Meall Fuar-Mhonnaidh

February Exam Board at UHI - my first as Programme Lead for the MSc in IPC. Went well (I think) and I promised that I'd get a hill done en route back to home. I had booked an AirBnB in Drumnadrochit and the lady I stayed with was very pleasant. I was away early at 0600 and round to the car park before this Graham, coming at it from the well-used approach near Bunloit. I set off with head torch on and it wasn't long before I realised how boggy this hill is. To be fair, there had been an absolute splurge of rain for weeks so Scotland was practically molten. However, once I got up high enough to see some lovely shades of pink across Loch Ness, the ground had begun to firm up with some snow and ice higher up. This was an enjoyable wee hill and although I never got any summit views, the view back along the Loch with the sunrise more than made up for that. I was back at the car by 0930 and home by 1230, collecting bonus points for also collecting wee Martha from school. Graham number 77 and another one in the set.

Hunt Hill

After leaving mum and dad's, I drove South - initial thoughts were for Mount Battock but I decided I'd head down to Loch Lee and take in the Graham, Hunt Hill. The walk along the loch was wonderful and there was a very pretty graveyard, just 1 km from the start.

The wind across the loch was quite cold for September; I began to run/walk and after an hour, the imposing crags of Craig Maskeldie came into view. The sun emerged and it felt good to be out and in the glens. What little rain was falling soon dispersed with the appearance of a rainbow. Fit bonnie.

I decided to head up the shoulder of Hunt Hill, through the heather. It was a bit of tough yomp but I soon reached the bogs. Aaaagh! The view back to Craig Maskeldie made up for it though, with the Falls of Uinich cascading down the coire in the distance. 

I had about a 1km walk to the summit and eventually approached the small cairn, with very nice views to Mount Keen and Lochnagar. This was a beautifully wild place and heading back to the lip of the hill, the view back to Loch Lee and Maskeldie was stunning. An awkward descent back into the coire, finally saw me attain the path and a lovely walk/run back to the car. An 18-km day in 4 hours. Graham no. 76. One of the best it has to be said.

Meall Mor - Glen Glass

As the new Programme Lead for the MSc in IPC, I was making my way North for student induction. It had been several months since I'd been on a hill and that Cnoc Fyrish with my wee one and wife. Thus, it was I found myself heading past the Black Isle towards Evanton, where the weather was better. I had decided on this Graham, which would be a decent afternoon out and hopefully afford some fine views. I was satisfied on both accounts. I got the lodge gates for just after 1300 and decided on waterproofs from the off, as it was light rain. It was mild enough so just took the small pack so I could run the flats. The first couple of kilometres were nothing to shout home about, through dead forestry but once I could see Loch Glass, it really opened up. Across the loch I could see a large house painted pink!

The ascent of the hill started up an old Land Rover/bulldozer track that wend its way through forestry and as such, it was difficult to perceive the incline. Eventually, I topped out above the trees at about 500m. From here, it was a bit of a heather/bog hop past the wind turbines and on to the shoulder of the Graham proper. The view back to the turbines and the sea was lovely.

After a couple of hours, I eventually made it up to the summit trig point and the vast expanse of Northern Scotland stretched away. I sat and sent messages to Emma to say I was ok and heading down.

I decided to head straight off the summit to the loch and although steep, I was down to the old path in good time. I dipped the feet into the loch for an invigorating soak, then started the walk back out to the car. However, this part of the path was quite overgrown and obviously not used much as I soon discovered an adder sunning itself on a rock. It soon slithered away at rapid pace and I believe that was possibly the first time I have every seen one, with its black and brown zigzag markings. I felt further energised by that chance encounter and enjoyed the run/walk back through the forest and to the car. My 75th Graham in approximately 4 hours.

