Nearly Cul Mor

Having climbed Ullapool Hill twice this week, I decided that I should climb a bigger hill. James suggested Cul Mor near Elphin, one of the Assynt Corbetts. James has climbed it many times but still offered to come with me, but I didn’t want to limit him to my glacially slow pace. I suggested that he should take the opportunity to tick off another Corbett that he has still to complete. He chose Ben Hee, about an hour’s drive further on, north and eastwards. 

James dropped me off at the start of the path to Cul Mor, a very easy and well trodden walk in. James advised me to walk up to the saddle between the two peaks then turn right to ascend to the summit. On my way up the path I was overtaken by six pleasant ladies, probably in their early sixties, who had two little dogs with them. I was also passed by a couple who said a cheery hello. Bear with me, these people are key players in my story.

So I plodded on up the hill, stopping several times for a rest. I eventually reached the top of a rise just before the ascent to the saddle. Here I met the cheery couple who were on their way back down the hill. They told me that they have climbed Cul Mor before and didn’t feel like going all the way to the top. However, over to the right we could clearly see the six ladies walking up the steep side of the summit hill. This puzzled me because the saddle was straight ahead. So I asked the cheery couple if that was the best way to the summit, and they said yes, and that it was a bit of a plod but an easy route. Influenced by the cheery couple and the confident tread of the six ladies, I made my big mistake. I turned to the right and followed them. 

By the time I reached the start of the slope the six ladies were out of sight *, but the path was clear and I could see the ladies’ foot prints and walking pole marks. I made good progress but I came to a point that the path disappeared because the hill was covered in large rocks. I felt very nervous; it was very steep and  was worried about falling. I messaged James for advice. He thought that I should continue to the top, then go down the path to the saddle. But I was too scared, I was now scrambling on my hands and knees and although I was only about twenty metres from the top I was concerned that I would get stuck. So I sat down on a rock and started going back down by moving on my bottom slowly downwards from rock to rock. It took ages.

Finally I reached the steep path, then the less steep path and continued downwards on my tired legs. What a relief. My hero James arrived back from his hill and walked in to meet me, which was great because he chatted to me and kept me going. I was so happy to get back to the car. By this time it was 7 p.m. - I had been walking for more than eight hours (including a few stops.) I begged James to drive straight to Essence of India where we got ourselves a tasty curry and then watched two episodes of the excellent The Last Kingdom. 

* I never saw the six ladies again. Had they really scrambled up those steep rocks with their tiny dogs? I presume that they did, in which case they were not only fitter but a lot more confident than me.