It was my brother's birthday today, doh!, I forgot to send him a birthday card. Oh well I'd try to remember for later on. The day dawned sort of bright and I thought the front arrived and left early. I was thus in an optimistic mood when walking up the zig zag stalkers track to the summit ridge of Gairich. Up here, the wind was cold and the mist was very damp. I noticed the clouds were now moving eastwards rather than westwards. I had a feeling that the rain was now going to be working its way back. I was right, as I descended back to my pack the drips arrived and then turned into a light but steady tempo for the rest of the day.

I was glad that not much rain had fallen for otherwise crossing the River Kingie would have been a nightmare to cross. I sought shelter in the bothy on the other side of the river to have some biscuits. This place was far more pleasant than the Ben Alder cottage I had visited last year. It was now a slog up to the Bealach to the south where beyond I followed the Dearg Allt for a short distance before setting my tent up.

My plan was to climb both Corbetts on either side of the Bealach but the drizzle put me off so I instead settled for just the one to kill some time off. The walk up was via a long broad ridge that felt a bit of a grind to walk up in misty weather but I reached the summit and the grassy ridge down allowed for some super fast walking. Despite this, the round trip took two hours from the tent which felt slow.

Time for an afternoon nap before dinner by which time the cloud had cleared the next days munros. The skys were still dark grey and it just seemed to be the calm before the storm. Oh well, lets see what tomorrow brings.

The View out to the Glen Kingie Summits

The rain got heavier overnight. It stayed heavy in the morning, I was tempted to just have a rest day or just give up after climbing the next two summits. Somehow I got the motivation to continue. It's one of the grimmest things to do to take the tent down in pouring rain. The forecast for the rain to clear gave me faith that this would be the case. It was also going to be my toughest day but I would make it a lot easier on myself by dumping non essentials a Gleann a' Chaorainn before walking up to the Corryhully Horseshoe.

The walk up to the first summit felt daunting especially with the periodic wind making me feel the chill. I hoped cold wouldn't be an issue despite the clothing I wore but it certainly was a drencher. The final slopes steepened considerably demanding some route finding to break through the barrier of crags. I made a note of the features passed for coming down just to be safe. It took 2 ¼ hours to reach the first summit where I was hit by the South Westerly Gale.

The rain eased off from time to time and I thought that the rain would soon come to an end. Once on the ridge towards the second summit, the cloud even parted from time to time giving views down to Glen Pean to the north and Glen Finnan to the south. What rose my confidence even more were the few small spots of sunshine racing across the slopes seen. The clouds cleared fully giving excellent views to Loch Morar and the Loch Quoich munros. I reached the final summit in swirling mist and it was time again to head back east towards the finish line of the Great Glen.

Sgur Thuilim from near Sgurr nan Coireachan

Loch Morar as seen from the Corryhully Horseshoe

I knew now that there would be nothing to stop me bar a man made obstacle and my spirits were high again. I had to backtrack to the previous munro and then make my way off. Despite a mental note of the features passed on the way up, I still managed to make my way down a different (though still easy) way off the summit. My limbs were now tired on the descent so I took it easy on the way down to my equipment where a breezy showery evening kept the midges away.

Gulvain seen west of my tent

The day dawned cloudy but still. What I thought were rain drops on my tent were in fact midges waiting for a feast! There were tens of thousands of them outside waiting for me. They knew I hadn't washed up my dinner or filled my waterbottle where I had to go outside. My midge hood was very useful but they still got my hands and they covered my thermal making me look like a swarming bee hive! This was bad, I got back to the tent but it was too late they got there first and made my breakfast hell! I wore my gloves while making porridge and this gave protection but inevitably the hood had to come off when eating my breakfast. I was eager to set off quickly and taking my tent down was like an act of genocide as far a the midges were concerned. The air was quite a lot more viscous with them but I was at last off at a fair old pace which they couldn't keep up with!

The walk along the south side of Loch Arkaig round the Monadh Ceann Lachaireig was rough going along a sketchy path but progress was steady and the cloud periodically appeared to try and break up giving some bright spells. I reached the woodland and rounded the corner into a new glen. A fresh breeze was welcome but the corssing of the big river wasn't as I now had wet feet again.

Streap seen from the East

I was following the Allt a' Choire Screamhaich up to my new camp where I could pitch my tent at a breezy and midge free location! The view was nice but sadly lacking sunchine. I could now make my way up to Gulvain via the long broad east ridge which gave some nice views out to the less frequented summits of Glen Mallie and Glen Loy. Once at the summit, extensive views were had of Ardgour and what I had climbed over the last few days. There was no sunshine and it was quite hazy but I could just about make out the Isle of Rhum. High thick cloud heralded the approach of a warm front and so I knew that I was in for some rain pretty soon.

Meall a' Phubuill

Mullach Coire nan Geur-oirean

Sgurr Mhulaggan

Streap and the West

Leac na Carnaich in foreground

I made a leisurely descent back to the tent taking my time to dry out my feet and socks. The remaining time was then spent trying to dry out the other items that afternoon. The weather forecast was for a wet evening and morning before brighter weather pushes in from the north west.

The south top of Gulvain