Day 15 has been by far the toughest. We had 3 munros to climb, Meall a' Bhuiridh, Stob a' Coire Odhair and Stob Gabhar; although it wasn't the most height accumulation or mileage for the day the terrain on the ridge was hideous. It was all very rocky and being very damp didn't help; I found my trainers slipping every time I put my foot down and my feet consequently bashed into other rocks, my ankles twisted and I pulled other muscles trying to avoid falling.
The weather was driech and we weren't out of the clag at all. This was mentally exhausting as we were constantly taking bearings and checking distances. The constant clambering over boulders and tramping over scree sapped morale. On top of that I was hungry all day which affected my concentration.
It was lucky Richard was on the ball with navigation as I made some very stupid mistakes. I was taking bearings and then heading north, instead of the direction of travel line, amongst other things. The most careless thing I did was stare at the GPS and direct us to what I thought was a spot height. Once we were there I looked at the map to see where we needed to go - we should have turned back 600 metres before!
When we finally started descending down to glencoe ski centre where we were staying that night the going remained tough. Towards the bottom of the hill I fell again and I snapped. I stood up, jumped up and down on the offending rock and swore incessantly. Nothing happened, the rock stayed still, the cloud remained low and Richard pointed to the ski centre where there was cake.
Cake usually fixes everything, especially with a coffee but this was a desperate situation. Cake was followed up with a baked potato and then a burger and chips and washed down with beer. Finally things looked more positive! We went through our hill list of the day and discovered that the spot height we had inadvertently taken in was actually another Munro, Creise!
We began the following short day with a fry up and trotted along a flattish path to the Moor of Rannoch Hotel. Even the weather wasn't so cruel today, it's always so changeable that I've become very efficient at taking my waterproof on and off without removing my bag.
There was a short, boggy section during which I had quite a spectacular fall. I knew it must have looked impressive because Richard didn't get his camera out and asked if I was ok! Although I landed on my head I had planted my face firmly in some very soft mud so was fine to trot onwards.
When we arrived at the hotel around midday we had the best greeting we could hope for: 'come in, don't worry about the mud. Shall I get you tea or coffee? Do you have any washing?' We were shown to luxury rooms and then were able to spend time lounging on the sofas. Sofas! I didn't know how much I missed a sofa, it was such a treat to lounge around with my feet up!
The rest of the day was spent eating gourmet food, playing games, having a bath and generally relaxing. It was just what I needed.
It was such a rench leaving the hotel the following morning, especially knowing we were headed for a wild camp.
We climbed 4 munros and they were much easier going than most that we have done but it was a big day. It took nearly 9 hours and as a sign of how tired I was, I slept for 9 solid hours on a less than satisfactory mat!
The following morning was easier than going into Rannoch and only took a couple of hours. My Aunt and Uncle were there to meet us and cooked a multi course breakfast in their campervan.
Richard headed off after this for a short taper before his race on Saturday. It's been brilliant having his company and I'm very grateful to him for helping keep me on track for almost 10 days.
I had a very relaxing afternoon though was slightly distressed to see hill tops and sunshine and not to be out utilising the good weather. Of course it wasn't to last. Kirsty, who is joining me for 2 days arrived in the evening with the forecast for the next couple of days and it was grim...
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