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An Socach Carn Bhac Map St George's Day and Shakespeare's birthday. The weather wasn't looking any better today though, as I set off on the bike from Inverey for the 5 mile ride-in along Glen Ey. Actually it was only about 4 ½ miles because I stopped when I reached the last bridge before the ruins of Altanour Lodge. I left the bike near the bridge and set off on foot for An Socach.
After walking 200 yards along the east bank of the Ey Burn I turned off and ascended alongside a stream which took me all the way up to the east top of An Socach. The way was heathery and grassy with little sign of any path and much criss-crossing of the stream to find the best footing. I entered cloud again on the way up and it began to rain - a rain which persisted right up to my return to the bike, by which time I was well soaked.
From the east top I followed the ridge SW then W to the true summit (12.00). Nothing to see in the cloud so I set off N and then NE in search of the next stream which I could follow down into Glen Ey. The descent seemed to take ages, as indeed had the ascent, and I was feeling pretty done in by the time I reached the bottom. I'd given blood the previous week and maybe that was still having an effect, or possibly it was the exertions of the previous day's long trip or perhaps just the increasing weight of my years. Who knows.
Back at the Ey Burn I wondered whether to continue. It was going to mean another mountain more or less from scratch although the base line was a pretty good start at 500 metres. I knew, however, that if I opted out I'd have to come back and do the 5 mile bike ride all over again so reluctantly I set off west along the course of the Alltan Odhar. Although the ascent was gradual it was very long and my tiredness together with the incessant rain were sapping my spirits. A couple of times, pausing for a rest in the grass, I watched the rain puddling on my waterproofs and considered turning back. Stubbornness and reluctance to give up overruled good sense, however, so I kept plodding on until finally the stream came to an end, or more accurately a beginning, and a short yomp took me onto the stone-littered ridge. There, despite my tiredness, I turned west and wandered along to cop the 'top' at that end, just for completeness. Very windy up there but fortunately it was not head on. From the western cairn I retraced my steps and then walked the seemingly interminable distance through the clouds until I reached the Carn Bhac summit (15.45).
Cold, sodden, windblown and unable to see any distinctive feature in the mist there seemed little pleasure in my achievement apart from the simple one of having accomplished what I had set out to do. Still, there is some satisfaction in that. No path or visible landmarks so I set off SSE by the compass and made it to the valley of the Alltan Odhar, then followed it back down. After a while I found a path which I must have missed on the way up; this made it easier and near the bottom the path took me to a cart-track which in turn led to the ruins of Altanour and thence back to the bridge and my bike.
As usual the return trip on the bike was much easier and quicker than the outbound trip. I left at 5.11 and was back at the car by 5.37 compared to the outbound times of 8.47 to 9.40. Back to Wilma's for another night (£23) and another awful bar meal at the Fife Hotel. No-one else on the hills today but I did see a fair bit of wildlife. There was a solitary red deer on the way up An Socach, several frogs, and what I like to think was a golden eagle circling above the Ey Burn - could have been a buzzard though. Also a few oystercatchers, several red grouse and lots of mountain hares, some of these still in their white winter livery. Unfortunately for them there was no snow here and they looked dangerously conspicuous - vivid flashes of white against the brown and green landscape. Still, evolution has provided them with a most impressive turn of speed so I don't think the eagles will have it all their own way. | |||||||
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