Beinn Mhanach seen on the way down from Beinn Dorain

Cairn Lochan and the Fincail ridge from the rise to Cairngorm

After the disappointment of the last trip I was determined not to let the same thing happen again. I was up on the overnight coach from London and was dissapointed when the weather turned out to be cloud and showers at Bridge of Orchy instead of the forecast good weather. After a cup of tea at the hotel I was off.

The rain stayed off for the majority of the ascent though mist remained on the summit ridge, the winds were slack and it was a popular summit. I made it up to the top in two hours which was good going considering I had a backpack for two thirds of the ascent. The mist cleared when I made my way back down to the pack; typical!

The route had a feeling about it reminiscent of the Lakes with the huge eroded paths and the crowds. I was to leave them all as I headed into wilder domains. Although only half a day’s hike to the nearest road it felt a lot more remote than that with the summits all in the way of the road. Rain set in after lunch and the next summit was a grassy trudge in the mist again. I was soon in my tent while the rain, though moderate, continued through the night and into the morning. I had good radio reception and so thought about the damp a bit less.

It was a wet day, the promise of a brighter afternoon never materialised until evening. I had a train to catch to Corrour and that motivated me enough to get up and set off into the rain. Gales had developed overnight on the summit ridges; when coupled with rain in a warm environment the situation is quite unpleasant. I savoured it though for grand places have all sorts of raging moods all of them should be experienced especially when far away from habitation.

The rain temporarily stopped for half an hour on the second summit and I thought that was then end of that. I was wrong, it started again and continued in prolonged frequent showers with no sunshine after that. It was a shame that I had such conditions for such grand mountains. These summits have great northern escarpments looking over the vast Rannoch Moor to the jagged peaks to the west and north.

The soup at the hotel was very welcome and this time I didn’t have so long to wait for the train compared with last year. The wind died down to nothing once I arrived at the youth hostel and the rain soon cleared after that. It was to be a damp muggy night and I subsequently had difficulty drying out my damp clothes.

Looking east from Chno Dearg
to Loch Pattack

The day proved to be somewhat better overall than yesterday though residual low cloud from last night took its’ time to clear away. The ascent to Beinn na Lap was thus damp and muggy, slow as well in the long grass. The warden said next time I’m here I should try to join the ‘running round Loch Ossian in under one hour club’. Quite a tough challenge I’m told.

On the way down from Beinn na Lap the cloud shifted at last giving a bright day with occasional showers. I arrived at my intended campsite at lunch time before heading off lightly equipped for the next two summits. The ascent to the high rolling plateaux was short steep and quick, all that was needed was to reach the next summit before the mist did, I lost. However I just made it to Chno Dearg just before the cloud did giving me my first summit view of any sort on this trip.

A light breeze developed in the glen and as such had no problems with midges. Midges proved to be less troublesome this trip and as such only had problems with them on the very last day of this trip. There is thus something good to be said about ‘unsettled weather’:- it prevent’s your sanity from being ‘unsettled’!

Early morning drizzle encouraged a lie in but after that the weather improved to cloud and showers. The walk to the east end of Loch Ossian was brisk along the good track but after Loch Ossian the walk up to the ridge between the two Munros was slow and tiring as a consequence of the long grass and peat hags. Huge bumble bees springing out of nowhere scared me to death on the way up.

The views were vast and empty across the boggy Rannoch Moor on the other side and the wilderness felt very remote. Rain set in for an hour after the ascent of the second summit and I now had a long moorland walk to get to Ben Alder cottage. I spotted two people fishing by a remote loch in the middle of nowhere. Remote places coupled with lack of distinctive features tend to make humans rare species in these parts. Seeing people on such Munros as those just climbed is uncommon, seeing people fishing in such an area carries extremely low probability with it.

I made progress easier by following a stream down which had grassy banks. Following streams across gentle moorland is often a good idea as the going is a lot easier.

I reached Ben Alder cottage at 3pm, the bothy was all locked up except for a back room. The whole place stank of urine and defecation and I would much prefer my tent to that in the wettest of days. This wasn’t where I was to stay for the night, I climbed 400m up to Bealach Breabag for my camp. The ascent up Ben Alder from here looked potentially very steep on the map so it to my relief when I got there that an easy way could be made up. After visiting that bothy I have subsequently been put off visiting any bothies. The evening cleared up to give sunshine, although the weather for tomorrow sounded grim on the forecast.