Another early start was necessary today to get up and down the mountains before the afternoon storms arrived. We almost made it! The bus was encased in ice when we left the bunkhouse in the dark. A light dusting of fresh snow on the roads and minus temperatures made for a very slow and cautious drive. I was relieved to reach the car park and get walking!
The views of Liathach and the Torridon mountains were fantastic and glowed pink as the sun came up. A slow and steady pace up through the forest, past some deer, got us up onto the open mountain side.
The snow was still soft and deep, so we had to take turns breaking trail as we made our way up to the ridge.
From the main ridge, we had great views down to Loch Damh and over to Ben Bhan.
At this point we decided to split the group, with some returning to the valley and the others continuing with myself along the ridge and up to the summits. We watched them walk away as we continued up. Two specks in a black and white landscape.
Along the ridge, the wind picked up for the first time since arriving in Scotland. The loose snow was soon whipped up as spindrift and began to create amazing shapes and drifts, which were forming, literally before our eyes.
After summiting Meall Gorm (675m), we continued on to the higher summit at the end of the ridge (Sgùrr na Bana-Mhoraire). Instead of following the summer path, we took a more exciting direct line straight up to the summit, using our ice axes.
This required an adventurous spirit and some close management, but everyone rose to the challenge and we arrived at the summit trig point all buzzing.
By now, goggles were required to see, as the wind and spindrift were intense. We had some food and prepared to battle our way back down. There was an alarming amount of windslab snow accumulating and gust of wind knocked us off balance occasionally. Where safe to do so, we released some pockets of deeper snow, which broke away with ease and made sure we concentrated on picking a safe line of descent. In the distance, dark clouds were approaching fast. Once off the main ridge, we were relieved to be out of the wind. We heard (and later saw) some Ptarmigan fly by. We slid where we could, and walked fast, but the arrival of rain got to us before we made the sanctuary of the bus. We reached the road pretty well soaked, but in high spirits.
Given our situation, drying out by the fireside at the friendly at the Sheildaig Hotel seemed like an appropriate finish to the days activity.
Naturally, a few games of darts were had too, before returning to base for hot showers and a haggis dinner!
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