11th - 12th June 2011 - Pentland Hills - Carstairs to Carlops

13th - 15th May 2011 - Gorton, Beinn a' Chreachain and Beinn Achallader

Beinn a' Chreachain (1081m) NN373440
Summitted: Saturday 14th May 2011

Beinn Achallader (1038m) NN344432
Summitted: Saturday 14th May 2011

Setting off from Edinburgh on the Friday evening, we (Myself, Moray, Andy and bothy neophyte/Papa Smurf lookalike Will) parked up at Achallader farm just in time for the rain to start.  We managed to make it over the ford (with wet feet) and over the main bridge before it got dark, and hammered it the rest of the way up the track to Gorton without stopping to put on head torches.  There were a few stumbles, but we all made it in one piece and arrived to find the place empty.  After just a few drinks the call of the sleeping bag became strong and we had all turned in by about 2 a.m.

The following day, we managed to get ourselves fed and out the door in the direction of Beinn a' Chreachain by just after noon.  An early start by some standards.  We were expecting to take about 7 hours to do both Beinn a' Chreachain and Beinn Achallader but this ended up at almost exactly 10 hours walking, give or take a few breaks.

The 'Jacobite', on the way up to Fort William for the summer season

We followed the track East from the bothy over the bridge and under the railway line (at the exact moment a train came speeding over!) and picked our way along a very rough track towards the square tree plantation.  We followed the eastern fence of the plantation up onto the NE ridge of Beinn a' Chreachain.

Eating lunch in the lee of a rock on the NE ridge of Beinn a' Chreachain

Will wondering how much further to go (only 8 hours more!)

Rannoch moor - Ben Alder and Beinn Bheoil just visible to the left of the Loch Ericht gap

'Papa Smurf' not looking happy - Only 7 hours to go!

Snow on the Blackmount, rain guarding the gates to Glencoe

The summit of Beinn a' Chreachain

The summit of Beinn a' Chreachain

We headed down from the summit and followed the path over the shoulder of Meall Buidhe to Beinn Achallader, which is considereably more rocky than Beinn a' Chreachain.  There was a little bit of scrambling to be done at the foot of the summit cone, with a sheer drop to the right hand side, but apart from this, it's not a difficult ascent.

Papa Smurf, nearing the summit of Beinn Achallader

Loch Tulla from the summit

The summit cairn

Beinn Achallader summit photo

No more climbing, right?

Loch Tulla from Beinn Achallader

Descending the steep side to the burn (Allt Coire Achalladair)

Allt Coire Achalladair

The descent down the west side of Beinn Achalalder was very steep and seemed to go on forever, dropping over 500m of height in less than 1Km, but once we reached the burn, it was easy to follow it north to the railway line.  We had decided to walk alongside the track until we got to the bridge at Barravourich, to avoid getting our feet wet at the ford near Achallader farm.

By the time we got back to the bothy it was after 10 and we'd been on the hoof for about 10 hours, a good few hours longer than we had expected.  We were all glad to see the bothy and got the fire going and some food on.  Will the Rookie was looking exhausted but managed to get enough Jack Daniels down his neck to feel queasy before crashing out.

On sunday, we had a leasuirely breakfast and headed down the track in a bit of light rain. Pizzas (and a porcelain toilet) at the Green Wellie Stop beckoned.

Rois Bheinn, a secret howff and Resourie

Thursday 21st - Sunday 24th April 2011

Leaving Edinburgh in the evening, we were aiming to stay the night in a secret bothy that I won't name or locate, apart from saying that it's somewhere in the Lochaber area, but by the time we arrived at the closest parking spot it was pitch dark and finding the bothy would be difficult in the dark considering none of us had been at it before.  We decided to change plan and drove to Glenuig where we pitched our tent by the pub and sat on 'the rock' to open a few beers.  Soon after, Frads - one of the locals and a prior acquaintance - came stumbling along the road and invited us into his house for a drink.  It turned out to be a later night than intended, as is usual in Glenuig.

Next day, we pulled up the tent and headed up Rois Bheinn ('Rainy hill'), which proved challenging as it was probably the hottest day in the year so far.

The large summit cairn on Rois Bheinn

Although not a Munro, Rois Bheinn is a solid Corbett, rising 882 metres (2893 feet) from sea level, with the starting point not much above 10 metres above the sea.  It's a big lump, with two long steep sections and a number of false summits before the top, despite a deceptively simple-looking shape when looked at from down below.

Loch Ailort from the summit of Rois Bheinn

An Stac from the top of Rois Bheinn

The heat had created a haze, obscuring the small isles of Eigg, Rhum, Muck and Canna, and the Skye Cuillins.  On a clear day, Rois Bheinn gives probably the best view of the area.

We descended back to the car and headed along to the Lochailort Inn for a quick pint, having heard that it had recently changed hands - being bought by the new owner of the estate as he was keen that there be a decent boozer to hand and many locals weren't happy with the way it had been run before.

We headed along to the aforementioned secret bothy, struggling to pick our way round the coast to it through some hellish pot-hole filled bogs.  On arrival, we found the bothy to be occupied so we pitched our tent on a flat area below, which turned out to be infested with ticks in numbers I have never seen the like of before.  In fact, the whole area between the bothy and the car was infested.  It seemed as though each blade of grass had a dozen ticks on it, waiting for a host to pass by.

Camping spot - infested with bloody ticks!

The howff, from below.

On Saturday, we lifted the tent and hoofed back to the car.  We were heading for Resourie and decided to stop off at Castle Tioram to see how well it was still standing.  The owner wants to rebuild the castle as a home and as a museum for the Clan MacDonald.  However, Historic Scotland will not give permission for this, insisting it is 'maintained as a ruin' - neither rebuilding nor letting it fall down.

