The intended backpack trip through the Gaick Pass and Glen Tromie for next year has been re-thought, mainly as we decided on Saturday morning that the two Corbetts on either side of Loch an Duin were the ideal place to be given the local weather forecast. The trek up the right of way from the A9 past Dalcardoch Lodge and on to Sronphadruig Lodge was done in the style of a forced march and less than an hour and a half brought us to the base of An Dun rising into the cloud ( base around 600 m ) like a sheer wall. The climb up was stiff and steep but the summit plateau was soon reached and the first well made cairn passed on the way to the true summit pile of rocks where the ridge narrows in. We then took the north ridge and descended East of the end and as we dropped out of the cloud we were treated to a view of the near vertical wall of A' Chaornich opposite us. Rob Milne kindly states in the Corbett Book " walled by some of the steepest and most unrelenting hill slopes in Scotland " . . . . Understatement Rob ! This ascent is a soul destroying slog and nothing less ! That said, you make the height very quickly when the hill is so steep just under an hour of sweat and toil brought us to the summit plateau, and then the fun really started. Visibility was around 10 mtrs in the cloud and this is a massive plateau that slopes very gently. Taking the challenge to find the cairn without electronic aid led to a 40 minute criss cross path across the plateau followed by two grid searches that produced nothing remotely resembling a cairn. Taking the decision to give in and bring the GPS into play I placed my rucksack down to open it and spied a tiny pile of rocks no more that 10 mtrs from where we were standing. The Etrex confirmed that the summit was somewhere within 40 mtrs so we decided we were in fact there. Dropping down the South ridge soon brought us behind and above the lodge and we followed the deer fence round to the track. Another long trek out brought us back to the car at 2:30 pm just under 7 hours after setting out. Two stunning Corbetts, just a shame we missed what must be spectacular views along the Gaick Pass and into Glen Tromie. -- Cheers Graham
We climbed Buachaille Etive Mor (again!) on Friday as the cloud was undecided. The rest of the weekend I'm afraid I didn;t venture far out of the house Autumn is definitely here!
My plan for this Winter is to tackle some of the Corbetts - unclimbed Munros are getting a bit far these days for the shorter daylight hours - so the Corbs will provide a fresh challenge.
Jim
Graham Ingram said:
The intended backpack trip through the Gaick Pass and Glen Tromie for next year has been re- thought, mainly as we decided on Saturday morning that the two Corbetts on either side of Loch an Duin were the ideal place to be given the local weather forecast. The trek up the right of way from the A9 past Dalcardoch Lodge and on to Sronphadruig Lodge was done in the style of a forced march and less than an hour and a half brought us to the base of An Dun rising into the cloud ( base around 600 m ) like a sheer wall. The climb up was stiff and steep but the summit plateau was soon reached and the first well made cairn passed on the way to the true summit pile of rocks where the ridge narrows in. We then took the north ridge and descended East of the end and as we dropped out of the cloud we were treated to a view of the near vertical wall of A' Chaornich opposite us. Rob Milne kindly states in the Corbett Book " walled by some of the steepest and most unrelenting hill slopes in Scotland " . . . . Understatement Rob ! This ascent is a soul destroying slog and nothing less ! That said, you make the height very quickly when the hill is so steep just under an hour of sweat and toil brought us to the summit plateau, and then the fun really started. Visibility was around 10 mtrs in the cloud and this is a massive plateau that slopes very gently. Taking the challenge to find the cairn without electronic aid led to a 40 minute criss cross path across the plateau followed by two grid searches that produced nothing remotely resembling a cairn. Taking the decision to give in and bring the GPS into play I placed my rucksack down to open it and spied a tiny pile of rocks no more that 10 mtrs from where we were standing. The Etrex confirmed that the summit was somewhere within 40 mtrs so we decided we were in fact there. Dropping down the South ridge soon brought us behind and above the lodge and we followed the deer fence round to the track. Another long trek out brought us back to the car at 2:30 pm just under 7 hours after setting out. Two stunning Corbetts, just a shame we missed what must be spectacular views along the Gaick Pass and into Glen Tromie.
"Jim Willsher" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Hi Graham,
I was waiting for your regular Sunday TR!
Yep, it's become a bit of a habit over the last few months, but just one more installemnt next week then I am off to the French Riviera for a couple of weeks !
Quoted message said:
We climbed Buachaille Etive Mor (again!) on Friday as the cloud was undecided. The rest of the weekend I'm afraid I didn;t venture far
out of
Quoted message said:
the house Autumn is definitely here!
It was certainly a lot chillier on the tops this weekend. Hopefully not too long before the first snows arrive !
Quoted message said:
My plan for this Winter is to tackle some of the Corbetts -
unclimbed
Quoted message said:
Munros are getting a bit far these days for the shorter daylight
hours - so
Quoted message said:
the Corbs will provide a fresh challenge.
Always the problem when the "local " hills are done and the days are short. We do have a number of very good Corbett's within easy travel time though, so here's to a productive winter walking !