Uamh Bheag

I had intended on heading North on the Friday but thankfully left proceedings until the Saturday, when a high pressure had moved in. Last minute, I decided to stay relatively local and opted for Uamh Bheag, a Graham and a Donald. I had never driven down Glen Artney before but I was pleasantly surprised by how pretty it was. I parked just past the church and noted a walker going towards the other Donald first. My mind was made up, I'd head up Am Beannan, a lovely looking subsidiary hill of the Graham. I was running today as I had signed up to another ultramarathon at the end of June in aid of The Throat Cancer Foundation. It was a cold start and I had my hat on. I headed along the road and then meandered round Auchnashelloch Hill to a bridge over the burn. The view from here up to Am Beannan was very pretty.

The going up the 1st hill of the day was steady and my prior fitness and stair-climbing seemed to be putting me in good stead. Before long, I was looking over to Stuc a Chroin and Ben Vorlich, still snow-capped. I made good progress over the peat hags to the eventual Graham summit trig point and the wind was very nippy. I took some snaps and sent a wee message to my wife to say all was fine. I then began the return journey but dropped straight down off the Graham summit and down toward the origin of the Allt Ollach, before running back to the Water of Ruchill and the car. A quick 2.5 hour trip and I'll be back to Glen Artney again. A real treat.

Leana Mhor (West)

Another bothy outing but this time, we'd get the Graham in the satchel first. Although I had done Being Iaruinn a few years ago, I had no problem repeating it (for my 2nd round of Corbetts!) and we arrived in Glen Roy at about 11. The day was grey and the cloud was low but the forecast was good and we thought that if we were lucky, we'd get decent views. The Parallel Roads are a remarkable phenomenon and surprisingly this glen is not well frequented. We decided to head directly up the nose of Leana Mhor from the wee burn, and while it was steep going, we were ascending very quickly. Once over the hardest part of the ascent, thing levelled out and the views back to the Aonachs just got better, with Loch Linnhe even popping out. From the subsidiary hill, we meandered over to the wee summit cairn and stopped for a breather and some photos.

We descended down to the bealach between the Graham and Being Iaruinn, before the plod up on to the Corbett. It looked like we might not get much of a view as the clag blew in from the West but as we rounded the coire lip, we were lucky to get some great views over the coire and to the Glen Lochy Munros in the West. Graeme hit his 99th Corbett here and we decided to make a circuit of it and looped round and down steep ground to the road, before an amble back along to the cars. From there, we drove to Brae Roy Lodge, got the heavy packs on and walked the 5 miles to Luib Chonnal bothy, a smoky delight.

Meall Onfaidh & Aodaan Chleireig

A grand return to the car from Glensulaig bothy over these two Grahams. Captured by Mr Dewar's report on Walkhighlands: https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=86552

Beinn na Sroine

With painful memories of a DNF on the Devil of the Highlands ultramarathon still fresh, I needed a break in the hills for some restoration. I decided on shortish drive and a shortish day out; Beinn na Sroine in any guidebook or website suggests a straight up and down from the car with a total route of 3.2km. This wouldn’t do. I checked the OS maps and detected a weakness in the apparently impregnable fir tree moat. It was a relatively cool day at 14C with drizzle my only company.

I left the car in the layby on the Oban road and it was straight into the meat and potatoes of a lung-bursting ascent up long grass and onto the final summit. A mile from the car and approx. 400m of ascent saw my hit the trig point in 35 minutes with no view  except the old posts where a transmitter had stood many a year ago. I wasn’t ready to end my day out with a simple out-and-back so instead headed West and across some peat hags following an old land rover track. I started the eventual descent and sure enough the barrier of forestry stretched across the hill. To my delight, I found a stag antler and packed it away as a prize for the day out. I eventually located a new forestry track, which was on map and followed the zig-zags down and round towards Strone. Although it was an unsightly deforestation, I was able to run most of the way back and eventually re-joined the main road about 2 miles from the car. A good 7-mile walk/run all done in just under 2 hours and I felt great. 70 Grahams racked up. ‘Only’ 149 to go.