Dundonnell Kit Test

Driving north towards Dundonnell in north west Scotland, the little snowflake warning light in the car lit up and we began to realise what we were in for. We were hoping to climb the Fisherfield Six (the remotest of all the Munros) but after the heatwave of the previous weekend, the weather had completely changed.

Scotland has a lot it can throw at you. In addition to the cold, Andy and I have experienced rain, hail, snow and quite a lot of wind in the last 48 hours, prompting him to suggest that this was as much a test of resolve and endurance as it was of the kit.

We began later than planned, heading off into the hills just west of the Dundonnell forest at about 8:30pm on Wednesday, and got steadily colder and wetter as we aimed for our intended campsite about 3 hours away. Although the light lasts longer this far north, by 11pm we had had enough, so pitched one of the tents and were extremely grateful to fall into our sleeping bags.

We awoke to find the tent surrounded by boggy streams, but the bog had been very comfortable to sleep on and the kit had survived ok despite the encroaching puddles. It was still raining hard so we struggled for motivation until eventually the rain subsided, and ended up leaving the campsite rather later than intended.

The boggy theme continued down to the Shenavall bothy we’d been aiming for, then on through the rest of the day, but this paled into insignificance alongside the problem of river crossings. We’d been planning to do the circuit anti-clockwise, but when we tried to cross Strath na Sealga we discovered that it had risen too far. Looking back, we should probably have taken off our boots and tried wading, but instead we walked up the river, looking for an easier crossing.

Most of the day was spent hopping across bogs as we walked alongside the river. We pitched the tents at about 3pm and left some of the kit in them, then headed on up the river towards Loch an Nid, still looking for a way to cross so we could climb Beinn a’ Chlaidheimh and Sgùrr Bàn. In the end, we were defeated by the river and returned to our tents with our tails between our legs, having only got as far as the loch.

Today we walked back out to Corrie Hallie through more rain, and headed home. Although we didn’t make any summits, the trip was successful from my point of view, as the new kit all worked well. I’ve got a few changes to make but most of it is ready for the big trip.