The last couple of days I’ve been based in Fort William. Graham was up for a flying visit with the aim of climbing Ben Nevis on Wednesday. The forecast was less than ideal with 50mph+ south-westerly winds and fairly constant heavy rain. We decided on heading up from the North Face car park and via Coire Leis in order to be sheltered from the worst of the winds until popping out on to the end of the Carn Mor Dearg arête. This worked well and although it made for a longer day meant we didn’t have to battle the wind and rain/hail until high on the mountain. We descended via the zig-zags to the half way lochan before cutting back to the Allt a’Mhuillin.
Graham was catching the early train today, so I took the opportunity to head up Gulvain via Gleann Fionnlighe. After summiting I returned to the low point before the south top and then descended steeply to head over to Braigh nan Uamhachan, which I traversed before returning to the glen. This made for a good horseshoe, but the descents from Gulvain and back in to the glen are steep and rough and not really to be recommended in the current very wet conditions. The hills in the area are saturated at the moment and it rained fairly constantly both days. Stream crossings that are normally ok are currently problematic and this needs to be considered when making route choices.