Castle Tioram

Castle Tioram

We headed off to Resourie, where we found a couple had arrived a few minutes before us.  There was plenty of wood for fuel and we soon had a decent fire going in the newly re-lined lum.  The bothy had previously suffered from flooding, but the drainage ditch behind has been re-dug and moisture from the hill now flows around the building (rather than through it!).

Resourie Bothy

On Sunday we packed up casually and headed back up to the car to drive back to Edinburgh via the Corran ferry to save driving all the way back round to Fort William via Strontian, Loch Ailort and Glenfinnan.

Loch Callater and a stab at Carn an Tuirc

Friday 11th - Sunday 13th March 2011

Driving up to Spittal of Glen Shee on the Friday night, we set up our tents behind the Inn and quaffed a few beers before turning in.  It snowed consistently overnight and was set to continue steadily for the whole weekend.  A plan to climb Glas Tulaichean dissolved as a post-breakfast digestion snooze turned into a 2pm panic.  No time to climb munros, we packed up and jumped back into the car to head off to the bothy at Lochcallater, over the other side of Glen Shee.

 Inside Callater Stable - Plush as.

It took an hour and a half up the track, sometimes wading through deep snow drifts, to get to the Lochcallater stable bothy.  It has no fireplace or woodburning stove, so we were carrying a spare tin of gas to try to heat the place up a bit.  It's insulated well enough, but burning the stove did little but provide placebo-effect warmth.  Jack Daniels and Mr Kronenbourg helped stave off the cold.  Outside the snow continued.

Sunday morning we got up and headed over the bridge to find the track up Carn an Tuirc.  This was easily found but swiftly lost under the snowdrifts and a more direct ascent was decided.  The weather was settled at the level of the loch, but as we gained height, the wind whipped up and visibility became more restricted.

Lochcallater Bothy from over the river

With the low visibility, navigation was difficult and as we climed up the summit cone of Carn an Tuirc, we encountered slabs of ice with soft fresh snow sitting on the top.  The combination meant that there was a risk of avalanche and the possibility of being swept down into the featureless whiteout - meaning it would be near impossible to find anyone who fell and any injury sustained in the fall would quickly become fatal in the sub-zero conditions.

A bit parky.

Ice slabs

Crampon Time

Disappointed, we turned back to the bothy.  The going was tough as the consistent snow had created deep snowdrifts in the shallow gullies.  After a cup of tea at the bothy, we packed up and headed back down the track to the car - another hour and a half without a break to get back in daylight (just).

Heading back up to Glen Shee, the snow became quickly much heavier as we gained height in the car until wheelspin stopped us dead.  2 people pushing got us moving again, but the effort involved was too much and we didn't know how far it was to the top of the pass.  The only choice was to turn round and head back to Edinburgh via Aberdeen, adding a good bit onto our journey back.  Suddenly a 10pm return turned into a 3am return.

The Cairnwell and Carn Aosda

The Cairnwell (933m) NO135774
Summitted: Sunday 20th February 2011

Carn Aosda (917m) NO134792
Summitted: Sunday 20th February 2011

The Cairnwell and Carn Aosda are two of the most accessible Munros - in summer.  In the blasting blizzard conditions of February they weren't quite so easy.  Having left Edinburgh on Friday night, we reached the Spittal of Glen Shee Hotel in good time to pitch tents and get a few drinks in at the bar before turning in.

On Saturday it transpired that the overnight snowfall had blocked the road up to the Glen Shee ski centre and it wouldn't be cleared all day, so we ambled up Glen Lochsie instead.  Disappointing, as we had to change our plans completely.

On Sunday the road was open and we drove up to Glen Shee, where there were already hundreds of cars.  A quick stop in the Cairnwell cafe and we were up the hill, dodging skiers and snowboarders as we went.  Conditions on the ridge were fairly harsh - visibility of 50 feet or so, and a cold breeze blowing, but the summit was obtained easily and we quickly headed back down to ridge, in the direction of Carn Aosda.

The summit of The Cairnwell with wind-formed 'horizontal icicles' on the summit antenna 

It had been our intention to summit The Cairnwell, Carn a'Gheoidh and Carn Aosda, but a combination of weather conditions and a late start forced us to leave Carn a'Gheoidh for another time.  As the weather conditions deteriorated, we followed the ridge round to Carn Aosda, counting steps and following a bearing to navigate through the white squalls.

The summit of Carn Aosda

By the time we summited Carn Aosda, the wind had picked up again with a vengeance.  We headed back along the ridge with the intention of checking out the Carn Aosda hut, but a momentary lapse in judgement led us down the western flank of Carn Aosda instead of the south slope that would take us to the hut.  Having dropped most of the way down to the Baddoch burn, a brief window in the low cloud showed us our error and we were forced to head back up the hill once again.  The increasingly deep snow, combined by the fact that we had eaten nothing but the odd bit of chocolate for 5 hours meant that fatigue was setting in.  We reached the top and found a fence that would lead us to the top of one of the ski tows; which would take us the rest of the way down to the cafe.  The slopes were earily deserted now, as were the car parks when they came into view.

We'd been out for about 7 hours, taking no more than a minute to stop every so often - never sitting down.  Our clothes were frozen solid and had acquired horizontal icicles of their own.  The temperature was dropping significantly on the way from the cafe to the car, as the last faint sunlight disappeared.  The thermometer had said -10C on the summit, with 60 or 70 MPH of wind chill bringing it down to about -35 Celcius.  Snow goggles and gloves were essential and any exposed skin would become painful within no more than a few minutes.  Now that it was dark the temperature on the tops could easily have dipped to -45 or lower, so we were very glad not to get stuck out on the hill any longer - an overnight outside wouldn't have been too much fun.

Back at the Car