Gairich

Date 26 & 27 May 2017

Hills: Gairich

Nothing particularly startling about this approach, I'm afraid. I'd previously been up Gairich from Kinbreack, though, so the tourist route from Loch Quoich was new to me. And, after a good spell of dry weather, the boggy approach which everyone mentions should have been fairly dry.

So we're off and away. First Scottish hill since last October for us. Since then, age has crept up on us all – but particularly on the dog. And we were on our way over to Skye, so this part of the trip was deliberately planned to be cushy. Base Camp (er, that's the campervan) at the Quoich dam, Camp I (that's Tarpy) on Bac nam Fòid, then a summit assault from there.

Glorious (and I mean GLORIOUS!) Weather – warm, but a midge-defying breeze. Track still wet (I suspect this ground never quite dries out), but offering good views across Lochan an Fhigheadair of the objective…

Here's Sadie's favourite bit of the day…

An easy-angled stalker's path leads up the hill. Lower Glen Kingie is a classic example of how the map can mislead. The OS have it down as wall-to-wall forestry, but the reality is a good deal more varied…

Tent duly pitched by mid-afternoon. I actually took this shot the following morning…

A small siesta, tea, then up to the top. Dog in the pack for the steep bit, but out for the obligatory summit shot…

We whiled away a happy hour and a bit on the summit. Nice views west, with Sgurr na Ciche poking out in the background…

…down to lonely Kinbreack…

…across to the Ben…

…over the fantastically featureless land between Loch Arkaig and Glen Garry…

…back to a wife and dog lolling around up at the cairn…

…to the rock beneath us…

…and the sky above…

And that's it, I'm afraid. The tent was in a good spot, but not for seeing a sunset. And we were up too late to catch the sunrise. I know, I know, we should have stayed on the summit till 10pm, then set the alarm for 3am. Instead, we had a great sleep and walked back to the dam the following morning feeling just great. Apologies for that.

Not a seismic event in the annals of the Scottish hills, then, but hey-ho, we had fun.