Cape Wrath Trail

I am planning to walk the Cape Wrath Trail from Fort William to Cape Wrath between April 22nd and May 18th. I hope to include some Munros that I haven't done yet on the way:

Meall Buidhe (Knoydart)
Beinn Liath Mhor (Torridon)
Sgorr Ruadh
Beinn a' Chlaidheimh (actually no longer a Munro technically but was when I first started on them)
Mullach Choire Mhic Fhearchair
Sgurr Ban (Letterewe)

As well as camping, I will be staying in bothies, bunkhouses and hotels. I will be posting supplies to my accomodation whenever possible and Dorothy will be joining me for a week.

This map shows where I will be walking and where I am staying:



I plan to get the train to Fort William and bus then train back from Durness.

I am really enjoying planning it all out and I have been doing a lot of thinking about what to take with me. It isn't easy balancing what you might need with its weight. Based on my current list, I'll be wearing about 3 kg and carrying about 13 kg. On days when I have several nights camping or bothying then I'll be carrying a bit more to start off with, but less on other days.

I am following the route recommended in the Cicerone Guide, for which there is an excellent website.

I am hoping to update the blog as I go along. Here is a photo I took on a family holiday several years ago from Sandwood Bay, which is near the end.

Am Buchaille from Sandwood Bay

2017 - Walks Leading with HF Holidays

I now have all my locations for leading walks with HF in 2017. So really looking forward to it:-

    Malham (Yorkshire Dales) - 4 nights - Family Week
    Glencoe (Scotland) - 2 weeks - including Munrobagging 1
    Selva (Italy - Dolomites) - 2 weeks
    Neustift (Austria - Alps) - 2 weeks
    Glencoe (Scotland) - 2 weeks - including Munrobagging 2
    Bonassola (Italy - Cinque Terre) - 2 weeks

Details available at www.hfholidays.co.uk

Mobile Technologies

I wrote a paper for HF arguing that we should be making better use of Mobile Technologies and I have been asked to run a workshop at the two Abroad Leader Conferences. I have done one of these and the other is this weekend. I end up giving the talk four times at each conference so that we can share other ideas in small groups.

It seems to me that not only are there lot's of great apps and internet resources out there nowadays, but also that the subject is really interesting in its own right and that the people coming on our walks can reasonably expect us to be clued up.

Of course, you need to mind your battery power or you may not have a phone for emergencies. Perhaps the best idea is to carry a cheap phone with you as well - just in case!

Navigation and Route Planning

There are some brilliant navigation and route planning resources available from the internet now. These are no substitute for Map and Compass but are a very useful additional tool. e.g.

Ordnance Survey

Open Street Map (Online and as an App inc. Windows Phone e.g. with MapFactor Navigator))

Google Earth / Google Maps / Satellite View / Street View

Freizeitkarte: These are based on OpenStreet Map and allow you to import them into Garmin or Android devices

Komoot is another GPS Mapping tool available online, for Android and for iPhone (https://en.komoot.de)

ViewRanger

Fitness/Activity Trackers

So many people are into fitness and activity trackers these days and they allow you to analyse sleep patterns, steps taken, height climbed, heart rate and much more. It’s great to compare graphs after a walk. e.g.

Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin, Moov, TomTom, Xiaomi, Goji, Samsung, Misfit

Apps

Loads of brilliant mobile phone apps are now available to help you enjoy the outdoors. Here are my favourites:

Flora and Fauna

Alpine Flower Finder - Europe
Mountain Flora and Fauna
Wild Flower Id
Bird Song ID
Birds of Britain
Lichens

Earth, Sky and Weather

ViewRanger (Skyline) or Peakscanner
iGeology/iGeology 3D
Star Chart
Mountain Weather UK
AccuWeather
YR (Norwegian Weather Service)

Emergencies and Translation

Most of these allow you to call for help and include GPS Location e.g. Hilfe Notfall App – Tyrol / Swiss Help Emergency Call / Alpify (Spain and Other places)

UEPAA! is an interesting development that we may see more of in the future but I think you need to mind your battery power!

