Last month’s walk: Three of the 5 Sisters of Kintail – Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe, Sgurr na Carnach and Sgurr Fhuaran. (3 very wet sisters)
Walkers: Alan, Harry, Bob, Di, Myra, Neil and Rob
Well, we had a really enjoyable weekend at Ratagan. Honest, we did. It probably won’t sound like it when you read on but we did, really!
We all managed to blag either a day off or an early finish on the Friday so we set of in a 2 car convoy, (except Harry), from Duns at 3.20pm and arrived at Ratagan YH, where Harry was waiting for us, dram in hand, approximately six hours later. The hostel was pretty well full up but we settled ourselves in and took up residence in the dining room where we drank a mixture of Tea, Beer and Whisky.(not at the same time indecently).
Saturday dawned with a heavy, dull sky. There wasn’t much to be seen of any of the 5 Sisters which was a shame as any of you who have ever seen the view from this hostel on a fine clear morning will know. We set off in two cars at a little after nine and drove up to the parking place at the gap in the trees just below the Bealach an Lapain. We deposited everybody there before Harry and I Drove back down to the finishing point to leave my car. The finishing point was to be beside the wee bridge that is marked on the map at NG948182 but there wasn’t really anywhere to park so I left it in a lay by about 1 mile back up the glen (this will become quite relevant later on) before Harry drove me back up to the start. We got booted and waterproofed up as it was pouring down from the start and started up the path that took us virtually straight up to the bealach on the ridge some 650 metres above us. We got up to the Bealach in a respectable 1 ½ hours despite the constant rain turning the already muddy path into a river and made for the first peak of the day, Sgurr nan Spainteach, which is neither a Sister or a Munro. Needless to say there were no views to be had but there were a surprising number of ups and downs on the rocky ridge to reach this ‘top’ and we elected to stop for lunch just before the final pull to the summit.
We made it over the first Munro, Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe, without incident apart from an interesting wee scrambly bit where all of the rock was quite slippery as it was wet with the constant rain, and down to the bealach between it and Sgurr na Carnach. I then began to run out of steam or something similar as my legs began to seize up and I slowed everybody down considerably. I got to the stage while climbing up to Sgurr na Carnach where I was stopping for a rest after every five or six steps. Everybody was waiting at the summit when I eventually got up there. The rain had gone off for a few minutes and the sun had come out briefly and they got a view down Loch Duich but I missed it. We had another short rest and a bite to eat before dropping down to the next bealach and the very steep climb through scree and large boulders up to Sgurr Fhuaran. Now this should only have taken about ½ an hour but took easily double that thanks to my annoyingly frequent rests. When I eventually bagged Munro no 3 it was about 4 pm and everybody else, apart from Myra who waited for me, who had been there for quite a while and were cold and very wet by now, decided to move on and descend by the north west ridge and as I would no doubt be very slow handed my car key over to Rob so that the cars could be juggled before I eventfully made it back down.
Up until now it had been a fairly normal and enjoyable, if slow, wet day on the hill, but here’s where it really got interesting. The descent was very steep and torturous. The rain had gone off but there was heather, boulder fields and ferns to slip, slide, stumble and fall through and I got even slower as my legs turned to jelly. We had split up into three groups by the time we were half way down. Rob and Neil were away in front, Harry and Di were in the middle but still a long way ahead, and Myra, Bob and I were at the back and it was while we were having one of our frequent stops due to old ‘jelly legs’ that we made a horrible discovery. Myra was having a look through her binoculars and spotted that the bridge that we were all heading for was only half a bridge and was without doubt unusable. There was another bridge but it was about two miles in the opposite direction. We tried shouting but nobody heard us. We tried phoning but nobody had their phones switched on and Myra tried to catch them up but they were too far in front. There was nothing else for it but to get down as fast as we could (which was still guy slow) and keep trying the mobiles. Harry eventually switched his on, spotted his missed call and phoned me back. He and Di were at this point down in the glen and were about half way to the bridge. Rob and Neil were further on and Harry reckoned that they would be almost at the bridge but couldn’t contact them. I told Harry that were going to wade over the river but he reckoned that we would have to swim over as the bits that he had seen were far too deep and murky to wade through, so we started heading off in the direction of the other bridge even although we still had a bit to go to get down to the glen. Harry and Di turned around and headed towards the other bridge too. What else now, oh yes, it was well after 7 and getting quite dark.
