Heading east.....

En route east now and so far it's been hot, clegless and purple. Yes the heather has arrived and it is indeed Bonny Scotland. I have come through Loch Lochy, Glen Roy, the Corrieyarrick Pass, Kingussie, Strathdearn and am now in Aviemore.
I have had company on the hill from Manny and Brenda. In 2008, Manny ran all the corbetts in 70 days, ( don't compare, fine race horse and pack mule come to mind!). It has been great to be able to discuss the journey with someone who has been there and to get  a few hints and tips on the route plan.

A couple of days ago when I had come over from Kingussie to Strathdearn a big, big day, Manny and his mate Geoff had cycled in a mountain bike which saved me an extra 12km walking and then Rob arrived with all my camping kit and a picnic. The support is amazing. 

Yesterday I was heading up Meall a Buachille when I came across a motley crew. My team from my work with the Venture Trust were out on the hill. I have wondered from the start if I would come across them somewhere. it was great to see them and catch up on what has been happening. The girls are doing well this year, Holly and Laura have been Hoofing it Home (virgin money giving hoofing it home), a journey they undertook with their horses from Aberfeldy to the Lake district raising money for the Venture Trust, their human charity and World Horse Welfare, their horsey one on the way. A superb journey and one I am looking forward to reading up on.

That's if for now. I am now on my way east and there is a lot of miles in between each of the hills out there. Only 53 to go ..........

Ardgour and Moidart, a turning point

I was on the Ardgour, Moidart peninsula for 8 days in total and it turned out to be pretty tough. One evening cycling from Strontian to Garbh Bheinn in a torrential downpour I lost my map. The next day, I got up early and retraced my steps but could not find it being a Sunday and very misty i thought it may be difficult to get one and so changed my plans to climb 2 hills i did have a map for, Cruach Beinn and Fuar Beinn. On the cycle to start the route my bike chain snapped and I managed to fix it but it snapped again.

Hollie to the rescue - a friend of a friend came out and got my bike while I took the chance of the mist clearing and headed up Garbh Bheinn without a map, the mist cleared as the day went on and I managed to pull something out of the day with the bonus of being invited to stay the night with Hollie, Ishbel and Dugald, dry off for the night and watch the world cup.

The following day Rob and his nephews drove all the way down from Conon Bridge to fix my bike chain while i went off to climb Cruach Bheinn and fuar Bheinn. Torrential rain and strong winds again made the going pretty hard work made even more so when I discovered on top of the first summit I had lost my compass. Not good. I managed to use the wind direction to navigate my way down to the bealach and up to the next summit but do not recommend this as a navigation tool. I was trashed, drookit and feeling pretty drained by the time I came off of here and booked into a b and b to dry out. The next day was a tough round of Beinn na h-uama, Sgurr Dhomhuill, and Carn na Natrach, bonnie but lots of steep ascents and descents and it was a good 10 hours on the hill. A cycle round the peninsula the next day to climb Sgurr Coire A chearcaill, blessedly straightforward once we found the track! I was joined this day by Irene and Janice, 2 women from Perth mountaineering club who had being staying at the b and b. It was a long time since I had company on the hill and the time passed quickly and pleasantly, at least until the girls left and I had to fix yet another puncture in the pissing rain. A frustrating time was spent trying to get the rear wheel back on the bike before setting up camp on the shore of Loch Eil.

There are not too many corbetts where you get the chance to stay on a ridge all day and the round of Sgurr craobh a chaorainn, sgurr guibsachan and bealach an Sgridain  is a cracking high level traverse and a good way to finish the peninsula.
I was happy to cycle away the next morning though, it felt like I had reached a turning point and I was cycling into the sunshine..............................

A well overdue update from Lorraine in Moidart ..........................................................

26 days and 53 hills after my last blog, whoops where has the time gone? I have come through Strathfarrar, Strathconon, Torridon, The Coulin Forrest, Applecross, Torridon, Achnashellach, Inverinate Forrest, Glen Affric, Glen Shiel, Knoydart, Glen Dessary, Glen Kingie, and Glenfinnan.

