Weather/Conditions: Rough day! High winds shook CUlra the night before. High winds on the hills, hard rain all the way, only easing back once at Loch Ossian.
Distance/Ascent/Time: 23.5km / 1200m / 6h 35m
Accompanying: Struan

The bothy came to life the following morning when Steve and Roy came in for breakfast. Outside the rain pelted down, the hills were green and covered in mist. The wind had rocked the bothy during the night, but now it didn't seem so bad.

After breakfast, we set off into the weather, and struck straight up the first Munro Carn Dearg. This hill was all rain and wind. The rain would come in pulses, showering us and soaking us right through. The wind wasn't too bad on the way up, yet on the summit ridge it was numbing. The map and compass came out and we started navigating toward Geal-charn.



Geal-charn is an enormous mountain. It's probably underrated in my opinion, a multi-faceted peak with a few interesting coires. Last summer I watched over 100 deer charge away from me on the vast summit plateau. The ridge climbing from Diollaid a' Chairn (our ascent route) is quite west coast in character too.

A compass bearing brought us straight to the summit, and the wind and rain had eased enough for me to bring the camera out. From here, I knew the last two Munros would be fairly quick. That's an understatement: they were rapid-fire and Struan and I got them done in great time. Struan's worries about missing his train home were dismissed, we took a compass bearing off the summit of Beinn Eibhinn (Munro #150 of my Round) and we headed off in the direction of Corrour. The pressure was off; the summits done.



The rain eased up, and we walked down to Loch Ossian dry, but the burns were spilling over with fresh water. The river was raging and dark brown. We pulled off wet waterproofs to let our clothes air out (wet underneath, again), oddly enjoying the smells of the pines and flowers (so not me) and watching swallows dart around above the water and over our heads. We went down the shore of Loch Ossian at a pace, getting to Corrour in good time to get a meal from the Corrour Station House Restaurant. It's a unique restaurant, a great place run by folk not much older than me (stunning place to decide to move to) and it only opened last year. The atmosphere of the place is nice and the food is great, the perfect blend of restaurant, bar and space to pass the time before getting the next train. It's a shame I won't be back here on this Round, but afterward, for sure.



Struan headed home on his south-bound train, I sat with a book until after 9pm when my train arrived. From Tulloch, I headed to Fort William to stay with James for the next wee while. The trip was hard work, but fitness really takes care of that. It was good to finish a big portion of the Central Highlands, and now I can continue pushing into the west.