My alarm went at 6am. Getting up after a bit, we got ready as best we could, and popped in to the ‘bothy’ on the campsite to say goodbye. R and P had had to change their plans, which meant that we would be walking by ourselves after all. I was surprised not to feel too hung over (I can’t speak for B!). Driving to Corrie Hallie, we finally started walking about 9.20am. It was cloudy but not raining at that point. We went further along the Shenavall path this time that we had on our previous walk up to the top of Sail Liath, the first top of our day. We found a path that wound its way slowly up the south-eastern end of Sail Liath and followed this up; it was a less direct way than we had taken last time, though it was easier going until we got to the boulder field near the top, but we could not be sure how they compared in terms of time taken. We saw two people going up the same path ahead of us, and later passed one person going in the other direction. We were also overtaken by one man. On top of Sail Liath, B took a photo of me – I had a very big grin on my face, as I was so happy to be there again, this time with a good view of the ridge!
As we looked ahead at the Corrag Bhuidhe pinnacles, I was excited, as I had wanted to try going over this ridge for the past few years. The pinnacles looked quite forbidding. After passing over Stob Cadha Gobhlach, we reached the initial buttress of the pinnacles section. We were unsure whether or not we should attempt taking a direct way up, considering the high level of exposure around us which would make it a very serious undertaking. We took a while looking around to the left (to the right we could see a very sheer drop), trying a few moves and retreating in case we might have trouble going back down if we were to get stuck further up. We had brought our basic climbing gear with us, but did not get this out of our packs. It started raining slightly, which did not help; I was already being extremely careful about every move, as the earth was very soft in many places, which meant there were a lot of loose rocks and stones. Finally we found an easier way up the side of the first pinnacle, and we went back along to the edge of that first wall to have a look down, then carried on forward and managed to scramble the rest of the pinnacles. I was looking for Lord Berkeley’s Seat, the well-known overhanging pointed top, and was having trouble finding it until I clambered down from a pinnacle to realise that I had just come down from this.
Then it was onwards to Sgurr Fiona, the first Munro of the day, and further on to Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill. These bits were straightforward. A black goat and a white goat appeared near us, which initially unnerved me a bit, especially when the black goat with pale eyes stood higher above us, watching us as we walked down from Bidein. After they overtook us, I chose to think for a while that they were leading the way, as they would move forward along the ridge in front of us, stop until we got a bit closer, and then walk on again (eventually they left the ridge to head across a very steep hillside). A bit of mist came in around us, but we decided to take in the top of Glas Mheall Mor before finally descending off the ridge. Waves of light rain passed over on our way to Glas Mheall Mor. Suddenly we saw 5 or 6 ptarmigan scuttle off to the left, around the side of the ridge; I was pleased as always to see them. The sun was getting lower, and we encountered many more goats as we descended the steep, loose, and slippery hillside to the stream of Allt a’ Ghlas Thuill in Glas Tholl corrie.
The descent path following the stream turned out to be very boggy and quite long. The sun setting, and B marching on; I slipped in the mud a few times though I fell only once. Near the bottom we got a bit lost/stuck in the rhododendron ‘jungle’ that is often mentioned in people’s trip reports of this section, and in the thick bushes we could not see well where we were stepping or going even with our head torches. As it was getting a bit dark to faff around trying to find our way out, we ended up crossing the river to find our way to the road. I ended up with very wet boots, socks, and trousers. Back at the van, I changed my trousers and socks in the dark. The now-much-heavier boots, which I was convinced would be sloshing with water from the way they felt, turned out to be holding all the water within their inner fabric, and were going to take a long time to dry out.
After getting back to campsite, I found that I seemed to have gained some insect bites. We took a small camping stove and some noodles into the ‘bothy’. As we chatted to E, and met a German guy S who was tenting that night, who was asking about An Teallach, I discovered another tick (second one of the trip) on my right leg, which B then removed using one of our many types of tick-removing implements that we have collected over time. A group of Scottish guys arrived later, which made the place suddenly feel very full and busy; we talked with them for a bit, then went back to the van. Then I found another tick on my hip, also kindly removed by B. So some of the ending was less than perfect, but what a day! I won’t be forgetting that one in a hurry.
The next morning, we got up after the people in the ‘bothy’ had gone. It was sunny and a bit windy. After considering our options, and also taking into account the fact that we had actually been able to complete all three of the mountain routes that we had most wanted to do on this trip, we concluded that it was time to start heading off, and so started the drive to Newcastle via Inverness, Aviemore, and Perth. It was quite sunny for a change.
