrive back at the van just after dark – fairly tired but happy.

Over the course of the day, a number of texts had indicated that bad weather had hit Glasgow. My initial thoughts were to head south but with traffic chaos in progress, a night in the excellent Corran Bunkhouse was in order. To cement the decision to stay north, a couple from Lancaster kindly shared a large brandy …since I could no longer drive, I had to stay.

Next morning dawned clear and cold again. A wee single Corbett was the target and Meall Lighiche fitted the bill just fine. Was treated to early morning sunlight over the Aonach Eagach whilst walking up the glen and it was nice to reflect back on the Two Inns race earlier in the year (and my route mistake on the easy ground !?!). The snow on the lower slopes gave promise with crampons being required. Sadly the snow on the higher slopes was back to deep powder – I say sadly, since I had left the snowshoes in the van! There were spectacular views all around …north towards the Ben, over to Bidean and down Glen Creran but again, the air temperature was too cold to hang around much.

To give a bit of variation, I descended to the bealach just under Sgor na h-Ulaidh. Was a bit alarmed by pockets of unstable windslab which had been forming – not enough to pose a hazard but windslab none the less. Once on the glen floor it was an easy ramble along the side of the semi frozen river back down to the van.

The drive south went fine until reaching the south side of the Erskine bridge where I was treated to a display of shocking driving and bad manners in general. With the aftermath the mad snow the day before, folks were still driving way too close and there was an amazing number of cars still abandoned by the roadside. Note to anyone who believes a 4x4 has better steering or braking on ice ….IT DOES NOT !