As the summer holiday period was drawing to a close I had annual leave that needed using up before the end of September, so some holiday days were in the store and the hope for opportunities to get a few hikes done. Cùl Mòr - a Corbett, was a mountain I had wanted to climb for a while since seeing it from Stac Pollaidh many months ago.
After a fair amount of rain earlier in the week the weather looked to be good for Thursday and Friday so the intent was to do Cùl Mòr on the Thursday and then tackle Slioch on the Friday (see the next blog entry!).
I left well before sunrise and as I came up the road that led to the parking spot, the sun was rising with the tops of some of the mountains covered in a blanket of cloud. Of particular note was noticing Cùl Mòr covered in cloud - which made me wonder whether I would have another hike without a view at the top! (see the My first Munro blog!). The two lower photos below were the tops around Cùl Mòr.
The route itself to the Corbett is very straight forward, following a stalkers path that gets your pretty much to the base of the mountain.
As you gained height there was some superb views back over the mountain ranges - with cloud inversions in the distance, and cloud flowing over the tops. Quite spectacular.
Reaching the mountain it was covered in low cloud/mist with fog bows appearing! At this point you need to then skirt around the north east side to have an accessible ascent that takes you up over a steep boulder field. This was particularly challenging having Willow with me who was on a lead at that time, and helping her navigate over the boulders!
I was very thankful when reaching the top that although cloud was swirling around it has dropped lower than the summit and so in most directions there were great views - only with Stac Pollaidh being totally obscured moments before I was able to grab a photo of it. The cloud remained obscuring the view the whole time I was at the top!
The crowning experience of the walk was seeing my first Brocken spectre as I stood taking photos of the views!
It was soon time to head back to the car - with some great vistas on the return route. I realised how good it had been to get the views when I saw the mountain covered again in cloud as a I looked back. Here’s a selection of photos takes on the route down.
A very enjoyable hike with great weather and great views.