In the planning stages (4 sentences over a coffee in the office) we'd figured if we wanted to knock off Seana Braigh we'd need to do it early; the forecast was raining by 2; it's (according to the book) 9-10 hours so if we headed off at 7 then we'd hopefully be most of the way back before the rain started.
So up at 6; clear, dew everywhere; inversions on the loch; whispy clouds on the summits around; no midges! Bonus. So on with the water for tea and porridge; tents stowed, bacon rolls eaten and off down the 8 miles to the start of the walk.
Up through Inverlael forest for a couple of kilometres and then the path rises; zig zagging through the young larch and pine and soon we can see Beinn Dearg away off at the head of the glen; towering over everything else.
Nice whisps of purple willowherb; some wild raspberries offering flecks of red, but mostly it's the vibrant greens of the new growth on the conifers in the sun that's the striking colour.
After sweating a bit, we hit the open hillside; a good path continues upwards but gently. For the next hour or so we gently wind our way across a huge expanse of moor and peat and cotton grass and utter silence. Behind us there's the omnipresent An Teallach; Barry's done it, I have it to look forward to.
We round the far corner of Eididh Nan Clach Geala and there's a short glen; cliffs along the bottom side and a succession of little lochans we walk past; rising more steeply and then more open featureless moorland. We can see Seana Braigh but it's still not within our grasp. We descend through a gully; and there's some more rocky undulating terrain which slowly gives way to the most amazing u shaped valley that blocks our path to the summit. We have to go round the head of it; steep plunging drops down hundreds of feet; huge imposing slabs of twisted rock bar the straight path to the summit. And still we continue on. It's a hard fought hill this one.. through the boggy lower slopes finally we approach the summit.
The final 15 minutes is an exercise in twisting your head to see all the surrounding views; and onto the top the panorma is immense. From Helmsdale on the east coast - I can pick out Morven; further round to the north is Ben Hope and by Tongue there's Ben Loyal. The Munros of Assynt give way to the summits of Suilven, Stac Pollaidh, Canisp, Cul Mor, Cul Beag, Ben More Coigach..... To th south west its An Teallach with its ragged jagged skyline, FIsherfield, Slioch, Torridon, hell I can even see the Cuillins.
Seemed like a good spot for lunch so we could oooh and aaaah to the majesty of it.
Mindful of the forecast (but increasingly sceptical as we could see nothing that indicated rain - dappled sunlight was our staple for the day) we headed back off; retracing our many many steps back down off the hill.
Herbie strained a paw and progress was slow back down the hill; but 8 and a bit hours after starting we're back to base camp.
Packed up and drove... it rained a bit after Inverness; we stopped at Pitlochry and just after nine, I was home. She came over having somehow got G a night with a friend, so a hot bath and a cup fo tea and a warm welcome awaited me.
In spite of 30 miles 4 Munros 472 miles driving, I was remarkably up; I cooked dinner adn chatted before finally succumbing to sleep at midnight.
Some weekend....
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