Week 4

Sunday night had a bit of a party atmosphere with everyone who had come to join me running and supporting.  Peter Wright arrived and my Aunt produced a feast for us all.  All good preparation for the most daunting week ahead; 24 munros to climb and 2 of the longest distanced days as well as 2 wild camps!

Kay McWilliam joined me on Monday around the south side of Loch Quoich.  This started with an 18km run in to the 3 munros we had to climb.  John Bennie had checked out the start of this trail for us the previous day and had returned with mud up to his waist so I didn't have high hopes for the path.  Perhaps he was unlucky or maybe my expectations have sunk off the bottom of the scale but I thought it was a pretty good path and largely runnable!  

The weather was once again dreich with low cloud cover but we were pleasantly surprised after the first Munro for the cloud to lift and we were treated to beautiful views and sunshine for the rest of the afternoon.  It was heavy going as the descents as well as the ascents were very steep so progress over the tops was slow.  If you happened to be watching the tracker closely and noticed a little dog leg then rest assured, this was deliberate! It seemed the most sensible descent from the third Munro to go  back the way we went up.

Amazing drystone dyke along the ridge!

The final section of the day was the toughest.  With the end in sight, literally, we encountered another one of those 'paths' which is hidden by undergrowth and guarantees tripping, slipping and sliding. I can't believe how patient Kay was with the whole experience, I didn't hear her swear once!

Finally we arrived at my Aunt and Uncles van where we were duly treated to soup, coffee and cake.  It was such a nice evening and lovely sitting out and admiring the views.  

Loch Quoich in the sunshine!

Returning to the same spot again the following morning with Richard Bannister couldn't have been more different.  The cloud was back down and it was drizzling. I felt really low, the previous day's weather had been so lovely and made the day much more enjoyable, I couldn't believe it was so different and miserable.  

Loch Quoich the following day

We were doing the South Glen Shiel ridge that day and although the cloud lifted and we had great views of all the days climbing in front of us, the relentless 40+mph winds all day sapped our spirits.  

Peter Wright met us at the end of the day and his endlessly cheerful charachter picked us up a bit.  When we arrived at Lochcarron hotel I promptly received messages telling me my support runner was no longer available for the next few days. I felt incredibly low at this point and instead of having a shower and doing some stretching I found myself sending emails and making phone calls, all to no avail.  With the weather still looking foul outside I headed downstairs for dinner feeling sorry for myself.  By the time I at down, Richard had changed his plans for me (again) and arranged support for the weekend! What a hero! And then I was able to catch up with a phone call to Tom and concluded that all the worries I had were down to a lack of sleep.  

Wednesday was our longest scheduled day with 40km and 3 munros, completely unconnected by ridges.  This meant a lot of ups and downs and the 1st Munro in particular was very craggy and slow going.  I had a little moment on the knife edge ridge, the first one I've had the whole trip but I suddenly felt very unsure of my footing on an exposed edge. Luckily Richard was there to save the day! 

After the munros we had 20 very undulating kilometres to the camp spot and we both found it incredibly tough. Richard had raced the Devil of the Highlands (and come 9th) at the weekend and I was on day twenty-something so neither of us were at the cutting edge. It also took far longer than we'd anticipated and by the time we got to the last 5 km, which included a very slow, frustrating and arduous bog trot we had both really lost our sense of humours.

The weather was very changeable and I felt like we were being laughed at from above.  It was almost comical the way it changed from clear skies to rain every time I took my jacket off.  I can't describe the feeling of relief and delight when we finally spotted Peter and Elizabeth with the campsite all set up and the jet boil bubbling away. We had our dinner within moments of arriving and went to straight to bed, it was 9.30pm after all.

The next day, despite 4 munros, felt comparatively easy. Once again it was a grim looking start but the weather did pick up for us and navigation was made easy by being able to see.  Richard was catching a train home that evening so we had a little time pressure and I ended up finishing the day with 10km along the road.  I know it's really against the spirit of the trip, and my principles, but I LOVED it. Tar-mac is such a treat after weeks in a bog!

Friday was the 2nd most daunting day of my trip with 6 munros and, by my very poor estimating, 35km in distance.  Elizabeth and Ruth were joining me for this. Another dreich start turned into a pretty good day, again we could see the ridge that we were following which was such a massive help.  It was the most runnable day I've had in a while with quite a few paths connecting the tops and easier, rolling hills than I've been up recently.  We saw a record 7 people today, including Scott, who was a Speed of Light Leader with me a few years ago! 

Once again the final killer decent ruined my mood a bit and my poor ankles were knocked about and strained again and again.  Ruth and Elizabeth were suffering too but managed to contain their emotions a bit more effectively than I did.  

My guesstimating of the distance led Elizabeth into completing her first ultra marathon distance at 45km.  She didn't put pins in my bed or anything nasty in my food so I assume she's secretly very pleased about this.  My mum was with Peter to welcome us in which was great and Mum made us a cracking dinner. I was in a little trouble for pointing out that she didn't need to try too hard to impress us starving runners.

Saturday, on paper, looks like the last big day of the trip. It included 4 munros and finished with a wild camp, beautifully serviced once again by Peter and Elizabeth.  Beinn Dearg, Meall nan Caepraichean and Eididh nan Clach Geala were all beautiful hills and felt very different to others that I've covered this week. They were much more stoney and viewed from the final Munro, Seana bhraigh, looked like they had been concertina-ed together.  

It was wonderful to look North from here too because the change in the landscape was very visible, much lower hills; The end is almost in sight!. The view to the East was also spectacular, I could see Beinn Eighe, an Tealach ridge and Suilven, all looking very impressive.  

Much to my surprise neither the weather or my tired body prevented me from completing my goals for the week.  I'm very chuffed to have managed all the Munros and not compromised the route too much.  I was fully expecting to have a great 10 hour sleep, even in a tent, as I was utterly knackered.  Sadly the weather had other plans.  The wind was so strong all night long, I can't believe the tents remained standing.  We were all very disturbed by the weather and none of us achieved the necessary hours of sleep.

What should have been an easy recovery day actually felt like a nightmare, one of those awful ones where no matter how hard you try you make no forward progress. Had I known it would be so tough my expectations would have been lower but I was so excited about a very short day that 5 1/2 hours felt very disappointing.  

I realise now that I've been playing mental games with myself. I didn't consider a big week at all, I just had to think day by day. I've fooled myself into thinking that after Sunday I'm rolling all the way to Duncansby Head, I think I may have just made this week the hardest of all....

More photos to follow.