They say ‘It comes to those who wait’, I sure waited, for around 4 years for the right time. Whenever I had time the conditions looked poor so not worth making the trip there. But finally the time had come and there was a window of opportunity.
I arrived at the car park at Inverlael on a warm sunny day at around noon, heaved on the weighty pack for a three day trip and after checking the map set off, it was uphill from the start, nearly 15 kilometres. Ouch…
The way in
Luckily there was just enough of a breeze to keep things cool enough, the further in I got the steeper the hill became until a couple of soft snow fields, energy sapping, needed to be crossed. There would be more snow to negotiate later in the trip.
Looking back from where I started
Finally making it to the spot I’d chosen for the first camp, a flat area between three of the mountains I wanted to climb, I discovered much snow was still around and the small bodies of water of which there many were still frozen and covered in snow. I found a small grassy rise that would make an ideal spot for the tent. It was windy up here and a chilly northly, it was time to throw on some warm layers.
Camp one
It was flat but the ground rocky with a light covering of soil and grass, the pegs didn’t go in far and were difficult to place, ha, some bad words may have been muttered. Luckily there were some large rocks to weigh down the pegs. I made it to the lip of the hanging corrie battling the now icy wind for a beautiful sunset, but with that wind I didn’t know at the time if any of the images would be sharp or blurry and ruined by the wind and camera movement.
The sun sinks at the end of day one taking its warmth with it
Frosty night
Over night the windy conditions abated with clear skies overhead and some illumination from the moon, a hard frost would form on the tent flysheet overnight.
It would be a 3am rise to be on the summit of Cona ‘Mheall for sunrise and it would be a close run thing. The upper half of the mountain was a bouldery affair and covered in frost to make the going a little more challenging not to mention those that tipped and rocked. But once there I was treated to a fabulous sunrise that slowly illuminated all the mountains around.
Earth shadow giving way to a pink glow and keeping back from the corniced edge
Alpenglow on Beinn Dearg, my next destination
A fab sunrise
I headed back on down and on to my next target, the mountain of Beinn Dearg which would set a new set of challenges. Not expecting much snow I’d not brought crampons not wanting to carry the extra weight if not needed. Hmm, the ascent was steep with a number of snow fields mostly firm but with careful maneuvering negotiable, but it was slow going. Summit number 2 was reached in glorious sunshine with views to the Fannich mountain range.
The descent would be equally slow going and I was glad to make it back to the tent for lunch and a little siesta in the warm sun. There was no time to dally too long though, I had to pack up and head up to summit number 3.
Hard going lugging all the gear up having already completed two summits and carrying 3.5 litres of water as there would be none for such a high camp. To make it harder a number of now soft snow fields had to be crossed as well and often there were hollows under the snow to catch me out, my leg often going through up to the knee. It sure got irritating after a while and I was glad to make it to the stony summit. I carried on for another 200 metres or so to find a spot to camp.
Back for lunch, Beinn Dearg in the background
Camp 2 just off the summit of Meal nan Ceapraichean
Evening meal with a view
Another early start though the sunrise wasn’t so spectacular and it was time to pack up again and move on to the next summit. It didn’t look far on the map but seemed a long way on the ground. I dropped the pack behind some rocks and ascended to summit number 4 with only with my camera bag. I didn’t linger and was soon back down, hefting the heavy pack and heading out.
Summit number 4, Eididh nan Clach Geala
It was a long twisty path back out to the main path I’d walked in on and it was good to get back on to something a little straighter. The walk out seemed longer than the walk in but the aches and pains were soothed with the knowledge that I’d climbed 4 more mountains that had made me wait a year or two. It had been worth the wait for such fantastic conditions. It dose come to those who wait…