Day 8
Fersit to head of the pass in An Lairig
Daily Distance 26.5k, Time Naismith 9.58, Daily Ascent 2164m, Daily Average Altitude 712m
The map shows our actual route in Blue, and the intended route where it was different in red. The blue numbers on our route are highlighted in the text. The red squares are Munros.
In the morning It was still windy but perhaps not so bad, the cloud was above the summits. The next high ridge looked wide and easier so we set off up Stob Coire Sgriodain. The wind was just low enough to not be too much bother even on the 1 craggy scramble to the summit. Now we had another high beautiful ridge walk 2 to Chno Dearg. The food we had bought in Kilochleven was running down; I seemed to be one meal short of what I needed but I had spare Smash. At the last camp I had made up the spare smash with bits of cheese, olive oil and fish and I now had it cold for a snack. It was not my preferred meal but it filled the gap.
From the summit of Chno Dearg there were lovely views of our next ridge, the 4 Munros beside Ben Alder. Then we were descending, at first glissading over snow fields 3 then following streams down to Strath Ossian.
We had lunch in the shelter of a small wood 4 beside Strathossian House, then aimed for the footbridge over the river Ossian. We turned north along the track until we had cleared the crags of Creagnan nan Nead then struck up into a high corrie 5 that took us to the main path along the ridge. The clouds had now closed in and the wind had strengthened again. We climbed between 2 little lochans and up a spur towards the first Munro through rock fields and snow. On the top of the corrie wall by the summit 6 the wind became too strong. MWIS was predicting 60 mph and after one Munro we decided we had to descend. Our FWA was south of the ridge but the lee slope was tempting, so we decided to retreat north to the valley of the Allt Cam. The weather was now foul. The winds were still strong and it was cold and raining. We climbed up beside Allt Cam towards the pass round Lochan Dubh, the black lochan. 7 It deserves the name because it is surrounded by peat and in the dreicht conditions it was pretty miserable. We needed somewhere to camp with shelter from the strong wind, without standing water. The only place we could find was where a stream disappeared into the peat. We pitched over the stream. With the tent up, when you lay down you could hear the rushing stream in the basement. We were pretty wet but at least this time our sleeping bag was dry.
