Training Log Archive: SarahD

Cuillin traverse with SS. Best. Day. Ever. Just amazing weather and experience. Took in all 10 Munros on the ridge between Gars Beinn & Sgurr na Gilean. Generally on the easier lines (TD bypass & Collies Ledge). Roped up to do the In Pinn & SnG. Everything else soloed. Very very chuffed to have completed this - it’s been on the bucket list since Uni days!

Worthy of a bit more detail now I’ve recovered a bit, so….

Bivvy spot was brilliant apart from the midgies, but a lovely sunset, amazing moon reflections on the Sound of Soay, then woke at 4am with the sun just climbing over the Red Cuillins. We were off at 5 with light packs, though I was carrying a light Alpine rope, harness & S had a few slings, belay plate etc. The light along the first section of (relatively) straight-forward ridge was amazing, and we bagged our first Munro - Sgurr nan Eag - at 5:30.
We’d soon descended to the Castle above Choire Ghrunda and from here to the start of the In Pinn climb had been reccied 2 days previously. We were using the TD bypass to reach Sgurr Alasdair, but at the end of this we met a pair that we’d seen the previous night, roped up on the technical section. We’d soloed this on Monday so jumped in quite confidently to get past them. The views were really amazing with some inversions and dark silhouettes of peaks and ridges reaching out endlessly. But now that the sun was up it was getting hot and I felt like I was already rationing myself with water. I’d started with 2l and had another litre stashed further along, but was wishing it was more!
After SA it was a short climb onto Sgurr Thearlaich, where we got a better line than previously, and a bit of technical down-climbing to the foot of Sgurr Mhic Choinnich; it was good to know what was coming up and must have saved us a bit of guidebook faff time. Collie’s ledge gave us the bypass of King’s Chimney to gain SMC, though it would be nice to return to tackle this another day. More folk atop SMC instantly identified us as runners which I couldn’t quite understand until I looked at photos later on - we were dressed a bit different & carrying rather less than most folk on the ridge! There must have been some truth in the id as we did seem to be progressing faster than others, despite a singular lack of running.
We found our pre-positioned stash below An Stac. S had buried it well underneath some rocks to avoid the hazard of thieving ravens, gulls or humans! A short climb then took us to the base of the In Pinn. It had been our intention to skip the climb to save some time, but there was only one other group on the rock when we got there and it seemed a shame not to bag it for completeness. It justified carrying the rope the length of the ridge too! S was soon romping her way up and I followed reasonably confidently, with the benefit of having been up there just a year ago.
Next up was Sgurr na Banachdaich and the ridge onwards over Sgurr a Ghreadaidh to An Dorus. This is a fun knife-edge ridgey section with plenty of sustained scrambling but nothing overly tricky. I’d done this bit a couple of times, but both in the opposite direction, and although the main line just sticks to the ridge there are a few spikes that need to be bypassed. We didn’t get this spot on, sometimes dropping when we didn’t need to and occasionally staying high when we should have dropped! However, AD appeared sooner than I expected and the down-climb to it was easy enough on dry rock.
We were meeting plenty other folk up there by now, but were making good time. The comments and advice we were being given were interesting, probably based mainly on our lightweight kit, but perhaps also the fact that we were two auld wifies. The guy atop Sgurr a Mhadaidh confidently told us we couldn’t get past the rock tower ahead without a rope. I resisted pointing out that we had one, but did let him know that we’d managed fine without roping up the last time! There are a few trickier sections of climb on this bit of the ridge, but we remembered them quite well from last year and again I had the confidence to know that I’d soloed it all before. We had a bit of indecision at Bidean as to whether to take in its top or bypass below, but decided to go for the bypass as it could add quite a lot of time to go over, especially as we weren’t familiar with what sounded like some tricky climbs. It was still a long slog to Bruach na Frithe thought. S was continuing to skip effortlessly across the rocks, while I felt I was flagging a bit . More food and drink helped pick me up and once the summit of BnF was gained the end was definitely in sight.
We bypassed below Am Basteir to climb it by its easiest route from the Bealach a Basteir. We’d got almost to the top last year before turning back at the ‘Bad Step’, but S had been up and down a couple of times since then and was able to guide me safely on the down-climb- a very short but extremely exposed and intimidating few moves. AB was my first new Munro of the day and now there was just Sgurr nan Gillean left to conquer. The west ridge of this is also very exposed with some awkward moves, so I was glad of the comfort of a rope to negotiate the climb. Then a final ascent through the window, up onto the summit and we had completed the traverse, 11h 13m after setting off from our bivvy below Gars Bheinn.
Needless to say, the descent to Sligachan seemed to take an age, but we were off the mountain by 6:30pm with the incentive of showers, food and beer spurring us on.
What a truly amazing day. I’m so grateful for Sue’s expertise, confidence and supportiveness to allow me to have a crack at the route, and feel like we totally smashed it, though I’m sure she could have gone faster without me. All the more amazing to be able to complete it on such an incredible day. This one’s going to stay with me for a long while :-)))

C • Epic!! 1

Boat from Elgol into Corruisk, then a direct ascent of Glas Beinn. Carrying bivvy kit as well as climbing gear etc. Aiming to preserve as much as energy as possible. Stunning afternoon and a beautiful evening. Only downside was the midgies that managed to find us on the ridge! Otherwise a truly perfect bivvy spot & night.

