Over The Hill

The MWIS report for the Central Highlands indicated that Sunday would be the better day of the weekend, and indeed, probably the best day since before Christmas, which was all the more reason to get back to the hills after a prolonged break due, not only to Christmas, but also to some lousy weather during the Christmas period. And so, we were Glen Lochay bound with the 1039m Munro of Meall Ghaordaidh as our objective for the day.

Parking is scarce along Glen Lochay, and the first test of the day was getting Ian's car to within a centimetre of Lawrie's rear bumper, as two other cars had beaten us to the only available roadside parking at our chosen start point - one of the early cars sporting a bright yellow paintwork with the words "Munroz Maddnezz Boyz" (I thing that's how the spelling went) in black down the front doors - so looks like we would have company on the hill at some point.

Anyway, parking test over, we were booted up and heading up the rough and muddy track just above the west bank of the Allt Dhuin Croisg as it steadily climbs towards the scattering of old shielings and sheepfanks further up the hillside. Everyone seemed to be keen to get going, as this was the first major hill for most of us since November, and we soon found the cairn, if that's what about five rocks at the trackside can be described as, which, together, with a large, almost two metre high, steel post marks the spot where the track is left behind and its up and over the broad heather clad hillside.

There is a path of sorts, however, there are wide areas of bog all over the hillside, and so any path you take soon disappears in a swath of bog, and its pot luck if you pick it up again once over the bog. So, it was a steady slog uphill, maintaining a generally northwest heading towards an ever lowering cloud base - whatever happened to the MWIS promise of a good day, at least into the late afternoon - as we had only been going for an hour or so before the cloud built up to a thick mass, and all ahead of us became a grey blanket with visibility generally around 100m, hence the lack of photos to accompany this report, the camera staying firmly in my rucksack.

About midway up the ridge, three figures started to emerge from the mist, and as we passed them by and exchanged the usual banter and pleasantry's, it transpired they were the "Munroz Maddnezz Boyz" from Port Glasgow, and their gloves and hats were as bright as their car, no missing them in the mist.

Around the 800m height, the broad heather hillside gives way to a series of small craggy outcrops which still held quite a depth of snow in them, and the going got a bit awkward as we crossed a number of snow covered troughs, which at times were quite deep, as was witnessed when my right leg completely disappeared up to my waist, and still I couldn't feel anything solid beneath my right foot. As I contemplated how to extract myself from the situation, my "friends" disappeared into the mist and I distinctly heard Ian, who is forever talking about the "buddy system" when climbing, say "We'll collect John on the way back" - thanks "buddy".

Once beyond the craggy outcrops, the last stretch is a fairly easy pull over a rocky plateau towards the summit, which is clearly marked with a low circular stone shelter around the Trig Point. Almost on cue, the weather took a turn for the worse as we completed this final section, with the wind whipping up a fair storm which blasted an icy rain directly into our faces, and so we were grateful for the slight respite that the shelter offered from the wind as we sat down to get some food and a nice hot drink.

We were soon joined by the "Munroz Maddnezz Boyz" who didn't stay long at all before beating a hasty retreat back down the hillside mumbling something about wind and rain.

Although, it has to be said, we didn't hang around too long either, cutting our break short as the wind and rain got seriously strong, and so we made a bee-line off the summit aiming to loose a few hundred metres in height as quickly as possible in the hope that it would get us below the level of the strongest winds. And, fortunately it was a good decision, as once we were below the 700m contour it was noticeably calmer, and the icy rain was not more than a drizzle.

For those of you who look at the route maps which accompany my reports, you may wonder about the dog-leg that appear on the return downhill leg of this route. Well there are, I believe, two reasons for this. Firstly we were weaving our way around the bogs and not necessarily picking up the track as we should have, but probably more to the point, it was noticed that one member of the group produced a "hip flask" on the summit, and while he assured us that it was only water and that he preferred to use the hip flask because the "oblong shape" of the flask fitted into the mesh side pockets of his rucksack better than a bottle. I, however, have my doubts about the flask contents seeing the route trace, and anyway, "oblong shape better than bottle"; pull the other one! And, secondly, Lawrie decided that as we were making quite good time, and may well finish the walk in under our planned time, why not make the best of a soaking and spend some time taking in the sights of the old shielings, you never know, they just may prove "interesting", and so we did, hence the detour towards the shielings alongside the Allt an Fhaing.

Anyway, sightseeing over, the return along the track from the shielings to the roadside was a relatively steady stroll, and we were soon loaded up and en route to the Bridge of Lochay Hotel for a well earned pint and a sit by the roaring log fire.

First walk of 2013, and a Munro to boot, can't do better - Great day and thanks to Lindsay whose suggestion it was we did this hill.