Streap Comhlaidh from Streap. 3.30pm, 05/08/95
Fraoch Bheinn, Sgurr Mhurlagain and the head of Loch Arkaig, from Sgurr Thuilm. 8.30pm, 05/08/95 ~ From the shoulder just south of the Thuilm summit, to be precise, and I was in for a disappointment before long. The ridge to Streap had been more laborious than I had reckoned with, each successive bump higher than the last, and the slog up the flank of Thuilm is dispiriting at the best of times, so I was looking forward keenly to putting the Phoxhole up just by the cairn, but to my astonishment - it's never happened before or since - I found the summit occupied. Just two lads in a small tent, and all credit to them, but still. My scunnerment was profound, and we exchanged greetings through gritted teeth - mine were anyway, and I imagine theirs were too - but etiquette (one tent's company, two's a crowd) demanded that I withdraw to some other top. It was too late in the evening - no it wasn't, I was too whacked - to make Coireachain the destination, so a flat patch of grass on Beinn Gharbh was gratefully pounced on. Scenically, it may even have been better than Thuilm.
Sunrise from Beinn Gharbh. 5.30am, 06/08/95 ~ Sgurr Mhurlagain and the head of Loch Arkaig.