The weather began to turn at last in Glen Affric where i had the chance for the first time to stay in the Ault Beithe hostel, a very special place and a great evening where I shared celebrating my half way mark with Alisdair who had just finished his second round of munros. A few wee drams were had by all.

I have had lots of sunshine, cloud inversions, high camps, misty sunrises and sunsets. I have seen a wild boar with her baby, a pine marten washing its paws right in front of me, had a baby deer follow me down the mountain, watched lots of other hinds with their babies, the stags running together and ptarmigan chicks are everywhere.

Spring has become high summer with bell heather and ling, the bog is a carpet of colour with deep red and orange smagnum moss,  wispy bog cotton, sundew and bog asphodel. I had my first blaeberries of the year on the 27th June on Sgurr an Airsid.

I have been midged, clegged and ticked but the worse by far is the bracken. I have spent many days fighting my way up hills on pathless terrain tripping, slipping, getting ankles tied in the lower stems and not being able to see over the top. Never, ever, ascend Sgurr Coire Conneachan direct from the Gleann Dubh Loch in Knoydart! Day of the Triffids comes to mind! Mountains that used to be purple are now only green because of how much the bracken has gotten hold.

People are few and far between on these hills. Perhaps they know about the bracken. Yesterday I met my first people on a hill since Beinn Damh in Torridon, over 40 hills ago. I have met people in the glens and bothies though. The Cape Wrath Trail seems to be particularly popular.

Support is still coming big time from Rob who appears with bikes, fresh raspberries, real bread and cheese, clean clothes, dry shoes, and takes away rubbish, smelly clothes and seriously smelly shoes. Help has also come from others like Kalie in Applecross, a good friend and yet another member of the Creag Dhont MC. A long overdue thankyou to Kalie for moving my bike , joining me on the hill, eating with me in the Applecross Inn (always a hard one that), putting me up, doing my washing, moving my bike, moving my bike again and did I mention the Green and Blacks Chocolate I found in my back pack!

Support also comes from complete strangers, like Jimmy from Glen Loy who looked after my pack while I was on the hill, made me dinner, gave me his spare room to stay in and entertained me for the evening with his fell running stories and tales of a retired driving examiner. Great evening and great guy. Thank you Jimmy and Izzy..

Yesterday I had my best mountain day by far on the five corbetts just south of Glenfinnan. The Druim Farclash Ridge which joins the 2 in the east with the 3 in the west is a long, scrambly ridge, knife edged in parts. I have not worked out the overall ascent yet but 13 hours after starting I was back at my bike, tired, burnt, thirsty and high as a kite. Still buzzing a half hour later when I cycled into Glen Uig.

And now i am supposedly having a well deserved day off but as the weather is due to break tomorrow, I used this afternoon to cycle to Resipol. Tomorrow I climb Ben Resipol and head over towards the Ardgour hills and then it's time to head east.

79 to go................

My body is holding up, I am a wee bit smaller and browner these days but my poor wee feet are taking a hammering. I've lost a few nails and they are starting to feel a little tender. Thank God for walking poles.

The fundraising is going well, over £2,500 now.  Please help spread the word. It's a good cause.

www.justgiving.com/lorraine-mccall

Great news....Lorraine has reached half way....she did her 111th Corbett yesterday followed by an overnight at Glen Affric hostel.  Photos will follow and a big thank to the kind people who have donated recently and helped with logistics etc....keep spreading the word!!
www.lorrainemccall.com
www.justgiving.com/lorraine-mccall

Heading South

I have spent the last few days coming through Glen Calvie, Glen Mhor and Glen Beag and out to the Fannichs and Little Wyvis. It is always good to have company but it also also feels good to be moving on my own again. This was new ground for me and some wonderful glens surrounded by the higher mountains of Seanna Braigh, Beinn Dearg and Am Fogach.

