206. An Socach (227). 07/01/2019
The need to catch a train made us chose a short walk today and a look at the forecast made us unsure whether even that would be possible at all. "90 mph gusts will make walking tortuous in exposed areas", severe wind chill coupled with some rain meant I wasn't too optimistic, but things turned out better than expected!
It is also worth noting that the route we took (up the glen from Badoch) was far preferable to that of two guide books we had read, taking only slightly more time and begin far more pleasant all round. We opted for staying in the glen for as long as possible to be in some shelter.
We began at first light in moderate wind (even in the glen) and rain. This continued for a little over an hour as we made our way (into the wind!) up the glen. Then the rain stopped. Then the clouds lifted. There was still some wind, but we could see everything and were in no discomfort as we left the far end of the track and made our way across the frozen bog to the summit ridge.
Having been gradually climbing along the track, there was very little ascent left and what little remained was in the shelter of the hill, so we could put most of this behind us before pausing to don extra layers, batten down the hatches and climb out of shelter onto the ridge. We then had about 1km to walk into the wind to the summit, but we got the feeling the wind wasn't as strong as billed and this was quite doable. We had a great view of our walk from two days previously and stayed for a short while before sailing back to where we had sheltered.
With the wind behind us we decided to continue the more direct route back to the start by following the ridge for longer. It was now that the wind really picked up and for a time perhaps we experienced what had been forecast, being unable to stand as we approached the munro's lesser north top. We reflected on how lucky we'd been that this wind hadn't hit half an hour earlier, since the walk to the summit would have been a real challenge. As it was, we were able to descend easily back to the track and were at the car in 4h30, just before some more rain hit. It felt particularly pleasing to have climbed a hill on a day where we weren't sure we were going to be able to get up anything.
It is also worth noting that the route we took (up the glen from Badoch) was far preferable to that of two guide books we had read, taking only slightly more time and begin far more pleasant all round. We opted for staying in the glen for as long as possible to be in some shelter.
We began at first light in moderate wind (even in the glen) and rain. This continued for a little over an hour as we made our way (into the wind!) up the glen. Then the rain stopped. Then the clouds lifted. There was still some wind, but we could see everything and were in no discomfort as we left the far end of the track and made our way across the frozen bog to the summit ridge.
Having been gradually climbing along the track, there was very little ascent left and what little remained was in the shelter of the hill, so we could put most of this behind us before pausing to don extra layers, batten down the hatches and climb out of shelter onto the ridge. We then had about 1km to walk into the wind to the summit, but we got the feeling the wind wasn't as strong as billed and this was quite doable. We had a great view of our walk from two days previously and stayed for a short while before sailing back to where we had sheltered.
With the wind behind us we decided to continue the more direct route back to the start by following the ridge for longer. It was now that the wind really picked up and for a time perhaps we experienced what had been forecast, being unable to stand as we approached the munro's lesser north top. We reflected on how lucky we'd been that this wind hadn't hit half an hour earlier, since the walk to the summit would have been a real challenge. As it was, we were able to descend easily back to the track and were at the car in 4h30, just before some more rain hit. It felt particularly pleasing to have climbed a hill on a day where we weren't sure we were going to be able to get up anything.
Battling through the wind to the summit
Glas Tulaichean and Carn an Righ from the summit
posted by graham at 1:45 PM
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