MIKE WOOD - 488361

I planned this solo expedition as a practise outing for my Assessment later in the year. A "Tour de Beinn a'Ghlo" seemed an interesting concept, with the chance of a couple of summits if things worked out well. I was blessed with perfect anti-cyclonic weather, although this provided its own challenges due to the high daytime temperatures and scarcity of water away from major streams.
Starting from the Loch Moraig car park around 4.30pm on the Tuesday, I headed for a planned overnight camp at Loch Loch. En route however I was seduced by the windless conditions to attempt a first ever solo summit camp, on the Corbett Ben Vuirich, which appeared tantalisingly close from the track near Stac nam Bodach. Striking out across dry but quite leggy Calluna-dominated heath, with my 15kg pack, I was soon pondering the wisdom of this choice. I stopped to fill hydration bladder and bottles at the Allt Nead an Eoin, before a long pull up to the summit. All the effort was worth it! A beautifully soft and springy sward of woolly fringe moss made a great camp site just east of the Trig. point, and I quickly had my Hilleberg 2-man tent up and a late supper prepared. Awake at around 4am I was rewarded by a sparkling sunrise over a bank of temperature inversion cloud - as spectacular as any I've seen anywhere on my travels.
Day 2 involved a descent to the southern shore of Loch Loch and a very sweaty pull up the northern rim of Coire Cas-eagallach, with spectacular views giving plenty of excuses for rests. The summit plateau of Carn nan Gabhar was a parched blockfield of quartzite boulders, reflecting a harsh bright glare, adding to my thirst. I finished my last water at the cairn (having opted not to add to my burden en route from Loch Loch by carrying a full hydration bag), which gave me a long thirsty descent to Glen Tilt, via the Meall a' Mhuirich spur. The path here frustratingly disappeared just at the break of slope where the steepest gradient begins, giving a knee-jarring descent, again through long heather, set at an angle unconducive to carrying a heavy backpack. (In Glen Tilt I later picked out an easier path which traversed NE before zig-zagging downwards at a gentler angle - this will definitely be marked-up on my OS Sheet 43 for future reference!) I recovered and rehydrated with a brew and some oatcakes where the little glen containing the Allt Fhearach joins the Tilt, before setting forth down the Glen in search of a good overnight site. This proved more difficult than anticipated, due mainly to the relatively well-settled nature of this part of the Glen, and the obviously jealously-guarded fishing beats on the River itself. I stuck to the "dusk to dawn" principle and finally found a secluded spot tucked into a little gorge near the ruin of Balaneasie - my tent footprint was a little too big for the flattest ground by the stream but in the end I had a comfortable night's sleep.
For Day 3 I was away by 5.30am and decided not to follow the road and tracks but instead plotted a route over the ridge south east of Balaneasie ito Glen Fender, and hence to Loch Moraig via a path from Creag-choinnich Lodge. This made for some good ground-to-map and relocation navigation practise, first up slopes of rich calcareous grassland with abundant alpine ladies' mantle, then across dry Calluna heath heading for the ruined lodge. I rejoined my outward route at the foot of the Carn Liath path recently improved by OATS, and was back at the car for around 10.30 am.
A fantastic mountain expedition which undoubtedly added to my experience - notably with regard to contemplating some lighter kit(!) and the need to more carefully estimate water consumption in very hot conditions!