Switch to Rob and Neil. They got up to the broken down bridge after getting chased through a field by some Wild Boar and found it to be as predicted, unusable. They decided to walk on for another mile or so and cross at Sheil Bridge, which was easier than turning back. They weren’t aware at that point that the rest of us all knew about the bridge and they thought that we would all be following them along at least an hour later in the dark. There was no point in them waiting at the bridge and they walked the last mile to Sheil Bridge and the road where Neil waited for the rest of us and Rob set out for my car, which was in a lay by a mile or so further on than he expected.
Back to the slow coaches. Myra, Bob and I were nearly down in the glen when Harry phoned to say that he and Di had found a place to wade across where the water wasn’t even up to their knees and that they were nearly back up at the car, that’s right, the car that Rob had the key for and nobody knew where he was, so he directed us to the river crossing point and we made straight for it. I don’t know if we found the same place or not as the water was over our knees but we made it to the other side, soaking wet, but at that point we couldn’t care less. We were just a couple of minutes away from the road when I saw the headlights go on on my car and I knew at that point that everybody was safe. Rob drove Harry up for his car as we wearily climbed the last fence just as the last drops of daylight left the sky at 7.45pm. Fifteen minutes later and we were picked up and on our way back to the hostel and another BEMAC epic was over. Well nearly over as when Neil was picked where he was waiting further down the road, that was the first that he knew that we were all safe and weren’t stumbling along in the dark fighting with the Wild Boar or falling off the broken bridge. As we were all knackered and all of our gear was soaking nobody was really up for a walk on the Sunday so as there wasn’t much drying space at the hostel we just left out wet stuff in the cars to be sorted out when we got home.
Alan
And a few words from Di:
Kintail weekend.
Unscheduled river crossings, collapsed bridges, lots of nice wet slippy rock, steep hillsides both up and down of course, pouring rain, just about back to the car before it was dark, no views to speak of … but at least there wasn’t a howling gale! Despite the conditions we managed 3 Munros and a Top and by the time we were sliding back down the wet grass and mud at the end of the day, we were rewarded with glimpses of where we had been and across Loch Duich. When you haven’t been able to see very much all day and when the sun does finally come out and the mist lift, then what you get to see can be extra specially good. I’m sure Alan will have covered the ‘epic’ parts of the day so on an ‘epic scale’ of 1 to 10 how about a 5 or 6 ??!
Thanks to Neil for the idea, Alan for doing the organising, all the drivers and everybody for such good company.
Di
(If that gets a 5 or 6 I hope that I’m never on anything that gets a 9 or 10 on Di’s ‘epic scale’ - Alan)
This month’s walk: Sun 19th October 2008
After Saturday’s debacle I was threatening to give Munros up for a while but, well, perhaps just 1 more this year. Sgaith Chuil from Glen Lochay rather than Glen Dochart should be easy enough with a relatively short drive to Killin. I have done Meall Glas from this side and can vouch for the following: The bridge at Lubchurran is not there anymore so it’s either a splash across with gaiters done up tight (it worked the last time) or use the big bridge about a mile or so down the glen. When over the river there is a good track up to 620 metres then up the ridge to the top. Names please by Thursday 16th October to enable cars to be arranged.
November’ walk, as the days will be getting short, is to be the Ettrick Horseshoe at the top of the Ettrick Valley with lots of Grahams, Old Donalds and New Donalds to be ticked off the appropriate list.
Other stuff:
The website is now up and running www.bemac.org Anybody who wants walk photos posted please either e mail them to me or send prints and I will scan them. Perhaps different people might like to write the walk report from time to time to get a different perspective on things.
Thanks to Neil and Bob for some 3 sisters photos which are now on the website.
Alan