South of Loch Ossian

Although we were all up at 8.30am, it took us several hours to prepare the food we needed for a three day trip, get our packs ready and so on. With hindsight, we realized it would have been quite impossible to catch the early train.

As it was we were ready in plenty of time to get the 12.34 train, which got us to Corrour Station at 12.50.

From there we set off down the track once more, this time continuing along the south shore of Loch Ossian, in search of the shed which the Youth Hostel warden had told us about.

Looking back to Corrour Station

The southwest end of Loch Ossian

It was further along the lochside than the hostel warden's description had led us to believe, which was good news for the following day when we would have less distance to cover to get to the far end, but not so pleasant for today when we were carrying very heavy packs. We met a few "Coast to Coast Challengers" on our way along the track and started to realize why everywhere was so busy this week. This is an annual charity walk in which participants choose their own route across Scotland from west to east and complete the trek on foot within a designated time period.

Looking across Loch Ossian to Beinn na Lap

The shed when we reached it proved to be small but dry and clean. We sorted out day packs and set off to climb the two hills on the south side of the loch. Starting out on the path that led past the shed, we left it as soon as the trees thinned and headed straight up the hillside, climbing two deer fences and making our way up fairly steep pathless slopes, with the summit of Carn Dearg above us in cloud.

Looking north to Strath Ossian

Then the slopes eased and we had an easier tramp round the ridge to the summit, though now we were in mist and light drizzle.

The summit of Carn Dearg in cloud

We didn't stop long at the summit but quickly headed off on a bearing, although there was a path as well. The bealach, Màm Bàn, was clear of mist and from there we could see Sgor Gaibhre and further round, its top, Sgor Choinnich.

Looking back to Carn Dearg from Màm Bàn

It was a fairly easy climb up to Sgor Gaibhre then down and up again to Sgor Choinnich, by which time we were into mist again.

Sgor Choinnich from Sgor Gaibhre

We therefore left the summit of Sgor Choinnich on a bearing aiming for the north east end of Loch Ossian, which appeared through the mist soon after we had reached the shoulder of Meall Nathrach Mór. We thus had a pathless and quite boggy descent towards the loch.

We didn’t even manage to find a path or track through the woods near the lochside so ended up crossing the river on a log and wire. There was then a short tramp back along the lochside to the shed. There was no-one else there, thankfully, however just as we were settled in there came a knock at the door. It was two “Challengers”, Tom and Nan from Hawick who had been directed there by the Estate Office. Somewhat dismayed, we realized that they therefore had more right to be there than us, and expressed our doubts about whether there was in fact room for all of us. Tom and Nan however insisted that there would be no problem, we could all squeeze in quite easily. As it turned out, it wasn’t too bad, though it was somewhat crowded! It rained a lot in the night, and the floor wasn’t too comfortable, but we all slept some and we stayed dry.