First Aid e.g. Red Cross First Aid App / Wilderness First Aid

Collins Language Dictionaries. So much easier than carrying a book that weighs about 1kg.

Word Lens / Google Translate - Translates by using a photo. Really Cool!

HF Leading: The rest of 2016

My last update was written while I was in Zakopane. After that I led at Mayrhofen for two weeks. Then I led another Munrobagging week from Glencoe and finally a week leading in Montelupo.

I was scheduled to go to Norcia but sadly, there were earthquakes and this was called off.

Mayrhofen - Below the Ziller Dam

Before I led the Munrobagging week, I spent a week checking out routes for this year's Munrobagging 2 Holiday. Here's the itinerary from the HF website.

Stob Dubh & Stob Coire Raineach
Buachille Etive Bearg or The Little Buachille as its affectionatly known is a lovely ridge with two munros. It gives great views of its larger neighbours but is certainly not intimidated by them. Our walk traverses both munros before passing the famous Largangarbh climbing hut and ends with an easy walk on The West Highland Way to The Kingshouse Hotel.
9 miles (15km) with 3,150ft (970m) of ascent
Ben Lui
Ben Lui, seen from Tyndrum, is a classic shape of two ridges enclosing a deep corrie that holds snow well into spring. We will walk in from Tyndrum and ascend Ben Lui via a horseshoe shaped route taking in both ridges, returning to a pub Tyndrum. We even pass a working gold mine!
12 miles (19km) with 3,650ft (1,220m) of ascent
Meall a Bhuirdh & Creise
Meall a Bhuirdh is one of Scotlands premier sking mountains. We start at the ski centre and traverse the hills to tackle Criese by a rocky nose that looks intimidating but actually has a good but steep path up. From Criese we drop to a col and onto Meall a Bhuirdh where there are good views of the two previous days hills. The finish is a straightforward decent to the cafe and tea.
8 miles (12.5km) with 3,700ft (1,140m) of ascent
Stob a Choire Mheadhoin & Stob Coire Easain
The Easiens, as these hills are better known, stretch south from Fersit along the west shore of the isolated Loch Treig. After a walk along a track there is a pull up onto the ridge with an excellent traverse over both munros. We have to traverse Stob a Choire Mheadhoin twice as this is the safest return route but unfortunately we can’t count the second occasion as a third Munro!
9.5 miles (15.5km) with 4,100ft (1,280m) of ascent
Binnean Beag & Sgurr Eilde Mor
Starting in Glen Nevis we follow the north bank of The River Nevis passing the famous Steall waterfall. After 10km we turn south west to head onto the first of the two most easterly munros of the Mamore range. Both give excellent views of the rest of the Mamore range as well as Ben Nevis. We finish at a pub in Kinlochleven for a well earned pint to celebrate our 9^th Munro of the holiday.
13 miles (20.5km) with 4,400ft (1,350m) of ascent

Binean Beag and The Grey Corries from below Sgurr Eilde Mor

We had remarkably good weather for Munrobagging 1. Although it did get a bit cold and misty on Creag Meagaidh and Aonach Beag.

Here's the itinerary for Munrobagging 1:

