Kinbreack bothy to Tomdoun
(8.5 miles/885 metres ascent)
I got up and took a quick photo of the others, still fast asleep in their bivvies...
...and then I crept over to the other end of the room to make some coffee. I took some Lyons filter coffee bags with me this time round, and really appreciated them first thing in the mornings.
People began to get up and cook breakfast, and pretty quickly Lorraine and Steve got their things together and set off on a long walk to Spean Bridge. Lorraine had suggested the night before that Gairich would be an easy Munro for me to pick off on the way to Tomdoun, equipped as it is with a convenient set of zigzags on the way up and a long, gentle descent on the other side. I decided to climb it, Tony planned to take the lower route, and Rose and Bob were not yet sure which way they were going to go, by the time we all set off together to Tomdoun at about 9am.
The weather was lovely first thing, and the warm sunshine outside the bothy persuaded us to start the day in our baselayers.
The first thing to be done was to get across the river again, and I spotted a lovely caterpillar as I was making my way across the boggy bits between the bothy and the track.
The river was still low, so I took off my socks, got back into my Roclites and walked across at the shallowest part I could find. The Roclites don't purport to be waterproof, and they work on the principle that water is supposed to get in and out easily, so I hoped that my shoes would dry off fairly quickly as the day progressed.
I dried my feet and put on my socks at the other side, and then a bit more bog hopping got us to the track, where we stopped for a quick photo before the sun went in.
When we got to the track we could see Gairich rising up ahead of us to the left, and Rose and I walked on ahead together as Bob and Tony chatted in our wake.
It's not far to the point where the track divides and Munro baggers have to turn left, and Rose and I waited there as Bob and Tony approached. We could still just about see the bothy on the other side of the river, but it was beginning to disappear behind us.
After a short discussion Bob and Rose decided to go up the hill with me, and so we all set off and promised to see Tony later at the Tomdoun hotel.
As Lorraine had promised, the zigzags made the ascent of Gairich much less strenuous than it would have been without them, and after a steady pull were were almost at the top of Gairich Beag. We stopped there for a bit of a breather, and Little Peewiglet got out of my pack to stretch his little legs.
The weather was beginning to close in a little now, and so we didn't linger but got our things together and pushed on to the top of Gairich. It was good to get to the top - 4 Munros in 2 days brought my entire tally to 5! - and we spent a bit of time chatting on the top to a group of walkers who'd just come up from the Tomdoun direction.
One was a former Challenger, and they all wished us luck with our trip.
They also warned us that the initial descent was actually quite steep and rocky, and so I put away my poles to make scrambling a bit easier.
Before we left they took our piccy on the top...
...and then we gathered our things together and at about 2pm began the walk down towards Tomdoun in the by now slightly hazy distance.
The way down wasn't quite as scrambly as I'd expected it to be on the basis of what the blokes had told us about it, although there was one steep step that required a little bit of extra care. Bob and Rose went on in front, and I dawdled behind a little to take in the view of the path snaking down below us.
Suddenly, as I was picking my way round a steep and particularly rocky bend in the path, I felt my toe catch against a boulder, and I'd almost hit the ground before I'd realised that I was falling. I tried to put out an arm to catch myself, but before I had time to take in what was happening I'd gone head over heels and landed with a crunch on my side, my right arm squished between a large boulder and my chest. The impact knocked all the wind from my body, and I lay there for I'm not sure how long, nerves shrieking, and struggling to get my breath. As I eventually managed to drag some air back into my lungs I felt a constricting band of pain around my chest, which winded me all over again.
I stayed panting on the ground attempting to gather my wits together, and after a while I tried to push myself back up. I couldn't manage it, though, partly because of the sharp pain around my chest and partly because of the weight of the rucksack, which was jamming me into the narrow path. I couldn't see Bob and Rose, but I yelled as loud as I could and waited. Nothing happened, though, and I remember a frisson of irrational panic at the idea that I was going to be stuck there in the path, unable to get up! I shouted again a couple of times, and I'm not sure just how long it was before Rose suddenly appeared at a jog on the path below me, and called back to Bob to come and help.
After that I remember Bob and Rose unfastening my rucksack and lifting it off my back, and then helping me to sit up. By then there was some pretty significant pain in the right side of my chest, at the front, and it was difficult to get a breath without making it a lot worse. It occurred to me that I'd probably cracked a rib, as I'd done that a couple of years earlier on tripping in a race, and this felt very much the same.
I'm not sure how long it was after that that Paul, one of the blokes we'd met earlier on the top of Gairich, came down the path behind us, and stopped to help. I remember Bob and Rose helping me on with my down smock, because by now it was pretty cold on the side of the hill, and I remember they had some conversation with Paul about the fact that he had a car parked at the dam, down on the road to Tomdoun at the bottom of the hill. Paul set off for his car, and Bob, Rose and I began to take stock of the situation and give some thought to how we were going to get down.
