Early winter walking
Brenda Clough • December 22, 2019
On the summit of Beinn a' Chullaich
You don’t need to go into hibernation in the winter! Sometimes it is the best time to be out and about even in the mountains. If there is snow on the ground we would always recommend having an ice axe and crampons with you, know how to use them and practice fitting the crampons onto your boots before you have to in earnest. If you think conditions are too harsh for you then you can always turn back.
Even if you don’t have an ice axe and crampons, especially in the early part of the winter, there are always walks you can do, whether low level or sometimes even the higher hills. The main issue is lack of daylight so you need to start early to ensure you have enough time to return before dark. Always take a head torch with you and some survival gear such as a survival bag and a duvet jacket, just in case something unforeseen happens.
So what did we do this early winter? First of all wait for a good forecast – unless you like going up hills in the mist of course. Then for a couple of explorations we booked into local B&Bs to ensure we had an early start. One excellent find was Ardarroch Cottage
near Glenfinnan with superb views of Loch Eil and Ben Nevis, just read the reviews. This day we headed up Braigh nan Uamhachan between Streap and Gulvain and after a steep and pathless ascent it is a long, lovely ridge walk with excellent views. And we were lucky, Streap, which is a bit higher had more snow on the final ridge and summit and despite clear blue skies and a clear Ben Nevis, Gulvain retained a cap of cloud all day.
Our next foray, again using a local B&B the night before, was to a summit at the western edge of the Monadhliath Mountains. The walk in here was made easier by following new tracks put in for a wind farm development but only a mile or so of the track we used had vehicles on it occasionally. The vista from the top was of an amazing sea of white with views down into the Corrieyairack pass (one of Scotland’s oldest military roads through the mountains). We took our ice axes and crampons but didn’t need them, though the soft snow was quite tiring to walk through on the final climb.
Our last good walk, before the recent spell of cold wet weather, was a traverse of the hill above Kinloch Rannoch from the Trinafour Road to Kinloch Rannoch over Beinn a’Chullaich. Starting on the Trinafour Road gives you an added height advantage and mainly frozen ground on the route to Carn Fiaclach meant the walking over the peat hags was easier than it probably is in the summer.
So do get out and enjoy the good weather days in the winter. At present we are planning the adventures we will be offering through Perthshire Treks for next year so please keep an eye on our website and Facebook posts.
Braigh nan Uamhachan, above Glenfinnan
View from Carn a' Chuilinn, above Fort Augustus
Richard & Brenda on the summit of Tour de Moyen in Switzerland As we wind down Perthshire Treks over the coming winter, we have had time to look back over the last 6 years and all the lovely people we have walked with and the great adventures we have had. One of our very first adventures was for a lovely group of women from the Netherlands organised through Schottland op Maat . They came to Pitlochry on one of the wettest weekends of the year! Plans were quickly changed from the proposed walk up Schiehallion to a walk along the Rob Roy Way followed by a walk around Pitlochry the following day – and they were amazed at the waterfalls – they don’t have many in the Netherlands! The same year saw Richard do his fastest ascent ever of Ben Vrackie with a young Russian couple who were into marathon running and we also provided some self-guided walking for a corporate group from Baillie Gifford . This first year, as it turned out, was fairly typical with some clients booking directly with us and others via travel agents or travel curators.
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