Sunday: Beinn Sgulaird
Beinn Sgulaird provides a good start to the holiday with fine coastal views of Appin. We start at Elleric following a good track until we join the ridge and continue to Stob Gaibhre. We follow the ridge with rocky outcrops to Beinn Sgulaird. We then head over Meall Garbh and top 863m before decending to a col and continuing down to Druimvuic. 7.5 miles (12 km) with 3,740 ft (1,150m) of ascent.
Monday: Stob Ghabhar & Stob Coire Odhair
Stob Ghabhar and Stob a Choire Odhair provide a fine walk across stony peaks and desolate corries with great views in all directions. We start at Victoria Bridge having passed the Inveroran Hotel (hopefully our finish point for a beer). We climb a path alongside the Allt Toaig eventually heading onto Stob Ghabhar. From there we go up to top 976m, then follow the ridge Sron Giubhas until a gap in the cliffs allows us to descend into Coiren Lochan. From there we continue to Stob a Choire Odhair before rejoining our outward path and heading to the pub for a well earned pint. 12 miles (19.5km) with 4,100 ft (1,250m) of ascent.
Tuesday: Binean Mor and Na Gruagaichean
These two Munros are at the higher, eastern end of the Mamores and offer excellent views of the rest of the Mamore Ridge, the mountains around Glencoe and the Ben Nevis range. We start and finish in Kinlochleven. We follow stalkers' paths that rise steadily to just below Sgurr Eilde Beag. After a steep section, it is ridge walking to Binean Mor and Na Gruagaichean. We then descend via another stalkers path to Kinlochleven. 9.5 miles (15km) with 4,600 ft (1,400m) of ascent.
Thursday: Carn Liath, Stob Poite Coire Ardair and Creag Meagaidh
Creag Meagaidh provides straightforward walking along the rim of a deep mountain cirque, traversing three Munros and six other tops. We start at Aberarder car park and walk into the coire on a good path. Soon we ascend along a narrow path at first then onto open hillside to reach Carn Liath. Heading west we go over a number of tops to Stob Poite Coire Ardair. Along the walk there are great views to the famous winter climbing cliffs. We go down to the Window then ascend to our final Munro Creag Meagaidh. We cross three more tops before heading back to the start. 13.5 miles (21.5 km) with 4,000ft (1,200m) of ascent.
Friday: Traverse of Aonach Beag and Aonach Mor
These two mountains are the 7th and 8th highest in Scotland respectively. They form a long ridge that separates Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg from the Grey Corries ridge so they offer excellent views of both. We start at the head of Glen Nevis and walk through breathtaking scenery to Steall. From there it is a long steady climb to the summit of Sgurr a Bhuic, which should offer good views of upper and lower Glen Nevis. We continue to Aonach Beag and on to Aonach Mor. From here it is a steady descent to the top station of the Gondola, at which point we can decide whether or not to walk down or catch a ride to the valley below. 10 miles (16km) with 5,000 ft (1,500m) of ascent.

Na Gruagaichean

Montelupo was very different. Each evening you get the opportunity to drink the wine from the vineyards you have walked through during the day.

Walking through the Vineyards

 

Shadows near Montelupo

 It was great to finish the years leading in sunshine!

Name Change

I decided to change the name of the blog to something a bit less obscure.

Loch Mullardoch and Loch Monar

[Note for Non Scots: Burn is Scottish for a stream. A name that starts with Allt or Uisge is also a stream in Gaelic. Bealach is Gaelic for Col]

There are 4 Munros all on a ridge to the North of Glen Strathfarrar and another 4 all on a ridge to the North of Loch Mullardoch. They are all fairly inaccessible so Dorothy and I set off on a mini expedition to ‘bag’ them with our new Terra Nova Laser Competition II Tent. On Fri 21^st October, we drove in our Citroen Berlingo Camper Van from Hebden Bridge to about 1km West of Liatrie in Glen Cannich in the Scottish Highlands (NH237323). This took about 9 hours.

Where we went. Original drawing from SMC Guide.

We slept in the van and next morning, having left a note in the side window to say where we were going we joined another of those ghastly hill tracks. Because of new Electricity Tariffs encouraging hydro schemes and in order to make it easier for people to shoot deer these tracks are being created all over the place and they are ridiculously wide and ugly. Please get involved in the campaign against them at http://www.scotlink.org/workareas/hill-tracks/.

A stag checks out our van

The track eventually stopped near a dam and we headed over the Bealach a Bhaca and descended by the Allt Innis na Larach to Glen Strathfarrar. On this side of the hills there was yet another huge track heading south. The campaign are asking people to let them know about these tracks Either email photos with your name and contact details to hilltracks@scotlink.org or tweet a photo using the hashtag #hilltracks and they will look out for it. I have done the latter from my Twitter account @Pete_Thomasson.

We were heading for Inchvuilt which is quite a way up the glen but had chosen not to cross by the Bealach Fhurain because the bridge shown on the map near Inchvuilt was closed according to trip reports on the WalkHighlands website. Unfortunately, the bridge at 263384 also turned out to be closed. It did still exist though - as a suspension bridge - but the wooden section hanging from the wires was not in great condition. One at a time we gingerly climbed over the “Closed – Danger Sign” and crossed, keeping close to the edge that was best suspended. It would have been a very long walk round otherwise.

