Parked up on the A832 and walked into lochivraon bothy. My first bothy trip, first super big pack, first walk in the dark. Slushy snow from the loch all the way to the bothy so it took a little longer trying to negotiate the boggy sections in the dark. The bothy was being renovated when we arrived so no fireplace...glad to have carried in all the coal and logs!
I was cold in the bothy that night, and the roof leaked snow in onto my sleeping bag....which i discovered was rubbish and needed a better one.
Johnny had 30 odd munros left so thats how I ended up here, really being led and taught by him although we were friends. The day on the hills was tough. Inches of soft snow covering a full days worth of heather bashing and crampons merely being taken for a walk. Grey light today, but high cloud base with amazing views of An Teallach, my favourite mountain. Windy but not enough to cause any issues other than wind chill. Walking back to the bothy from Ben Tarsuinn was in the dark, which freaked me out somewhat, especially when I heard a stag calling. My head torch kept going off, and I was the most exhausted I had ever felt. 19km, 11 hours.
We arrived back at the bothy and stayed the night as the storm brewed outside....the sliding snow off the corrogated roof freaked us out and I am definately still sure it was a monster.
Walked out the next morning to the car. A thaw happened overnight giving a wet footed journey.
Area :
Loch Maree to Loch Broom and The Fannaichs
This area contains four main sub-regions: An Teallach, The Fannaichs, Kinlochewe & Letterewe. The highest Munro is Sgurr Mor, part of The Fannaichs range, at a height of 1110m. The impressive Slioch (981m), although not the tallest, is described by the SMC Munros Guide as being ‘one of the great sights of the Northern Highlands’ and well worth a visit. This area sits to the north of the A832 and is almost completely devoid of human habitation.
