14th: Megan the pirate - for a birthday party, where thanks to the birthday girl's older sister leading the games, she picked up her latest phrase "Captain's girlfriend - ooh la la!"
26th-28th: 15 Munros in one weekend.
Saturday: Glen Shiel South ridge, plus Sgurr na Sgine. 32km in 8.5 hours.
Looking back from the third peak (Aonach air Chrith) over the first section including Creag a'Mhaim and Druim Shionnach, then ahead to the fourth summit, Maol Chinn-dearg.
The next stretch was up in the clouds, but for the most part the route was obvious. That is, until I descended off Munro number 5 (Sgurr an Doire Leathain) to find I was looking down at the road rather than the next section of ridge! I'd gone the wrong way and had to retrace my steps - adding an extra 20 mins to the walk that I could have done without.
Had to be quick on the draw to capture some fleeting glimpses of sunshine.
View from the top of Sgurr an Lochain over the next section of the ridge. The route skirts to the left of the sunlit hill (which is less than 3000ft high and is therefore not worth bothering with), and up the darker peak to the left (Creag nan Damh).
Now, most people tackling the South Cluanie ridge would call it a day there - not me! I had spotted a way of adding an 8th "tick" to the day for an extra few kilometres, and as the weather was being kind I decided to go for it. Although it did involve going up and over an extra sub-3000ft hill, involving an unexpectedly steep descent. Then I headed to the left of the craggy peak, where there was a stone wall to lead a safe route to the ridge on the left. On the way down the rain set in, so I was a bedraggled figure trying to hitch a lift for the remaining 10km along the road back to the hostel.
Sunday: "Only" 6 Munros today, and less distance (23km), but the same amount of ascent so it felt just as hard. The books recommend doing this in 2 days...
The forecast was for heavy rain showers, but the day started fairly brightly, so I wasn't put off. Besides, I had to get back to the car at the other end of the valley somehow.
As the day wore on, the weather deteriorated into heavy rain (sometimes hail) and strong winds interspersed with only occasional short breaks for eating and photographing. This made for a pretty full-on day, as I had to keep moving during the rain to keep warm.
Looking down the last section of the route, then finally the Cluanie Inn came into view through the downpour.
A well-earned feast at the Inn. Couldn't resist the venison casserole, having read a notice about the deer cull on the entrance to the estate.
Monday: With the hire car booked until 5pm, I had time for one more mountain (Beinn a'Chliebh) on the way back to Glasgow. Making a total of 77 Munros climbed so far - only 205 to go!
Before & after the river crossing on the way back.
Visiting Lara
