Steven Loraine - 132580

logs 186

Awards Completed

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Member Of

Walking Record

Details

Date : 23/04/2022

Duration : 8+ hours

Style : Leader / Supervisor

Type : Quality Mountain Day (QMD)

Weather : Clear - sunny - good visibility

Wind : Moderate Wind

Camping Type : N/A

Nights Camping : 0

Mountains : Gulvain [Gaor Bheinn] Gulvain South Top

Flagged :

Description

My final Munro and Top. 282 of the former and 226 of the latter. Likely to be only the 689 person to achieve both since 1901 and an even smaller number who complete their two rounds on the same day and mountain. A proud moment therefore to set off from Drumsallie for the long walk up the beautiful, open glen alongside the Fionn Lighe. I was leading my brother and daughter on this important day. After around an hour and a quarter in bright sunshine we reached the foot of the imposing and very steep south slopes of Gaor Bheinn. There really is nothing for it but to set to work and climb the full 700m grassed south face of the mountain to the 855m point. This took a little over an hour and was tough work in the sun, with a track classically forged by Munroists, i.e. no zig-zags, just a 'lazy' straight up and down, with no contouring finesse as found with many stalkers tracks. Yes, it works as a stairway but it is brutal. On reaching the 855m point we were hit by the strong easterly breezes that dropped the air temperature to below freezing. We decided to drop a few metres to a small hollow and put on extra clothing. Then disaster struck. Breaking my own long held rule about only doing one thing at a time on a hill, I picked up my open sack in one hand, had a pole in the other and set off across boulders to the hollow. Slightly unbalanced, my shoe caught the top of a block, I toppled forwards and to avoid going headlong into a fall I managed to put out my right leg. This then took the full weight of my fall and I landed full onto my right foot/ankle. Maximum pain and immobility for a few minutes. So many thoughts then occur - I still had the Top and Munro to visit, at least 3kms of ascent/descent and re-ascent and then back or go down the face just ascended, IF I could! I stayed down and let my adrenaline subside. In conversation with the partners, we decided to proceed as planned and take each step as it came. I borrowed a second pole and set off to reach the South Top after quarter of an hour. So far so good. There, I put on two small compression bandages to support my ankle and we set off on the long descent to a false flat and thence the bealach. The long south ridge of Gulvain rises ahead, narrowing towards the summit. It is actually a slight imposter and after around 20 minutes of pleasant climbing, across a narrow neck near the abutment to the summit plateau, we reached the actual summit and the huge cairn. There followed some slightly muted celebration given the pain I was experiencing and some apprehension about the long and arduous return journey. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the moments and three other mountaineers joined us and told us of their Munro stories. Eventually it was time to go. The cloud base on this mountain only, was around 900m, all other mountain summits in view, even the Ben, were clear. Shame not to have epic views on such a day. The descent to the bealach and re-ascent of the Top passed with no issues. We then dropped easily to the 855m point to prepare for the steep plunge back to the glen floor. With two poles I was able control my descent quite well and we made the floor in under an hour. Thereafter, I dipped my ankle in the freezing waters of the Fionn Lighe. Bliss! Suitably refreshed, we managed to see off the final 5kms in a gentle walk, enjoying long looks back to my final Munro, my daughter's fourth and my brother's third of 2022. And thus ended my 21 year journey. An absolute privilege to have covered so much wonderfully isolated, picturesque and testing ground. "There are no boring Munros, only boring climbers" as one author has it. I agree. Every single Munro summit has been unique, in form, scale, location, 'construction'. I can recall each of them, or at least the day that contained the Munro. The weather has often been dreich, but not always and less so recently; also sometimes deeply challenging and always a feature for one reason or another. I've appreciated that, it gives texture to the complex ground we often cover. The Tops have often taken me to even more isolated and less visited locations. They have provided the extra enjoyment and logistical challenge. I'm not sure what comes next. I have never contemplated the Corbetts. Nothing against them, and many are superb mountains, the equal of better to many Munros. But this has been such a special and personal journey, joined on a relatively small number of occasions by my late father, the legendary Munroist Robert Mc Donald. and Brian Meakin from ML training, plus my daughter and brother as described, that it's compleation provides a beautiful full stop for now. There will be outdoor journeys to come, for sure. That's what I will spend time thinking about.

Area : Loch Eil To Glen Shiel (Incl Knoydart)

The Great Glen to the east, the A87 to the north and the A830 to the south separate this area from its surroundings and enclose an area of high mountains and low glens. The highest mountain is Sgurr na Ciche (1040m) and further north the South Glen Shiel Ridge is formed by a whopping seven Munros! Also in the area is The Saddle (1010m) which is home to the classic Forcan Ridge. Peaks in the mountains list are all above 900m.

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