And so after 18 months, I was back out on the hills with Graeme who I had not seen since pre-pandemic. And this time, we'd be joined by Luna, his new black Labrador. We had agreed to do Mam na Gualainn from Kinlochleven and got there nice and early (0830). The pooch was keen to go and we began the hike along the road before ascending the WHW path on to the lairig. It had been about 15 months since I'd tried this with my brother-in-law in very heavy snow. At that time, we had got as far as the shoulder and then bailed. This time, the weather was fine with no rain or inclement weather forecast. Indeed, we made good time up on to Being na Caillichand the views were stupendous. This hill is ideally placed for views to Glencoe, down the Loch, and over to the Mamores. An absolute gem of a hill.
At some point, Luna had absorbed a tick and Graeme was able to unlatch and dispatch. She seemed non-plussed and only had eyes for lunch! We made our way along the ridge to the Corbett summit, where there was a poignant summit trig point ('Keep on climbing, Tony') - he had died very young and had served his country in the Royal Marines. A fitting tribute to someone who had given so much. I thought about it for a while and we pushed on. The descent back into the lairig was uncomplicated and once back on to the Land Rover track, we were assailed by numerous WHWers asking us how far to Fort William. We began to make the numbers up by the 3rd or 4th lot of people "Only 14 miles to go now" etc. We were down by 1430 and it was a most enjoyable hill. Great to see Graeme again and the plans for Knoydart were in full flow for July. Encore!
