South Shiel from the South: an experience…

Having got to grips with the techy side of posting reports, I'm working through a six-year backlog of trips. That means that you're seeing a bit of an edited highlights - and it's important to mention that because otherwise you might imagine that C and I carry a personal sun god round with us. We don't - or if we do, he's only on limited call-out.

(Although I have to interrupt myself here with a little tale: when I first started coming up to Scotland regularly it's true that I did seem to have a bit of a midas touch with the weather. So much so that on one blazing afternoon when I called in unannounced on a friend in Crianlarich, she didn't look at all surprised to see me… 'I was just looking at the weather and saying to a friend that Simon must be around'. This happens to be True!)

Where was I? Ah yes, the realities of wilderness trips in Scotland. Cut to this summer, when no sun gods could barge their way through the clouds for long. Anyway, we saw a chink of yellow on the forecast, and decided to roll out a plan I had to do the South Shiel Ridge from the south. So we did a quick pack-up, drove north and headed out past the Tomdoun (RIP) to the parking spot underneath Sgurr a' Mhaoraich. Lunchtime, weather a bit warm and muggy, but forecast to brighten up towards evening. So that's all good then, as they say. Bikes off, and up the northern arm of Loch Quoich to Alltbeithe, where we parked them up.

Now, at this point you're probably wondering when you get to see a first photograph of this trip. Hm. Maybe we packed up a bit too quickly. No camera! In due course you'll see a couple of shots taken with the phone, but they aren't exactly Pic of the Month material. Bear with me, though, because I think the route is worth reporting, and if nothing else you can be guaranteed a laugh at someone else's expense.

We headed out on the track which leads up the Easter Glen Quoich. A few miles on, under Creag a' Mhaim, a stalkers path leads up north-east onto the shoulder of Creag a' Mhaim. After a couple of hundred yards on this we made a bee-line for the summit.

So what was the weather doing by now? As we plodded up it got muggier and muggier, and then a few blobs of rain started to fall. A bit breezy, too. We thought nothing of it. Just clearing itself, eh? By the time we got to the summit…

…well, enough said. That doesn't look like it's about to clear, does it? When we reached Druim Shionnach it was not only very wet, but cold and windy too. And getting dark. Just beyond that second summit we found a flattish spot, got the tent up and dived in. We were both a bit chilled, but a chicken tikka with rice would soon put that right. So stove on, and…. pht!... hold on, it's gone out! No idea why - checked the connections, turned the canister up and down, blah, blah, blah. (OK, 'blah' wasn't quite the four-letter word I kept repeating at the time.) Dinner, that night was a memorable repast - mainly because there was very little to remember: an amuse bouche of peanuts (which we didn't find at all amusing) washed down by a sachet of recovery drink and… er, that's about it. The worst thing was that when I went out last thing, the clouds parted for a minute and I could see straight down to the lights of the Cluanie Inn. If I'd had the camera I could have just about zoomed in on the menu. Dream on!

Oh well, an early night then, and up at first light. The wind had died, the rain had stopped, and now we had to decide what to do. We could bimble straight back down to the glen and walk back out, but I pointed out that for the sake of a few hundred metres of climbing we could at least do the next two summits before bailing out straight down to Alltbeithe. Fuelled by a sachet of energy drink, this is what we decided to do. I promise we hadn't been making any sacrifices to Helios or Apollo (certainly not burnt offerings) but by the time we got to that second top of the day, Aonach air Chrith, this is what we saw…

…yes, the day was turning into a cracker. Rip open another sachet! There was no talk of retreat now. We'd dried out, warmed up, and although we were getting a bit fed up of a sugary diet, we weren't actually hungry. In fact, I hate to admit it, but we were Enjoying Ourselves. Through rain-washed air the west was stunning. This picture won't do the clarity of the air justice, so please supply the extra pixels from your memories and imaginations…

On we went, finally reaching Creag nan Damh by lunchtime. Here we met our only other walker on the trip. By the time we were half-way through our Tale of Woe she was fishing out her emergency rations for us! Almost embarrassing to admit that we didn't actually need them.

From Creag nan Damh we backtracked to the bealach, from where a stalkers path leads straight down to Wester Glen Quoich and back to Alltbeithe.

I know that the SMC guide book says that the southern approaches to the South Shiel Ridge are not to be recommended, but that depends on what your priorities are. Yes, the corries are better on the north, and if you don't mind the noise of traffic, that's probably the route to go for. But that long southern glen is beautiful, remote and quiet, and if that ticks more boxes for you…

As for our Experience of that route, what can I say? Certainly for the first half of our expedition, short of illness or injury things couldn't have gone much worse - vile weather and a significant equipment failure. But I'm sorry to say that this trip still counts as a plus in my book. Even when I was looking down on the Cluanie and imagining the creature comforts we could be enjoying there, I wasn't seriously envious. We weren't in danger up on the ridge, and frankly, Civilisation would probably still be there for us to enjoy the following evening. It was, and we did! In fact, the point is that we enjoyed it all the more because of where we'd been the previous evening.

Never mind that, though, the real point of the experience is that my chief memory of it isn't actually the rain or the stove on the first day - that's just a bit of a story - but the sun and surroundings on the second. Camera or no camera, those impressions have stayed with me.

Happy New Year!