Bridge Closed!

This got me wondering if it wouldn’t be possible to have a list of these closed bridges that could be kept up to date by walkers on the internet. I have contacted the MCofS but they aren’t keen.

We then walked along the Glenstrathfarrar road to camp near the confluence of the Allt Toll a’Mhuic and the River Farrar at 223391. We worked out that later we could cross the Garbh-Uisge burn, presumably because water levels were so low, in Loch Mullardoch. This would save us some time on Monday.

The weather had been good all day and we arrived in time to enjoy our Mountain House rehydrated meal (http://www.mountainhouse.eu/main-meals/big-pack-pouches) cooked on my new Esbit Stove that burns fuel blocks (https://esbit.de/en/cookset-for-solid-fuel-cs585ha). I like fuel blocks because you know just how many you need. With gas canisters it’s hard to tell how much cooking is left in them. Admittedly the stove is slow. It takes about 7 minutes to boil half a litre but there’s no shortage of time when you are camping.

Sunset from Glen Strathfarrar

On Sunday morning, we woke at 6:30 and set off up the path below the dramatic cliffs of Sgurr na Muice at 8:30. The path climbs steadily up and across the face of Sgurr na Fearstaig to the ridge. Then on up to Sgurr Fhuar-thuill, the first Munro of the trip. 

Sgurr na Muice across Loch Toll a' Mhuic

We then carried on over Creag Gorm a’ Bhealaich (a Munro top) and onto Munro #2, Sgurr a Choire Ghlais. We had incredible views but there was a bitterly cold wind. We thought we could see the Cuillin on Skye but later worked out that it was the Torridon Hills. Down and up onto Carn nan Gobhar (Munro #3) and then finally on to Sgurr na Ruaidhe (Munro #4).

Looking East along the ridge

We headed South East to the Coire Mhuillidh and followed the path back into Glen Strathfarrar. A car was driving up the glen in the right direction even though it was a private road and it was after 6pm, when the gate closes. We stuck out our thumbs and it stopped to pick us up. The driver and passenger lived at, or were heading for Monar Lodge. We asked if we could have a lift back to our tent near Inchvuilt and they agreed. They asked if we had permission to camp and I asked if we needed it. They clearly weren’t crazy about ramblers wandering about but that’s Open Access for you (http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/Practical-guide/public/camping).

We were also asked if we had a car in the glen. There are some strange regulations surrounding access to Glen Strathfarrar (http://www.mcofs.org.uk/strathfarrar-access.asp). The gate is only open at certain times and you can’t have a vehicle in the glen overnight. Apparently this is because the wealthy Malaysian businessman who owns the glen is concerned about poaching. Nice of him to allow the road to be used during the day though!

Anyway, they very kindly dropped us off by our tent so we were most grateful as it was dark by now. This saved one and a half hours of walking along the road seeing if we needed to use our head torches or if our eyes would adjust to the dark.

On Monday we packed up the tent and crossed the Garbh-uisge burn. We walked along the northern side of Uisge Misgeach, past the Gleann Innis an Locheil Power Station then left the main track and a couple of men out deerstalking (on 24^th Oct?).

Looking back into Glen Strathfarrar on Monday morning

We walked alongside the Allt an Eas Bhan Mhoir on a lovely stalkers path up to Loch Mor and found a place to put our tent at the southern end of the loch, just below the ridge (152350). First job, after putting the tent up - dig a deep poo hole.

We’d had another day of good weather although it was cold and windy out of the sun. A south facing corrie would have been sunnier but a lot windier.

Monday night had been cloudless so we awoke to a frosty scene with fantastic views of the stars. You could see The Milky Way stretching across the sky and Orion’s Sword.

