Over The Hill

Sunday morning dawned with the promise of a dry, if somewhat cloudy day ahead for those intrepid east coast skiers who were heading for Glen Coe, and even a few as far afield as The Lawers range for a x-country adventure. We Carn Dearg west coasters, plus our honorary west coaster, Dave, re-grouped and set our sights on yet another Corbett, this time the remote Meall a'Phubuill which rises above the watershed between Gleann Suileag and Glen Loy; we had decided to approach it from the south via the forest track through Gleann Suileag.

Although it is a relatively long walk-in from the Scottish Woodlands car park at Fassfern to the head of the glen, a graded forest track, a virtual motorway, means that the distance is covered with little effort and at a very steady pace. The real work starts once across the footbridge spanning the An t-Suileag to pick up a rough path which rises diagonally across the hillside towards the waters of the Allt Fionn Doire.

We were navigating using OS 50,000 maps, and headed for an obvious crossing point just short of where the track peters-out on the hillside, and made an easy crossing below a small waterfall. However, when I downloaded my GPS tracking and looked at it on an OS 25,000 map, there, literally 100 metres further along the track, at the point at which it ends on the 50,000 map, the 25,000 map shows a footbridge spanning the river - a point well worth bearing in mind for anyone contemplating following our route.

Shortly after crossing the river we reached the snow line on the south ridge as we ascended the steep, and at times very steep, slopes towards the more gentler slopes of the broad plateau rising above the 650m height. Deep snow gave way to wind-swept rock covered in a coating of ice as we approached the summit cairn, situated centrally on a very flat, and barren summit. The wind was fairly light as we sat around the small cairn to enjoy the views, have our lunch and discuss the options for our descent.

We considered dropping east, down into Coire nan Laogh, but could see that whereas our southern approach had been on soft, deep snow, the icy rock covering the summit continued in an easterly direction towards Coire nan Laogh. Further, we were unsure as to the actual conditions we would meet once in the coire, and so decided not to tempt fate and opted to reverse our approach route and make our descent back down the south ridge and head directly into the glen to pay a visit to the remote Glensulaig Bothy.

Flurry's of light snow swept by for a fleeting moment as we completed our descent only to be replace by a glimmer of bright sun, all of which added to the atmosphere as we tramped around the bothy, and made ourselves at home, enjoying an al-fresco "afternoon tea" in the "garden". Tea over, it was then a short walk from the bothy to re-join the forest track for yet again a long, but leisurely walk back to Fassfern.

Along the way, Alan decided to check out some "alternative" accommodation courtesy of the hydro scheme workings further up the glen - he was probably looking to offer it to those less fortunate than us west coaster + honorary in the chalet, who had encroached upon our hospitality on Saturday night, looking for somewhere warmer than their camper vans and tents! To be fair, everyone brought their own wine and crisps; well maybe not everyone!

Another great day in the hills - Thanks everyone.