Originally I had intended to tackle the Munro's from Corrour Station this weekend but had a change of mind when Fiona informed me that she couldn't make it along. Instead I contacted Jacqui and Gordon to see if they were able to put me up for the evening in Muir of Ord, then tackle one of the Munro's I had remaining in the North-West highlands. I elected to tick Ben Hope off the list whilst I was up here, as the alternative was to face a very lengthy and remote drive with a very early start.
I travelled up to Muir of Ord mid afternoon on Friday in torrential rain for most of the journey, interspersed with outbreaks of glorious sunshine, stopping off on the way to purchase a couple of bottles of Sancerre to wash down the Indian banquet we had planned for tea later. It had been eight months since my last visit to Muir of Ord and I have to say that I noticed a huge difference in Jacqui and Gordon's youngest, Euan, since the last visit. When I was last here he was still a baby and now he was a robust toddler that would climb anything in his way, absolutely fearless. He is also a bit of a comedian and his timing appears faultless. He kept us entertained throughout the afternoon and evening until he finally wore out and had to be put to bed...I was exhausted just trying to keep up with him!
We had a great evening reminiscing and stayed up till the wee hours eating and drinking till we were burst. The Sancerre ran out and Jacqui thankfully had some back-up supplies chilling in the fridge as the banter still had a long way to go before it dried up tonight. I have a small group of friends who appreciate that I am not the most socially affable person in the world, but that just makes them all the more worthy of cherishing and spending valuable time with. Good food, good wine and lots of giggles will improve any Munro trip exponentially.
I had a relatively long lie in bed, for a Munro trip, but it only amounted to about five hours in reality when I realised I hadn't been in bed before one o'clock in the morning. I was ready to leave the McCauley household by half seven and head off on the lengthy and remote trip to Strathmore on a variety of road types, culminating in a final 14 mile drive on nothing more than a dirt track beyond the wild bounds of Altnaharra to reach a large grassy area with enough room to park around ten cars comfortably.
The route starts at the sign "way up Ben Hope" and follows a path heading north-east up the slopes, zig-zagging towards a high plateau at around 530m, then heads up the steep slope of the western crags to where the cloud base was waiting to envelope me at around 730m.
At this stage visibility disappeared and there was nothing left to see but the ground beneath my feet for the remaining 200m until I reached the trig point at the summit cairn. I had left the car behind at 09:50 and reached the summit at 11:30 but with nothing to see and the moisture in the clouds starting to seep through my baselayer leaving me chilled enough to put on my hardshell until I could get beneath the cloud level once more.
I stayed long enough at the summit to take a quick picture of Jelly McBaby on the trig point at 927m then headed back down towards the car on a reversal of my outgoing route. The Munro was busier than any I had been on this year, with three other walkers at the summit when I arrived and six more passed on the way up, then another two as I made my way back down to the car. I arrived back at the car park at 12:35, exactly two hours forty five minutes after departure, making this the quickest Munro I can recall walking (except Cairnwell/Carn Aosda from Glenshee ski centre). The distance required to reach here, combined with the state of the roads, means it's unlikely that I will want to return to do it again, which means that I will miss out on the splendid views of barren landscapes visible from the highest summit between Altnaharra and Hvannadalshnúkur on Iceland some 700 miles away.
The drive home took four and a half hours, most of which was spent itching the multitude of midgie bites on my lower legs from when I had briefly rolled up my trouser leg to tie my boots earlier in the day!!
I now have 38 Munro's remaining and will hopefully make some headway into that statistic during my upcoming annual leave at the end of August.
