Yesterday I had a great day walking in Lochaber. I was walking in the hills west of Loch Lochy, just north of Fort William. Totally blue skies, light winds, almost no snowpatches and ground frozen firmly made for very good walking conditions. It was very cold though – my car thermometer was reading -7 degrees centigrade the evening before the walk (I was staying at the nearby Spean Bridge Hotel).
I managed to get to the top of two munro summits (Meall na Teanga and Sron a’Choire Ghairbh) during the seven hour walk, quite a feat at this time of year – walking now (today is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere) is a race against the sun as much as anything else – the sun was rising as I started the walk at Kilfinnan, and set as I finished it, so I timed things right.
The hike to these summits was made even easier by the walk being on good paths throughout – particularly the switchbacks of the stalkers path that make the steep ascent from the Cam Bhealach to Sron a’Choire Ghairbh a pleasure. Views from the summits were spectacular in the clear air. Ben Nevis looked amazing, and I had great views of the Glen Shiel and Knoydart summits. It was an ideal midwinter walk.
You can see the photos I took during the walk on my website here.
Leave a Reply