Reccie of the missing piece of the Cuillin jigsaw with SS. From Glenbrittle up to Coire Ghranda. Then a round of Sgurr Dubh Mhor, Sgorr Alisdair & Sgorr Mhic Choinnich, returning via Coire Lagan. Lots of good scrambling fun - soon back into it and loving it. 3 new Munros too :-)

Tarmachan ridge with JS & ME. Lovely loop for a shorter day. Legs feeling better than expected once I got going. Plenty blue sky and good views. Fab w/e :-)

Glen Lochay skyline with ME & JS, clockwise. 5 Munros & 2 Corbetts, all new. Cloud down on the tops for most of the day, though eventually cleared out by the last top. Silly windy early on, but then seemed to come and go and we were sheltered for much of the time. Slower going than anticipated with a lot of soft untracked ground. Great long day out with good company - just what I was after.

With J, from S&J’s (where we sneakily parked) out the Lazy Well track, then up and over Green Hill to Frosty Hill (CP69 #70). Cross country to the Lazy Well Lochs (CP66 #71). Really lovely swim in the bottom Loch - not weedy at all once away from the edge. Then back by the LW track. Beautiful day. Not feeling v bouncy but fine for an easy effort.

Relaxed feel-good chatty catch-up run with FB from Logie Steading. Lovely :-))

Jog down to the river for a dip. Water level quite well down, but still a strong current. Wildflowers looking lovely on the banks where it hadn’t been mowed to bowling green standard. Legs finally feeling a bit better again.

DR @ GT. 4 x 6’ Kenyan hills on the loop above the view point. First time I’ve done this session - think it’s a good one in lots of ways. Wasn’t feeling my most sparkling tonight, but a solid effort. Tick

Culblean loop from Cambus. Up the MTB path and down the glen. Bit of a plod - still feeling heavy legged. Nice day though :-)

Needed to do something but still tired and a bit unmotivated, so went for a play in the woods on the MTB. And it was fab! Especially the ski run which I’ve never tried to bike before :-)

In Glen Derry

A tired shuffle with KH! Up past Hutchy to Loch Etchachan, then Cairn Etchachan direttissimo- a good line which even had a wee climbers trod up much of it. Clear from the top and a cracking outlook down over Loch Avon. Descended by the Feith Buidhe taking extra care on the wet slabs. Quick snack at the shelter stone (CP4 #69)before climbing back up to LE by the path, then back out the same way. Legs were really not working well today, especially on rough terrain, after their battering on Thu night. Stabilising tendons in lower leg are v tight and sore and I think also a cause of the nerve pain in my foot. Also been feeling a bit weird and wobbly since yesterday evening which probs didn’t help my terrain running today!
Good to get out, but I need to let my body recover some more rather than bulldozing on too much.

Back oot. Managed to fall sideways into the stream on a crossing fail!

Legs not as badly trashed as anticipated. Still feeling it tho!

Cults hanging #5. Can’t claim anything other than walking this morning!

And finally in. Phew - long week!

Cults hanging #4

And in

Pre Pressendye

Pressendye hill race. V happy with this. Probably set off a bit too hard but just about managed to hang in to the top. Felt like I was seriously hammering the body on descent, but comparisons with previous time show I was faster on the up and slower on the down. 1st Auld wifie 50.
First tick on my intermediate race plans / goals towards SP360.

Cults hanging #3

And the full lot back in

Cults hanging #2. Slicker.

Steady at GT with 2 x 1/2 mile efforts at the end. Still feeling Sat night a bit, but moving ok.

Jog round Cults woods control hanging for school activity week. A few easy training days planned.

In Glen Ey for a night shift on the DR Aberdeenshire Munros & Corbetts relay. With LP. Leaving plenty of time and making it relaxed.

Glen Ey to Glenshee over An Socach, Cairn a Gheoidh, Cairnwell & Carn Aosda. Took a direct line up AS which was v steep & hard on the calfs, but got us up onto the ridge quickly and going was good from there. Descended straight off the back of AS picking up the wee path for the steep descent, then striking off round the side of the hill , trying to minimise height gain & loss. Was less boggy, heathery and peat-hagged than I remembered and the climb up onto CaG was good underfoot too. After that we were onto proper paths and tracks for the most part. Felt really good physically after a couple of easy / rest days and could have pushed the pace more, but was actually dropping L! Stomach felt a bit bleugh - shouldn’t have gone for the extra coffee whilst waiting at nick’s in Braemar! Nice night and got light much sooner than I expected, with some lovely light in the sky. I do love a good night run :-))

Sitting out a beautiful day to save my energy for DR relay leg.

From Tarland up to Tillypronie to cheer on the changeover on the DR relay. Thought I was going to miss them so flogged myself up the hill - then had ages to wait! Spin back via Redburn and Ordie.