In retrospect I could have made this easier for myself and moved a little quicker had I taken a day pack, cycling with a full backpack on a mountain bike up hill into a head wind aint too much fun. But the down hill bits were great and camping out in the glen was eerie. it's a big wild place and i felt very little.
I am now at home having cycled here from Little Wyvis, my local hill. I am getting on top of blogs and replanning as I have changed my route a lot from the start.
I have now been out for 2 months, travelled through Spean Bridge, Kinlochleven, Glencoe, Glen Etive, Glen Creran, Glen Orchy, The Trossachs, Arrochar, The Borders, Arran, Jura, Mull, Rum, Skye, Harris, the Flowerdales, The Fisherfields, The Inverlael Forrest, Assynt, The Far North, Glen Calvie, Glen Attadale, and the Fannichs. I have climbed 89 mountains and raised over £2000.
I reckon things are going okay but i do want to raise more cash. The more people who know and follow, the better.
It has taken a while to get fit but I am now ready to step up a gear, I  now want to try and get my average hill numbers per day up. I reckon this will happen as the biggest distances between the mountains are over.
If anyone out there would like to offer support  in the shape of motivation on the mountains or bike and food logistics when off the hills please get in touch.
I now plan to go Strathfarrar, Strathconon, Torridon, Applecross, Strathcarron to Glen Shiel, down to Knoydart, Moidart, Ardnamurchan then over the Monadliath to the Cairngorms. At some point I am planning to finish on Beinn vrackie.
It's going to be tough and it's going to be fun.
I would like to say a big thankyou to all you guys who have helped so far, I could not do this on my own. And to all those who have donated. It is difficult to keep on top of this and thank people personally but it is all appreciated. Please keep spreading the word. Apologies for the lack of facebooking but it takes time to hang around and try to get a message to send. They will be there, just not so often.
Tarrathenoo : )

The Far North

I am sitting at home, having cycled here from Little Wyvis and have a little time at last to update my blog before going onto Strathfarrar.
Assynt and the Far North held lots of  challenges.
Going from Cul Beag to Cul Mor on the first day in Assynt Rob and I struggled to find the joining route and after Rob's achilles started to play up and he headed back to the car , I decided to go for the direct line up Cul Mor finding some very interesting rock and vertical heather in the process! The lesson here is read the guide books. It is still kinda fun though, in retrospect anyway.
The first

real horror was later that evening after enjoying a 3 course meal cooked by Rob and being left on my own with the midge. I pitched my tent very quickly and jumped in, only to find a hole about the size of a mobile phone in the inner. I have know idea what happened but it looked as if a little animal had chewed its way through. A hasty repair was carried out with duck tape but I still slept rather fitfully that night, with visions of a tent full of midge.
The next few days were spent wandering over mountains in the mist with some sunny cycling moments thrown in, with Rob appearing here and there, doing an excellent job of  keeping me fed, watered and motivated.
The next big challenge was Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhughaill. In haste the evening before I had given Rob some maps to put in my bike for my next cycle drop at Strabeag Bothy. Unfortunately this included the main map of this hill which lies over 3 maps but I had only noticed 2 until I was in my tent in a glen with no phone signals. The morning was wet and misty and it was with some trepidation I decided to go for the hill anyway. Don't try this at home, 9 hours later a very wet and weary Lorraine(see summit pic) put up her tent in a breeze and scoffed a fine evening meal outside at Lone.
Slow again the next day on compass bearings in the mist going over Arkle and Foinaven but payback in the late evening as the sun began to go down and the cloud and mist dropped. Foinaven had let me in. I was not in a hurry to leave the cloud inversions and Brocken Spectres on the summit ridge and it was after 10 before I returned to my wee tent at The Bealach Horne.

