Tom a' Choinnich; and Ullapool Hill

 Tom a’ Choinnich, Glen Affric

Seven people and Max, the dog met up at the Chisholme Bridge car park in Glen Affric with the intention of doing the Toll Creagach and Tom a’ Choinnich round.  The forecast was for the day to go off - with snow, then rain and high winds sometime in the early afternoon. We discussed our options as we walked in to Gleann nam Fiadh. There was a clear view that Tom a’ Choinnich would be the more interesting hill if we only managed one of the two before the weather broke. 

To keep our option of doing both hills if the forecast was too pessimistic, we headed for the Creag na h-Inghinn ridge.  This is a nice way to gain height before the long approach to the Tom a’ Choinnich summit. An innocuous looking snow patch hid the little slab on the upper part of the ridge. But an inch or two of soft snow lay on old hard snow making firm foot placement a bit of hit and miss, even with crampons, which were on and off several times during the day as our route encountered the old snow pack.

The forecasters were correct.  By the summit, a brisk westerly wind was carrying fresh snow over the summit onto the east side of the hill. We has intended to descend the rocky east ridge from the summit to the Bealach Toll Easa but the combination of fresh snow lying on the old hard snow pack made us decide that discretion was best for our party. We headed off down the north ridge to pick up an old stalkers path coming up from the old Benula Lodge, now submerged under Loch Mullardoch, to the Bealach. This was new ground for me and led us into a remote Corrie on the south side of Loch Mullardoch. The path wended its way along the steep west side of the Corrie, with intermittent  tongues of old snow, taking us up to the bealach.  

At the bealach we conferred.  Unanimously, we headed for the path leading back to our approach track and the car park at Chisholme Bridge.

Despite not completing our round, this was a good winter day out.

Taking part: Helen, Arthur, Stella, Emma, Richard, May and Mathew.  Welcome to Stella, Emma and May all of whom have recently become members of the Club.

Words: Arthur

Photos: Stella and Arthur

 Ullapool Hill, the Ceilidh Place and the Wallet

A compact team consisting of Cerian, Ewen and prospective member Joanne assembled at the Cul Mor parking place, and decided that the cloud cover and wind speed would not make for an enjoyable ascent; the wind was forecast to increase to 40-60 mph in the afternoon, accompanied by heavy rain.  They opted instead for Ullapool hill, which offered excellent views out to Seana Braigh and the Fannichs before the promised bad weather came in.

They dropped down to the north and checked out Loch Achall, marvelling at number of ruined shielings and abandoned cultivation; the glen must have supported a large population before the Clearances.  A damp walk down the birch-clad glen and back to Ullapool was followed by a trip to the Ceilidh Place to warm up.  This was enlivened by Ewen discovering that he had lost his wallet – thanks for paying, Cerian – but there was a happy ending when the soggy wallet was discovered where they had left the car to go on the walk.  A sociable outing despite the weather, and Joanne can’t have been too disappointed by the change of plan – she joined the IMC the next day.  Welcome, Joanne!

Taking part: Cerian, Ewen and new member Joanne.

Words: Ewen

Photos: Cerian