A ridgey circuit of Beinn Dearg’s Choire Grande from the head of Loch Glascarnoch. Started over the wee top of Carn Loch nan Eilean then a steep scrabble up onto the south ridge of Cona Mheall. Sadly it clagged over just as I hit the crest - shame as it’s a cracking wee ridge and the views would have been great. Took the usual line from CM over to BD then descended by its south ridge to Creag nan Choire Ghranda. Dropped to cross the Allt Mhucarnich by a somewhat sketchy line that steepened up as I descended - fair amount of heather clinging and bum shuffling to find a way through the crags. Then it was back up to finish along the Meallan Mhurcaidh ridge - much nicer than the bogfest down in the valley. Good day out though it felt like progress was painfully slow. Not much in the way of easy ground mind! Back to the van without seeing another sole again!

Chill Little Assynt loop with EF & HP. Stayed dry for the duration - the monsoon came later! Legs feeling pretty ok. Plenty good chat!

Afternoon wander up to the lochan for a dip. Set off from the house in the sun, but raining by the time I was in the water. Water much warmer than a few weeks ago and felt quite comfortable in for 5’.

In Corriemulzie from the old schoolhouse.

Seana Braigh from the north. Been wanting a revisit to SB since my night epic on the VWMR last year - I didn’t get to see much of it then and wasn’t really in a fit state to appreciate it either! Forecast for today looked good, so was a bit disappointed to wake in LI and not even see Suilven! Thankfully by the time I reached the start of the ride in it had cleared out nicely over SB and was dry underfoot. On that basis I decided to go for the scramble up the An Sgurr ridge which was a great choice with stunning views into the choires etc. A bit of interest near the AS top itself, but nothing that had me unduly worried. Once onto the plateau it was an easy run round to the main top then back off the ridge to the west to return to the bike. Lots of nice light and sunshine, and a brief shower too. Lovely mountain- glad I returned.

Back oot. Dip in the rock pools near the schoolhouse.
Never saw a sole from start to finish!

LK reps in the rain - 9x3’+1’. Legs still a bit tired to do a really good session, but seemed like a plan to get some quality out of the way today and let me play tmrw. Not so bad that I didn’t make myself go a bonus rep, just all a bit slow!
Liking the new shoes - fingers crossed.

Wee walk up Drum Cholzie (CP51 #68) with J. Bit dreich at the outset but blue skies by the end.

Sgorr Mor loop with LP. Out to chest of Dee from LoD. Stopped for a v brief skinny dip - cooold! Then a bit further round the path before striking up the hill towards SM. Going was pretty easy underfoot and soon on top (CP7 #67). Much brighter than yesterday and the top was free from cloud. Plod along the ridge then a rough descent though deep heather back to LoD. Definitely easier doing it in this direction compared to the opposite. Took a while to get the body going this morning, but felt ok for an easy-paced trot. Lots of good chat too!

Sadly forecast proved correct and woke to strong winds and bugger all vis. Forecast to improve later so delayed heading out. Plan had been for some scrambling routes on Cairn Toul & Braeriach, but in these conditions it wasn’t even going to be practical to find the routes, never mind climb / descend them ! Instead headed up Devils Penis (CP3 #66) , then as it didn’t seem too bad up there we continued on to Cairn Toul. Contemplated trying to find the line down the SE ridge, but decided to save it for a nicer day. Stopped back at CB for some lunch before heading back out to Luibeg.

Oooot

In LoD to Luibeg

In Luibeg to Corrour for a bothy night with SS & N.

Peter Hill. This was planned to be my quality session for the week in lieu of intervals yesterday. Started with a 17’ jog out along the Feugh and back the other side to warm up before hitting the hill. Rapidly realised my legs still felt heavy, but not so bad that it wasn’t worth putting in some effort. Managed to run the full climb (kind of), so pleased with that even if it was a good bit slower than I’ve run it before. Descended by the lovely dead end spur path putting in a bit of effort on that too. Still failed to find a particularly good exit from the bottom of it, but it’s worth a bit of a heather bash for the run down that far! Happy that I gave it as much as I had in me today.
2nd cuckoo of the year down at the dead end, sounding very happy. Love hearing them :-)

Junk miles. Ran out the river bank to WHW where E was organising the forest sprint in Bellwood. Managed to catch and chat to a couple of folk before E thrust a Clear station into my hands and asked me to run down to the start in the woods as he’d forgotten to clear some folk’s dibbers. Managed to catch all bar one before starting, so I guess the sprint was worth it! Jogged home the shortest route by Drumnagask etc. Not sure whether there’s any real benefit in adding extra miles with a second run, but felt like experimenting. Interesting that HR was so high for what was largely a v easy paced run.

Trot round Cults woods to check map for activities week.

Easy paced trot with RB & KH from Glen Muick over to the Linn of Tanar (CP58 #64) and Hare Hill (Cp57 #65). Hassles with Lui & deer fences (& general tripping up /getting in the way & deer chasing….) but otherwise rather a fun wee route. Managed to find a nice line back from HH to Cairn Hillock that added some climb but successfully avoided most of the peat hags & heather. Could still feel Sat in the legs but felt fine for an easy effort. Foot fine too.
1st cuckoo in Glen Muick