After the day

without a map and moving so slowly in the mist on Arkle and foinaven, I decided it was time to step up a gear and was up early the next morning in the sunshine to climb up Meall Horne before meeting June and Geoff again. They had also been on Quinag when I was there, and Arkle the previous day but are DEFINITELY NOT doing all the corbetts. I still had to do the long trek down to Strabeag bothy to climb Cranstackie and Beinn Spionnlaidh.  The Gods were not with me, however, and again not knowing the ground, I dropped over a bealach early and spent hours bog trotting to get to the bothy whereas with a bit of local knowledge I would have stayed on high ground until close by. All was not lost however and mid afternoon saw me heading into the bog again on the way to my next 2 hills. It was a hot day and hard work and initially when I heard cries I thought it was a lamb, then I thought it was a baby but as they became more insistent I realised that I was hearing cries for help.

I turned and realised that the cries were coming from a crag on the south side of Loch Eriboll and started heading towards them not giving too much heed to the bog until suddenly I was in up to my hips and finding it really difficult to get back out and for five minutes all the ground round about me looked like it was breathing and I was sinking. Fear for the girl who was screaming help overcame my own fear and I eventually dragged myself out of there looking like a creature emerging from the deep. I started calling to the girl that I was on my way and then spotted her clinging on to a bush halfway up the crag. She was not hurt but had got stuck on the crag, I could see a bag at the bottom and thought she had been climbing although she was alone. Still convinced she had climbed up there and the ground looking pretty steep, I said I would get in touch with mountain rescue and she was a little calmer. I then spotted 2 lads who had also heard the screams climbing up towards her in their wellies. I had some trepidation about this as the ground was really steep and said I would alert mountain rescue anyway. I went along the track as far as i needed to send the text then returned. The lads had managed to get to her and were helping her climb out of the niche she was in and around the side of the crag. I retrieved her bag and went to join them. 

Natalie was a geology student who was mapping the land above the crag, when her bag had fallen she started to make her way down to get to it when she started to get stuck. She had been screaming for over an hour to try to alert people on the road but there was no one around until the 3 of us arrived. She was shaken but unhurt and when her heroes, 2 brothers from Tain, Gary and Martin suggested a beer and some whisky to calm things down, I decided the hills could wait till the morning and after retexting mountain rescue all was okay, I joined them. The lads had been about to go on a fishing trip to drink a wee glass or 2 of Jura in memory of their friend Barney who had died the previous year. They were happy to be sidetracked and to take Natalie back to her lodgings in the full knowledge that Barney would have enjoyed the tale.  Well done lads.

The next morning i was up at the crack of dawn and up Cranstackie and Beinn Spionnlaidh before cycling to Tongue with all my kit in some torrential downpours and head winds. A drowned rat was very happy to spend a night in the hostel there and catch up with my friends Dave and Wendy who know how to look after a lass. Steak with chilli and red peppers was washed down with a fine Corbieres and some cheese and a 1999 Connoisseurs choice Caol Islay to finish. My taste buds are now working overtime and this was amazing, as was the banter. Not so great first thing the next morning as we cycled off south to climb Beinn Loyal, the weather was closing in but we managed to make the summit and were treated to some cracking views before the rain arrived. The day finished at the Crask Inn, one of my favourite places run by Mike and Kai, two wonderful people.and we were joined by Rob for another very fine meal before all cycling south in the morning. I said goodbye to my friends at Bonar Bridge and headed off towards Glen Calvie, a little sad to say goodbye to the far north.

Sorry that updates have been few and far between recently, that has been due to a lack of internet access but Lorraine is doing well and approaching her 90th hill.  Lorraine will update her blog soon when she has wi fi (and time) to do it.

One special mention which was left out of earlier blogs must go to Iain and Debbie at St Rule House, B&B in Ardrossan, www.strulehouse.co.uk who looked after Lorraine so well the night before she set sail for the Islands.  They have a wonderful and unique home which is very welcoming and well worth a visit.  Yesterday outside the Crask Inn in Caithness we bumped into Nigel Gardner who is cycling Lands End to John o Groats and had stayed with Iain and Debbie who had told him about Lorraine's journey......its a small world!!!!!

Keep spreading the word :)

Rob