36 - BEN WYVIS
A view of An Teallach from the Wyvis plateau that Graeme has never seen. Photo https://big-gorse-bush.blogspot.com/
7.7 miles 1010 metres
Start Thursday 10.44
Ben Wyvis 11.37
Finish 12.03
Squares: green - start, red - finish. Circles summits: green - this leg. Map Colin Matheson
Time: Estimated 1.39 Actual 1.19
Graeme writes:
The remainder of yesterday morning and then the remainder of the afternoon proved to be a torrential downpour with not a thing we could do about it. It was no surprise that spirits were dampening slightly. In early evening Ifor and I moved round to Destitution Road through dry roads and clear skys beneath Ben Wyvis on the eastern coast, and then back into the cloud and rain after the Braemore junction turn off.
Full advantage was then taken to grab some sleep once Ifor had left on his cycle in. That night with more bad weather the team unfortunately slipped even further behind schedule and I found myself enjoying the luxury of another night's long sleep. I'd had more shut eye in the last two days than I'd had in the previous nine.
In the morning the weather was once again gloomy and cool for June but at least dry at road level. Oviously this would change higher up as I was soon to find out. I drove to Lochluichart to pick up Eddie from his leg then the short car dash back to near Garbat.
I had taken the decision to attack Ben Wyvis from the path along the Allt a' Bealach Mhoir going up An Cabar, and to return past the plantation heading for a forest ride which leads to the track to Garbat Farm. Even having done it I am still undecided whether this was the quickest descent route or not. It's a difficult thing to prove without doing it several times trying both routes. Having been very wet previously the forest ride was a complete quagmire on the day and there was certainly doubt in my mind while running through it.
From the road I started running at a reasonable pace from a cold start with, as usual, too many layers on. I heated up very quickly in the shelter of the forest but decided against stopping to remove something as I would only need to replace it later. Having started quite fast my legs were soon jelly like but I knew if I persevered they would come back to me, and they did.
Once I reached the steep slopes of An Cabar I was pulling myself up on all fours at something near race pace. It wasn't long till I disappeared in the mist cursing the weather once again. From my home house window almost 40 miles away across the Moray Firth in a south-easterly direction, I get a great view of this mountain, but today there was no hope of seeing even 40 metres.
Before the top of An Cabar I latched onto a path contouring round the slopes of Glas Leathad Mor to appear on the wide plateau like col before the final long gentle rise to the summit trig pillar. On a pleasant day this extensive patch of grassland would make a fine viewpoint for a picnic, game of football, golf or rounders, but as yet even after four visits I can still only guess at this. Today was anything but pleasant with a howling north west wind whipping rain and cloud from my left over the summit plateau ridge.
I really had to battle sideways to the top with my balaclava covered head turned to one side in order to breathe. At the turn of course the other side of my body became subjected to the battering from the elements and I became aware of my now sheltered side being sodden wet. My only wish was to get off the hill as soon as possible.
Once at the col I veered to the right on a bearing over the top of the plantation. The grassy slope became hectically steep and my legs juddered frantically to maintain pace with the gravitational force on my body. Inevitably, with the angled steep descent and ribbed ground conditions due to soil creep I stumbled into a heap several times slithering downwards on the greasy grass.
Suddenly sunlight appeared lighting up the whole world and I emerged from the cloud base into the gully of a flowing stream. Temporarily lost in my whereabouts I anxiously thought I had run down into the wrong gully and all my work so far was about to be dashed, but glancing over my right shoulder I spied the base of the plantation and blew a sigh of relief.
Having pinpointed the forest ride on the way up I soon spotted it again and bounded down the gentle slope towards it leaping happily through the shin deep heather. This was definitely not a route to take in the dark.
Once in the forest and over the fence my faith in the route choice dropped dramatically being faced with a sea of black gunge through which I staggered and almost fell face first on several occasions. This was no time for pondering though so I thrashed on suddenly bursting out into a recently clear felled area where timber extractions were still working.
Hammering down the liquid chocolate mud coveref forest track I received a few strange glances myself obviously looking slightly different from a hill walking day tripper. A few twists in the track led to Garbat and Ross waiting expectantly in the car, poised and twitching in anticipation of his coming leg.
For myself it had been a frantic but controlled and enjoyable dash into and back from a horrible spot of weather which had left my body refreshed and buzzing.
With Ross on his way having overcome the difficult and laughable entanglement resistance put up by a roadside fence I then had time to relax and sleep off the sudden tiredness which hit me in the bustling little sea port of Ullapool. It was either that or hide in a shop since conditions turned monsoon, the raindrops pinging and dinging on the van roof.
Peaks done 267 Hours elapsed 269 Peaks to do 10
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