| | |||||||
|
Sgurr Mhic Choinnich
Map After cutting the lawn with shears the previous weekend I'd had a problem with a floppy left foot. Whether I'd stretched the tendons or the muscle or something I just couldn't raise it and would clop along awkwardly; driving was a bit difficult too as it was hard raising the foot to press the clutch. Still, having come to Skye I had to give it a go and found that when wearing knee supports and boots it wasn't much of a problem. Today, Sunday, was an overcast day with clouds covering the tops down to about the 500-600 metre level. Nevertheless I drove down the familiar road to the end of Glen Brittle and, having parked the car, set off about 9.10. I was a bit worried about Sgurr Mhic Choinnich as some of the accounts I'd come across spoke of it as being difficult and scary. One internet diarist described how he'd actually turned back and only succeeded on his second attempt, whilst another had recorded it under his 'worst of times' section.
Still, I knew the way up, having been to Coire Lagan twice already, so it was fairly easy getting up to that point. On the way I passed two blokes about my age, one of whom had done SMC some years before. He said it wasn't too difficult but that there were some 'interesting' spots, a phrase I was to hear again from another person a few days later. Cloud was curling round the dark stone of Coire Lagan when I got there and it was rather sobering to pass the large boulder which stands there, bearing the memorial plate for Dave 'Mungo Park' Unsworth: 'Forever in the Mountains'.
At this point I couldn't see the tops but I made my way over to the An Stac scree slope and began slogging my way up it, hearing a tremendous racket of falling rocks from the direction of the Great Stone Chute at one point. I could see nothing over there because of the cloud but was glad I wasn't making my way up that slope. I got up onto the ridge and decided to dump my rucksack there before making for the summit. The first obstacle was a steep, rock buttress which I passed on the right, using my hands quite a bit but the rock was mostly dry, maybe a bit damp, and there were good handholds. You do need to be very careful in places but I kept on despite a brief spineless moment when I fleetingly considered turning back. The ridge was quite narrow in places and needed some scrambling, but in the end I got to the summit (12.00) where a memorial plaque reads: Lewis MacDonald. To one whose hands these rocks has grasped The joys of climbing unsurpassed. 27th July 1958
The return was straightforward, back the way I'd come. I paused for a bite to eat back at my rucksack then, as I was setting off again, I met the 2 blokes I'd seen earlier plus a couple of others. By the time I got back down the scree to the corrie the clouds were lifting and enabled me to see the tops and get a photo. There I met a bloke making his way up - he was another about my age - who said that this would be his 250th munro.
It was an easy walk back from the corrie and I reached the car by 14.20. Overall despite the cloud the temperature had been fine all day and I'd only needed shirt and T-shirt right up to the ridge; there I put the Berghaus on as it was windy in one or two spots - but oddly quite still in most places. I'd taken the climb very carefully because of the daunting accounts I'd read and also because of my own dodgy experiences on Sgurr Dubh Mor the year before. This time I'd been prepared to retrace my tracks a couple of times on the ridge to find easier options instead of pressing on regardless, and I had happily edged along on my bum on some of the precarious bits, content to take the safe rather than stylish approach. All in all an excellent day and the knowledge that I had successfully tackled what was generally regarded as one of the most difficult Cuillin peaks boosted my confidence greatly. Perhaps too much. | |||||||
 | |||||||
