Beinn Dubhchraig

I had a day off work in Lieu of some extra hours so decided to bag this hill which I'd passed last year on the way up the central gulley of Ben Lui. The carpark at Strath Fillan on the A82 was frozen solid and I genuinely nearly put my crampons on but instead hung on to the fence posts , trees and gates and slithered my way down and along the path to the forest. Reports on the Munro Magic website say that this route is very wet and boggy, not today, it was like glass as i crunched my way over the tops of the bogs and slop.

The forest at Gleann Auchreoch is stunning, not like the common dense fir plantations but a real sense of the ancient Caledonian Pine Forests of old. This would be worth a walk in itself on day if it wasn't for the nagging thought of knee deep slop in warmer conditions to get there.

Past the forest and out on the open hillside I took my time up the steep NorthEast spur of the mountain, not by choice but today my legs felt heavy, my breathing laboured and the whole thing a bit more tiring than usual. I did wonder whether walking alone on a weekday in sub zero conditions in less than perfect weather while feeling weaker than normal was a good idea but I soon realised I was just being a sap and pushed on.

It was one of those gloomy days where it never really gets light so photographs were few and far between.