This is the story of my first adventure. I was incredibly underprepared and very keen. My hiker friend had told me what I needed to bring. I had to buy it all that day as we were leaving Glasgow.

I got the cheapest version of all things because I didn’t know if I would ever use them again. Often, the cheap stuff is also the heavy stuff. I had some walking boots that I had used for Duke of Edinburgh 15 years ago and as my dad would say ‘good boots those, will last a lifetime’. I bought the rest: waterproofs, other layers, sleeping bag, tent, mat.. you name it, I didn’t have it. I even bought a backpack to carry it all in.

Skip to summary

Preparation:

Go to Mountain warehouse. Buy everything you need. Find old things you have not used in decades. Use those without testing them. Add it all to a brand new backpack and drive your friends to the middle of nowhere without a map.

This is clearly not my recommended approach these days – but in the interest of honesty.. this is what I did.

Day 1 – 10Km / 6.2 miles. 800m elevation

We parked the car in a layby off the A82. We parked it closer to the end of the walk so that on day 2 we would have less of a long trek along the road. I did not know about this trick, it was my more experienced friend who told me. I use it all the time now.

We headed into the hills. We went along a river for a while, it was not boggy but I imagine that it could be if the weather had been wetter. After a while we started a gradual ascent, which became steeper. My pack became heavier, my feet became sore.

I had no idea how far we were going, where we were going, how long it would take. I was SUCH a novice. I was just happy to be out walking with my friends. I did not think that it would be difficult. I just thought ‘we are going walking in Scotland’.

Several hours later, we were still ascending the side of the mountain, the sides had become steep requiring some care on the path. I felt out of balance as I had a big pack and wobbly tired legs. I did the classic ‘are we nearly there yet’ a few times. As we got higher, the views started to open up all around. It was like walking about in an outdoor wonderland. I soon forgot that I was tired. I kept looking at my friends walking in the distance and thinking about how tiny we looked in such vast landscape.

We made it to the summit after about 4 hours. We chose some flatish spots to pitch our tents. I unpacked mine, got out my instructions… everything still in wrappers. Then the rain came. It came out of nowhere and was cold, windy and brutal.

I struggled to get my tiny single man (single skin) tent up then crawled into it; trying to keep most of my wet stuff away from my sleeping things. I was cold. I thought the whole thing was hopeless. I had no pump for my airpuff matress thingy (which they said came with a pump) – my tent was too small to sit up in let alone unpack. Every time I touched the tent wall I would get wetter. Why was I on a mountain in the rain as night was coming?

After about 20 mins… the rain left and the sun came out again. It was May – and the Scottish evening had a few hours before the sun went down. The light was magical. My (much more capable) friends got water on to heat, lent me a pump for my mattress and set about making food. I set up my bed, separated wet stuff from dry stuff, put on all my waterproofs and started exploring our summit mountain top home. It was glorious. We ate, explored, took photos and had a laugh. Then the sun went down and we tucked ourselves in for the night.

During the night, In my single skin tent, new sleeping bag set up.. I was freezing. I put on all the clothes I had. I couldn’t feel my nose, couldn’t get comfy, each time I touched the wall of the tent would get wetter and colder.. I did not sleep well. I was worried about the next day, stiffness, whether I would ever sleep again…

Day 2 – 15k, elevation 1000m

Got up to bright sunshine. I forgot my midnight woes immediately. We had porridge, coffee and a few more moments of soaking it all in before we headed off down the hill.

The plan (I was told) was to do two more Munros. We were first going to descend to the River Affric, walk along it then climb up to a ridge that would take us over two peaks, finally leading down to the road near where we left the car. Sounded great. As we started to descend, we met another hiker coming up.

He had already done 2 Munros, was going to do one more then be home in time for the F1. What a legend. He had a small pack, some water was wearing shorts living his best life. ‘Maybe one day I could do that’ I thought.

The UK’s most remote Youth Hostel is in Glen Affric. It is near the river and takes about a day to reach from either end. We were heading there to have lunch. We forded the river (taking off our shoes and getting cold feet) and sat enjoying the sunshine with another hiker while we ate. I had massive blisters by this point. My 20 year old boots did not fit. I decided not to complain.

We planned our route looking at the land in front of us. We headed off across the bridge, through a young forest and up the side of a hill. We went quite a direct route. Pathless. I was so exhausted as we climbed. I was telling myself that I could do it ’20 more steps then stop for a rest’. I had not expected things to be so tough. We were less than a quarter of the way up the first of the two Munros. I was hot, shaky, blistered and in pain.

After an endless time, we arrived at a small viewpoint. We had sweets and chocolates and a look at the view. It was beautiful. I forgot the pain and skipped about taking photos.

Pack back on. More hill to climb. Almost immediately the tiredness set in, the legs were shaking, I was giving myself pep talks about how it is just moving one foot at a time.

This little loop of stop, snack, smile, walk, grimace, repeat happened for about 2 more hours until we reached the summit. There were scrambly, boulderfieldy bits – and for those of us with vertigo sections were challenging.

Once at the top, we looked across to the second Munro of the day. Two of us were tired. One of us was not. As a group, we decided that we would not try for another one that day. We planned to descend the ridge, and take the path back to the car.

This proved the wise choice.

The section of ridge we had to walk next was beautiful. It was sheer, spectacular and achievable for a beginner. I was quite nervous though. As we were coming off the summit, we needed to scramble across a section of path that had dropped away. To take this step, we needed to hold the wall with hands, facing the wall, and take the steps with our feet. Like bouldering. If we slipped, we would have been seriously injured. I was not used to this, nor the weight of my pack, and I was tired. I did not know what scrambling was.

I managed it, with help from my friend showing me how. I remember being scared at the time. I don’t know what I would think of that section now (2 years on). Maybe it would still be a dodgy section, maybe I have improved to a point I would not see it as a worry.

Once we started the descent down Corrie Odhar, we felt better. We knew that we were not going to be in more danger, with exhausted muscles. My blisters were terrible by this point (still not complaining) but I was looking forward to getting to the car and removing my shoes!

The walk down was beautiful. I felt sad to lose the views from the ridge. Although the valley is lovely; there is something about being up on top of it all that allows me to forget any aches and pains. Once in the valley, I was aware that we had been walking for 8hrs, and things hurt.

As we rounded the final corner to the road, the sunlight and the water and the greens.. scenery.. all came together to create a surreal feeling of wonder and joy in nature. It may sound cheesy. I may have been exhausted and full of endorphins.. so what. It was great. I wanted to do it again.

Summary – 25km well spent with excellent views and loads of lessons learned

This route takes in two Munros, a section of the River Affric and a summit camp. It is part pathed, part pathless. There may be a longer walk-around that would find a more traditional ascent route to Mullach Fraoch-choire.. but I do not know it. We went up the side of the hill from the hostel and joined the main ridge walk. If I were to do it again, I would continue to A’Chraileag and descend down the front of that back to the A82. There is some scrambling around the summit of Mullach F-C – I was a beginner and could do it but was a little nervous. If you are not confident at height, suggest you go with someone else to be safe.

Little Hiker’s Top Tip:

Don’t do a long overnight expedition with boots that don’t fit, and cheap kit that you have never used.