The path there was still quite steep and rocky, and I wasn't sure how I was going to descend to the shallower part a hundred metres or so below us with my rucksack. Bob and Rose insisted that they would carry it all the way down, but 3 large rucksacks between 2 people on steep, rocky paths are pretty difficult to manoeuvre, and it seemed to me that we might all be there for the rest of our lives if they tried to do that as well as help me down! After some discussion we agreed that they would take my pack down to the foot of the particuarly steep bit, and then we'd reassess the situation. Rose set off with my pack - she and Bob had left their packs a bit lower down when they dashed back up to investigate my calls - and Bob helped me to get up and start making my way down the path. It proved to be manageable one step at a time, and some time later we got to the bottom of the worst part.
We took a breather then, and I think Bob and Rose took another look at the map. I decided to try my pack on, on the basis that I could always take it off again if it was impossible to make progress. We didn't wait long, though, because time was passing quickly and I was beginning to feel a bit crap and pukey. I think it was at that stage that Bob rang Roger, to let him know what was happening. I remember speaking briefly to Roger on the phone, and how calm and reassuring he was :)
We set off slowly down again, and again it was possible to make progress one step at a time. Some way into the descent I began to feel a bit dizzy, and some time after that I remember waking up on the floor peering up at Bob, which was hideously embarrassing. Apologies, Bob! :) I don't know what time it was by then, but I suppose it must have been an hour or so after the prang. We continued down the hill, with Bob and Rose taking turns to walk by my side in case I keeled over again.
It felt like a very long time before we finally got to the point at which we could actually see the dam. Bob had contacted Paul by mobile quite some time earlier to tell him that we would accept his offer of a lift from the dam to the hotel, and Bob and Rose were able to pick out the car in the distance. Eventually we got there, and after climbing over the locked gate we were able to get out of our rucksacks and into the car. By then I think it was about 7.30pm - it had taken us about 5 hours to get down - and Paul had been waiting there for at least 2 hours without mobile phone reception, unable to see us and not sure whether we were aiming for the dam or not. He'd stayed there to help us, though, just in case we were relying on him. Thanks, Paul :)
Some 10 minutes later we arrived at the Tomdoun hotel, where I'd been planning either to camp or to stay in the bunkhouse. Bob and Rose had actually been planning to press on towards Fort Augustus for their 24th wedding anniversary the following day, so by now their plans were entirely shot. Enquiries eventually revealed that the hotel had space in the bunkhouse and also rooms, so Bob and Rose set off for the bunkhouse and me for a room. The relief I felt at finally sitting down on the bed is indescribable.
The obvious thing to do at Tomdoun seemed to be to see a doctor, just in case I'd done something more serious to myself than it initially appeared, and that's what Bob, Rose and I had been planning on the way down from the hill, but when I explained at the hotel that I thought I'd broken a rib I was told that there was no possibility of any medical assistance there, and the only place to find it would be the hospital at Inverness. I didn't want to do that because I was afraid that by the time I'd got there and back I might have lost so much time that I'd have to drop out. By now it must have been about 12 hours since the three of us had eaten anything, and so I decided to go down to the bar, get something to eat and drink and see how things felt in the morning, assuming that I'd be able to see a doctor in Fort Augustus, which was my destination for the following day.
Rose came up to see if I was ok, and then we both went down to the bar where after several gin and tonics I was soon feeling anaesthetised and quite a lot better :) There were lots of Challengers there, and it was a particular pleasure to meet the fabled Terry Leyland, whom I'd seen on the Challenge message board but had never met. Dinner at the Tomdoun is pretty good, and I think we all felt quite a lot better after home-made wild garlic soup and langoustines with salad. Mega yum! :)
In the course of the evening Tony Hardman offered to carry all my things to Fort Augustus for me, which was incredibly kind! I've no doubt that he could and would have done it, too. I'm a bit of a stubborn bugger, though, and so I wanted to carry my own things, and over the course of the evening I decided to modify my route to Fort Augustus and stick to the roads, so that if there came a point at which I couldn't continue I'd be able to flag down some help.
Eventually, and quite a lot of gin and tonics later, I set off for bed, where I propped the pillows up against the headboard and dropped off to sleep sitting up.
This was definitely the most difficult experience I've ever had out walking, and I'm quite sure the whole day must have been just as much a nightmare for poor Bob and Rose as it was for me, presented as they were with the responsibility for shepherding a slow and not entirely rational injured person off a steep and fairly remote Scottish mountain, with no immediate assistance and no mobile phone reception as we descended. They already know I'm grateful for their patience and help, but I'd like to thank them once again for getting me down :)
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