On Tuesday we set off Eastwards, at first through frosty grass, then curved round South onto Bealach Toll an Lochain. We only had light packs today. Like Sunday, we could leave a lot of stuff in the tent. Fully laden with 5 days of food my pack weighed about 15kg so these lighter packs were a pleasant change. We ascended Creagan Toll an Lochain onto the end of the very long An Riabhachan ridge. We followed this over the summit (Munro #5) and then down and up to An Socach (Munro #6).

A fence post, an inversion over Loch Monar  and me. (All photos taken by Dorothy)

Once more, great views but a cold wind. Coming down from An Socach we were surprised to meet people in such a remote spot - two very friendly guys from Newcastle. We returned to the tent the way we came. Thus climbing An Riabhachan twice.

The weather changed overnight and it was very blowy in the tent. We packed it all up in light rain but it soon eased off. The wind didn’t ease off though. Back up on the ridge it was very strong with gusts that forced you to stand still and lean on your walking pole until they’d passed. The packs were quite a bit lighter now we’d eaten nearly all the food. We still had the litter and some unfinished Nuts and Trail Mix. I think we took a bit too much of that.

We battled our way to the top of Sgurr na Lapaich (Munro #7) and hid behind the cairn that surrounded the trig point. The next bit was tricky as some of it was over slippery boulders. By using the map, compass and Dot’s good path spotting skills, we kept to the right of the spine that goes East from Sgurr na Lapaich and found the path down to Bealach na Cloiche Duibhe. It was then a steady plod to the top of Carn nan Gobhar (Munro#8), once again in strong gusting wind but mixed with rain by now.

Finally, some respite from the wind as we headed for the col before Creag Dubh then S and SSE to join the ugliest new hill track I have ever seen. A wide area at 203330 had been completely flattened by vehicles and it was very difficult to cross in the wet without sinking right in. We followed this ridiculously wide track down to the dam and back to the van.

Loch Mullardoch in the rain.

The cramped van seemed like total luxury. We had been very lucky with the weather, although we now had a fair bit of wet stuff. We were lucky to get that lift and lucky to get across the bridge. All in all, an amazing trip and 8 Munros ‘bagged’. An Socach took Dot to the half way mark (141) and I now have 24 left to do!

2016 Half Way Through

Well, I'm about half way through and it's going really well. The Family Week at Derwentwater was fun. There were a few issues with using the Launches on Derwentwater. Believe it or not because there was "Too much water in the lake"!

Not too much water in Sorrento. Very busy area though, especially trying to drive round to the Amalfi coast. We went to Pompeii and Herculaneum as well walking on the "Path of the Gods".

View from the Path of the Gods

HF were good enough to let me spend a week checking out the routes for the Munrobagging holiday, I then lead on a normal Glencoe Guided Walking week before leading the first HF Munrobagging holiday. I was lucky enough to experience 3 weeks of amazing weather. On the Munrobagging holiday we did ten Munros: Beinn Sgulaird, Stob Ghabhar, Stob a Choire Odhair, Binean Mor, Na Gruagaichean, Carn Liath, Stob Poite Coire Ardair, Creag Meagaidh, Aonach Beag and Aonach Mor. Amazing views from Colonsay to the Cairngorms.

Loch Leven

I then had a week leading for HF in Dolgellau. This area around southern Snowdonia is a bit of a hidden gem. How about this for beatiful singing by the hotel staff!

Next up was a week at Adelboden in Switzerland. This is a beautiful place looking just like the traditional Chocolate Box. Once again some lovely weather. So easy to get to the walks using local cable cars as well.

View from our hotel balcony

I am now writing this from Zakopane in Poland. Again, very easy to get to the walks using cable cars, chair lifts and local buses. Very busy here but so lovely to see so many Polish Working Class families out walking with their kids in the Tatra Mountains. We have had three days of good weather, if a little misty at times. It was a bit wet yesterday when we walked in Slovakia and today it has been throwing it down all day. We just went for a short walk this morning.

Sheltering from the rain in Tatra Mountains but still smiling

In between I've been on a two day Outdoor First Aid Course and a couple of one day courses: Geology of Snowdon (held in pouring rain) and Mountain Flora and Fauna (another slightly damp day in the Lake District).

Dot and I also went to New Zealand in February. So a pretty amazing year so far.