Storms and fresh snow in the highlands

I decided to take a bit of a risk last weekend and miss the annual dinner for a weekend in the highlands with the hope of good weather to take some friends who were visiting from Canada up Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis.  Fresh snow down to 600m as I passed north through the Cairngorms did not bode well and a swift change of plan was in order, particularly given the forecast for degenerating conditions.  Climbing was out in the conditions available so, trying to leave some peaks between us and the approaching weather, we headed up Glen Affric with a walk up Mam Sodhail (1181m) as an objective.  Glen Affric is one of the most beautiful glens in Scotland with its wonderful combination of black, brooding loch and ancient stands of scots pine with the backdrop of jagged mountains circling the scene.  Unfortunately, all we could see of the backdrop were the speckles of snow on heather leading up in to the clouds.  We persevered and after some feet wetting fording of swollen streams we were on our path up in to the hanging valley which gave the most sheltered route to the summit. 

The swolen burn tumbling down from Coire Leachavie

The shelter offered diminished as we moved up through the snow line and eventually over the lip of the coire and on to the ridge leading to the summit.  Leaning in to the gusting wind, hoods down and grimacing we continued on up, wading through the odd snowdrift.  Spending only a brief moment at the top we decided that backtracking rather than continuing on round to Carn Eighe would be the wise decision so we turned and headed for the shelter of an old roofless hut a few hundred meters from the summit.

Wading through the snowdrifts on the way to the top

We stopped briefly for a sandwich in the shelter of the hut which was fantastically well built and bedded in to the hillside.  The graded stalkers path up through the coire must have seen considerable hoof fall from pony's carrying wood up to such an exposed position for any occupants to stand a chance of keeping warm even when there was a roof.  We hurried on down trying to generate a bit more heat, and once below the snow line faced the full force of the passing squalls, with which my tweed refused to cope.  It was a soggy walk back to the van but the distraction provided by the vibrant greens of the newly unfurled birch leaves and the uncoiling bracken against the burnt orange of the previous seasons growth eased the squelching, with the vibrant bluebells completing the collage of colour.

The increasing winds (110 mph gusts) and ferocious showers restricted us to the coast for Sunday but spotting an otter on Tarbet Ness and watching the downpours roll by provided a fun day without the need to visit higher places.

Looking up towards the Kyle of Sutherland from Tarbet Ness