An impromptu night away as a result of Bruce’s weather watching, alongside a day off together, saw us head for Drumnadrochit on Saturday afternoon. Staying at the Loch Ness Drumnadrochit Hotel, I was pleasantly surprised by the standard of accommodation. The only downside was the thin walls but it appeared that everyone else was also on bed relatively early. Party on!
Up Bright & Early
We missed breakfast at the hotel as we wanted to be on the road by 8 am, and surprisingly (with me) actually managed this. The road down to Kintail was pretty quiet; despite this there were a number of cars already parked in the lay-by. Boots on, rucksacks ready, we set off along the roadside verge for a short distance before turning off and heading up.
The Big Climb of the Day
Bruce had warned me that the initial climb would be tough, heading up the hillside from the road. We agreed to take it slow and steady.
We felt like we were moving well, gaining height pretty quickly. The wee path was pretty clear, however the zigzagging was hard going on the knees.
As we continued, the constant ascent also felt quite tough on the quads and calves. I didn’t complain too much, knowing we’d get there eventually, but my legs felt weary, the lungs doing perfectly well.
As we got higher the gradient did start to ease off a bit. We admired the views around us and rejoiced in the knowledge that we didn’t have much more climbing beyond this.
Finally our summit was in sight. The cairn on A’ Chralaig is fitting of the effort it takes to reach it!
A’ Chralaig: First Summit of the Day
Having had such a long slog to reach the summit, we rewarded ourselves with a seat. The weather was good and it was lovely to sit in the shelter of the cairn.
The views were stunning, so many mountains visible around us.
We could also see the very fine looking ridge that would lead us round to Mullach Fraoch-choire. I’ve grown to love a ridge walk, the only thing getting in the way of my enthusiasm for this one being the pinnacles and the by-pass path which from this distance looked like it had pretty steep drop offs. Bruce assured me these things always look worse from a distance; in fairness, he’s usually right (on this).
The Ridge Walk to Mullach Fraoch-choire
Once on the ridge, the path was good and there were no real challenges. Visibility was great and the wind that had blown up through the bealach was leaving us alone.
The path was good, nothing too narrow to put fear into me and always a comfortable distance from the drops. As we approached the rocky section the path did get tricker for a very short time with a wee scramble. I had a brief moment of thinking I couldn’t do it, the foot up being too big for my liking, but once up it was easy enough, not too steep and with lots of good grips for hands and feet. The trickiest section was as Bruce had shared, crossing from one side of the bypass path to the other.
Pinnacles behind us, we continued along the good path to climb more steeply up towards the summit.
This was a short ascent and felt easy in comparison with the climb to the first summit.
We reached the cairn and had another summit to ourselves to enjoy a well earned break.
We admired the views and headed off just as another couple approached.
We chatted to them and they shared that this was their second attempt to reach this one, the previous time resulting in one of them falling from a pinnacle and being airlifted off the hillside. This did not fill me with confidence for returning, particularly as he showed an impressive scar where his side had been stitched.
We managed our return, taking it slowly on the descent; although the path was good, it is worn and you’d continue a fair distance if slipping. At the scramble, we turned into the mountain to down climb very briefly, a safer option than facing forward and potentially toppling.
Safely off the tricky section, we continued along to the cairn that marked the descent path. It was quick at first, as time went on the knees started grumbling a bit. It was almost as tough as the initial ascent, particularly as the path became boggy!
Boggy Return Path
We finally reached the point where the path levelled out and started to follow a flatter route back. This was something I’d looked forward to, respite for my weary legs. It was, however, horrible! Wet and boggy, we made our way through mud, boggy sections that engulfed our boots, and slogged it out for what felt like an eternity!
Everything comes to an end though, and it was with great delight that we found ourselves on a dry track leading us back to the car for the final couple of kilometres. This felt so good, the walking so much easier!
Finally we made it back to the roadside. A great day out, two munros done, and still only mid-afternoon.
Happy Father’s Day
Passing ‘home’ on route home, we stopped off with fish suppers for mum & dad; I couldn’t drive past without saying hello, particularly on Father’s Day! That added something extra to the day.
A great weekend, it feels like I’ve had a wee holiday and for that I’m extremely grateful.
Clare, happiest outdoors! 