This land was made for you and me........part 2

After quite a restful night's sleep, for me anyway, I was up and at them early doors for breakfast, Alan and Isobel did me proud with a HUGE plate of sausage bacon egg tattie scone black pudding tomato and mushrooms....filled me up and lasted me all day. They were very helpful and  accommodating hosts....as I was to find out later when i returned looking like a drenched rat....nothing was too much trouble for them. I departed in the rain, hoping that it would dissipate as i drove to my destination, and travelled the 15 miles to my start point...a lay by on the A86 lying between Loch Laggan and the reservoir. Upon arrival I was dismayed to find that the rain was in fact getting heavier, not lighter, but adorned the full waterproof coating required for such conditions. I headed off from the car at approximately 1030, crossed the river Laggan, followed the road through the estate towards Luiblea and passed the forest of Torr Ghuilbinn.

 I could literally see nothing but my feet hitting the footpath at this point, such was the ferocity of the rain coming down, and it felt very much like a trudge rather than an enjoyable walk along a very good path. I passed the lumbering hulk that is Binnein Shuas, sitting between Loch Laggan and Lochan na h-Earba, as i continued on the path following the Allt Meall Ardruighe.

 I soon crossed a wooden 'bridge' and turned left past a small un-named reservoir, taking the path out towards Lochan na h-Earba....where you have to cross another wooden bridge and begin to climb the boggy ground to the right of the path (the path would take you on a circuit of the Lochan), to meet another well defined path further up the slope that takes you alongside the Allt Coire Pitridh.

Follow this path further up the hill until you come to an obvious feeder for the main stream, which will hopefully only require some rock hopping skills to cross. I managed to get across at this point hopping onto three large prominent boulders as the stream ran swiftly between them (more of this later). Cut across open moorland, very boggy at the best of times, and begin the LOOOONG climb up very steep grassy rocky slopes to reach the summit of Coire Mor Chlachair.     

Here there should be excellent views back to Loch Laggan and beyond...unfortunately the mist was beginning to engulf me in its snare and i could see very little...if it were at all possible the rain also appeared to be getting heavier!!! There is no path at this point and care should be taken, especially in such conditions, as you make your way around the Coire rim, circle to your right as you walk in what feels like a continual loop until you are around the other side of the Coire Mor Chlachair....the plateau feels quite wide and open but in the mist it is easy to lose bearings and stray too close to the Coire edge or out towards the Garbh Bhruthach cliffs on your left. The summit cairn lies at 1087m and should have extensive views of all the hills in the surrounding area, including the grey corries and aonachs....I saw the square root of sod all!!!!

The wind picked up severely at this point and was literally blowing me back down the path I had climbed. I stopped long enough o get a quick snap at the summit then moved on, back down the path round the coire rim then branched right to head down and across the summit plateau to a spot height at 977m, continuing across to the edge of a rock face hanging over the Loch a' Bealaich Leamhain. Now i would love to say that the Loch is a beautiful distraction from all the green steep slopes and rocky outcrops....but i didnt even catch a glimpse of it in the gloom, indeed i only know of its existence as the map told me it was there. The choices were to descend down the grassy/rocky slope in low visibility, risking falling on my face/arse on loads of jaggy rocks, or head further north and descend equally steep grassy slopes, minus the rockiness, but taking me slightly further towards the Loch below and away from the stalkers path that I needed to find. In these conditions, alone, safety is paramount and so I started along the ridge further to the north, stopping before the cliff edge, and found a descent through the boggy grassy slopes. After a few initial slips and stumbles I slowed myself down, realising that in my eagerness to get down I was putting myself at risk by rushing my steps. Its amazing what a difference it make to your self confidence by slowing down and talking yourself through each and every step you take....chanting the mantra...."I have done worse than this and survived, take your time and be safe".....The feeling of complete solitude when walking in the mist can play such awful tricks on you, it becomes more of a psychological challenge than a physical one...my legs were fine but my head was all over the place....constant map checks and confirmations with the GPS of my position, where I would normally only need one every so often in decent conditions....self doubt is a constant reminder of why people actually get into difficulties on the hills and motivates me to stay safe. Once down the slope and onto the stalkers path I headed left and then right before climbing more steep grassy slopes, between rocky outcrops hanging over the other side of Loch a Bhealaich Leamhain, towards the summit of Geal Charn....climbing for what feels like forever yet again, passing another couple of false summits, until finally reaching the cairn at 1049m.

The cairn apparently, according to my map anyway, sits on the edge of a rocky outcrop and has a trig point close by. The rain was so bad by this stage that I daren't step out from the shelter of the cairn to even check out the trig point. I got Jelly McBaby out and went to take his picture on the cairn, only to discover that water had gotten into my drybag and soaked my fone!! I had failed to spot the tiniest hole in the drybag (caused by a small slip on rocks last week) prior to packing and had initially thought that water had ran down my sleeve and into the bag.....thankfully I had removed my new fone earlier in the day and stowed it safely inside the main compartment of my rucksack. I decided to risk taking it out in the downpour only to get a pic at the cairn, then stashed it away safely again until the next/last summit. With my final summit a mere hope and skip away, compared to the distance between the first two, I set off down marshy slopes now.....the rain was getting worse, my jacket had wetted out, pockets were actually full of water, every time i removed my gloves i had to wring them out before pulling them back on again. I was sinking ankle deep with each step into the grassy mush beneath my feet...onward and downward i plodded to regain the stalkers path running between Geal Charn and Creag Pitridh...across even boggier marshier conditions than anything so far as the adverse weather was taking its toll on the landscape. As i reached the path the weather cleared briefly and i could see the path running up the side of the slope, finally a rocky path to follow...no more grassy slopes...or so i thought. A decent path zig zags its way to the summit cairn, sitting on a rocky top at 924m.

I took one final shot of Jelly McBaby on the cairn then devoured a packet of cranberries i had in my pack for energy, then off down across the rocky top to reach the slopes of Sgurr an t Saighdeir.....oh shit....more grassy mush to plod down!!! And so plod i did, for what was the point in carefully picking out steps to avoid the worst of the mush...i was as wet as i was ever likely to get in my life by now!!! The slopes are actually a gentle descent compared to anything else on this day and lead you back down to the access path i had taken 5 hrs previously, crossing the river to start my upward assault on this trio of tops. Upon reaching the river i thanked my lucky stars that i need not cross her again...the fast flowing stream of earlier had transformed into a raging torrent in spate....even the tributary stream was flooding past me at a rate of knots which would have been impossible to cross. I followed the stream back down to the valley floor and traversed the final hour  back along the path to the car without incident. It is no exaggeration to say that i must have weighed at least half my weight again due to the sapped nature of all my layers....but thankfully skin is waterproof so i was not completely diluted. God only knows what the people in the van parked behind my car must have thought as i raged at myself pulling layers of soaking clothes off my body before falling onto the backseat of my car to hide as i removed my sopping wet underwear!!!! Thankfully I always carry a towel in the car and was able to get semi dry before adorning shorts and t-shirt for the drive back to my digs.......

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