Stormy and wet today - like ...

Stormy and wet today - like my 10 hour epic that should have been 6 to 7 hours to climb that remote Corbett that is almost completely surrounded by forest plantations, south of Ballachulish.

I missed the rock marker to indicate when I was to leave the path to cross the river Laroch and start climbing more steeply.  I crossed the river further upstream and had an even steeper climb alongside a forest fence, through trees outside the forest, only to come out to thick cloud and wind on the ridge above the forest.  I made some furtive steps towards my goal, decided to turn back but, then found a line of rusty fence posts that I knew would take me to the summit.  I was right!  The summit cairn was made up of rocks and stones with more rusty metal posts leant against the rocks in a wigwam fashion.  It would have been worth a photo but not in those conditions.  I got out of the wind and had my sandwich and cake.  Soon the heavy rain started as I followed the metal posts back.  Even so, I completely lost them for a short time, got disoriented, turned back and then found them again.  I carefully checked that I was then following them in my homeward direction.

The return to the Laroch, swollen and dangerous to cross was, this time, too far in the other direction downstream from the marker cairn.  I got wet legs crossing the river further upstream and found the path.  Next, came quite a shock.  Literally, before my very eyes, what was an easy to cross burn on the well defined path was now a wall of white water cascading down the steep hillside and over the path.  There was nothing for it but to climb up through grass, heather and shrubs, more than 100 metres to eventually find a rock in the burn that I stepped onto and jumped to the far bank.  I clung to a small tree as I pulled myself up and out of the raging water.  I took a diagonal descending route back to the path that steadily improved the nearer I got to the car.

The man in the nearby house who gave me permission to park up the previous night, had been looking out for me.  He came to the car, opened the passenger door and I thanked him for his concern and for remembering I was out in quite appalling conditions.  I said, "I now think I should never have gone!"