Our plans for the day were upskittled by a very iffy weather forecast. After much debate, we'd pretty much settled on a lower level day of little or nothing (walk up the Devil's Staircase followed by a mosey about Fort William) when a last look at the Met Office heralded a change. We made a late call and headed for the North Face car park instead.
Fond Memories
Heading up to the north face, or indeed anywhere around Aonach Mòr and the Nevis Range, always brings back good memories. The Fort William Marathon took in this route and one the reasons it was special was that it reminded me of the times when Bruce and I had frequently visited Fort William to go mountain biking or spectate at the World Championships. I always feel at home when back here.
Càrn Mòr Dearg: Heading Up
Initially, the Càrn Mòr Dearg route follows that of the north face (Ben Nevis) along good fire roads. It crosses the Puggy Line and continues on a route that makes for easy walking. It's only when a big stile at the end of the forest is reached that the path narrows. However, the going is still good with a decent, well drained track running above the stream. This continues for a bit before petering out and this is where it gets a bit monotonous. The views of Càrn Mòr Dearg and Ben Nevis definitely help to take the mind off it.
Ben Nevis and Càrn Mòr Dearg had periodically been shrouded in mist to varying degrees. However, once over the stile the thickening cloud blew rain over us. We stopped to put waterproofs on, nipped back across the stile to shelter under the tree line for a few minutes, and then got going again as the shower passed. We hoped that we might remain dry after this.
We'd been climbing all the way from the car park and wearing waterproofs was just too hot, so mine were very quickly taken off again! There was no way I could handle all the ascent while boiling from the inside out!
As the path peters out a seemingly endless bog begins. The boggy ground has been widened by many boots trying to avoid it. We did give it a bit of a go on the ascent, but by the time we were descending we'd given up trying!
The boggy, wet ground continued until over 700 metres. It was a relief when it eased and we had some dry ground underfoot once again. It was around this point that we lost the path for a time. Aware we'd gone off track we used the route guide from Walk Highlands to support us in getting back onto the path once more.
We stopped by some big stones for lunch, all too aware that the rain may return sooner rather than later and wanting to enjoy our sandwiches with a view. This gave a pleasant reprieve following the long slog we'd undertaken to this point.
Higher up, we cut across the slopes of another hilltop in order to gain access to the summit ridge of Càrn Mòr Dearg. It was really quite imposing, shrouded in mist with only a hint of where the top may be. Having had some intermittently stunning views of Ben Nevis' north face until this point, the mist began blowing through more quickly.
As we reached the summit of Càrn Mòr Dearg the breeze continued more forcefully. I sat down at the cairn to shelter while Bruce went on to have a look at the arête that leads to Ben Nevis. It was largely hidden from sight due to the mist, but occasionally cleared as this blew through to give little glimpses. I personally was quite happy with this as I didn't fancy the exposed ridge in the wind or the significant extension to the mileage on already tired legs.
Leaving the summit and beginning to retrace our steps the rain came on and got heavier again. We were grateful of waterproofs and Tuff Bags to keep our hands warm and dry.
As we descended, the rain eased off once again and we were drying out nicely by the time the next shower came along! The late afternoon saw the summits clearing again and the views back up the mountain were beautiful.
Looking ahead it was very scenic looking along the lochs. We reflected on our day at this point and I concluded that although there were definitely moments of Type 2 fun, overall it had been a good day; I was glad we'd done it. Hopefully my legs will be in agreement tomorrow!
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