LOCH LOCHY
Sron a' Choire Ghairbh left and Meall na Teanga right. Photo Colin Matheson
10.6 miles 1250 metres
Start Thursday 03.38
Sron a' Choire Ghairbh 05.15
Meall na Teanga 05.55
Finish 06.45
Squares: green - start, red - finish. Circles summits: green - this leg. Map Colin Matheson
Time: Estimated 2.45 Actual 3.07
Rob writes:
The brains behind this epic decided on a swap – I wasn't sure why but it made no difference to me – I think I was just trying to avoid a certain gully – a bit of a limp excuse really. (In the schedule Tony had been put down for this leg, with Rob doing the next one. Tony and I had discussed the navigational problems of Sgurr nan Coireachean and Sgurr Thuilm, and decided that in low cloud it was better to give it greater experience.)
The “run and rally” team screeched into the car park in the middle of the night and Alwyn set me off along a forest track that was absolutely flat and left me no excuse but to run at a decent pace. It was soon light revealing cloud on the tops but I was looking forward to a good track right to my first top – I was to be disillusiioned.
There was no sign of it as it was buried under almost impenetrable piles of cut forest and brushwood. This was slippery and I was often in brush ankle and knee deep. I crossed the river to uncut forest but this was impenetrable and now I had a desperate gully scramble back across. So much for a fast start!! Eventually I was through and chasing large deer up the hill.
A zig-zag track led up from the col between my two hills and the first was short turf and very runnable, but I was in cloud now. A fast descent back to the col but I was unlikely to make up time now.
Meall na Teanga was a bit more complex so I took it steady, crossing to a sub top and bearing off onto a lovely runnable section before a steep descent to the valley.
The forestry hadn't finished with me yet though and 2 big deer fences and rows of new plantings slowed me down – as did thick heather over boulders. At last I was down on a track again and running through the forest to finish by a beautiful but midge infested waterfall.
Despite my slow time we still seem o.k. for the race for the Mull ferry. A strange sort of stop/go run. Forest is not my favourite terrain.
Peaks done 108 time taken 5 days 4 hours peaks to go 169
Despite the fact that Rob only took 22 minutes over the schedule, we had all looked at the leg and anticipating him finishing much earlier. I had even gone for a walk up the finish path to meet him an hour before his actual arrival.
Looking at it now, I think we were being unreasonable to expect such a fast time, but we were in fact becoming very concerned for some time before he arrived, and I had driven up and down the road in case he came out in the wrong place. I suppose the euphoria, tiredness, and the concern to get to Mull that day affected our rationality.
Alwyn had confidently predicted that he would knock spots off the scheduled 30 minutes for the drive to the road end, to knowing hums from Tony and me.
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