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| Sunrise in the Highlands |
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| Breakfast at sunrise |
A classic walk across some of the most easily accessible but wild terrain in the SW Highlands of Scotland. Accessible as there is a train station in the middle of nowhere, however the wilderness is not to be underestimated.
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| Snowy trees and cold weather giving it an Alpine feel |
Arriving at Rannoch Station in the dark at around 9pm I proceeded to head down the road and estate tracks towards the spot I had chosen to bivi for the night, Sròn Leachd a' Chaorainn. The forecast for the evening was clear skies and no wind, perfect for an opportunity to spend a night under the stars. As I left the Corrour Estate tracks I trail broke through powdery snow up the hill. In the distance was what looked like a rather strange silvery white cloud, I later discovered I had seen the Aurora Borealis for the first time. After a couple of hours plodding uphill I found a pleasant flat spot to sleep for the evening and tucked myself in, in relative luxury as I had brought my foam mat and thermarest for the evening!
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| Half asleep but happy as I woke up in my bivi spot! |
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| Looking across to Blackwater Reservoir and the Munros beyond |
By 7am it was beginning to get light and I could see the mountains all around me, the sunrise at around 8:30 was spectacular, gorgeous alpenglow, the odd cloud in the sky adding to the atmosphere, and I couldn't wait to get going. Two sachets of porridge and a coffee later, I was on my way.
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| The summit of Càrn Dearg |
If you like false summits, the ridge North to Càrn Dearg (Red Cairn according to Google translate, and with an 'a' instead of 'à' it's red car!), is the walk for you. An eternity of undulations, breaking trail the entire way ensued. Finally I reached the Munro and then had the pleasure of seeing some tracks from yesterday leading to Sgòr Gaibhre. A pleasant stroll over compressed snow and grass brought me to the second Munro and the clouds drew in too. A feeble attempt at snowing was made, with a light breeze and some fog. However it was still clear with the sun powering through the clouds at times to leave an eerie wintery look.
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| Incredible sunny views to the South, you could see across the Southern Highlands perfectly |
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| Attempting to snow, there were dark grey clouds to the west of me, but it remained quite pleasant all day |
Continuing to Sgòr Choinnich, I met some other folk and I couldn't quite believe it! They were doing pretty much the same journey as me but in the opposite direction. Navigating over the knoll of Meall Nathach Mòr and NW took me over heathery ground towards the Lodge. A vague quad bike track appeared at times between the snow and vegetation, and a rather exciting river crossing lower down at the new Hydro site took me to the woods.
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| Below the clouds looking across to Corrour Lodge and Loch Ossian |
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| Crossing at the hydro scheme, you can just make out the wire to hold onto above the concrete! |
Another 6km along the edge of Loch Ossian took me to Corrour Station. It's amazing that this has been operating since 1894. The
Corrour Estate website is worth a read if you're interested in what the current owners are doing environmentally and it certainly seems like they are taking a more forward thinking approach to managing their land.
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| Corrour Station, in the middle of nowhere! At least there is a shelter to wait in |
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| The station sign at Corrour, just in case you weren't sure you had arrived in the middle of nowhere! |
All I can say, is, I will be returning with my skis when there is a base of snow, and to explore Rannoch Moor and the surrounding hills some more.
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| A frozen Loch Ossian |
