The Bastard. According to local farmers but why? At only 937m, this is one of the smallest Munros. However, there are as many up and downs on this hill as there are to Tiger Woods non-golfing history. I started at 0930 and noted Ian Watson's car - he too was up there somewhere. It was a cold, clear day and the track from Loch Creran was steep. I spotted the cairn and started heading up the SW shoulder to point 488. The view back down Loch Creran was pretty and I figured I'd have this one in the bag in quick-time. Alas, there was a drop of about 50m from point 488, so I had this to re-ascend before entering the snow-line. it was quite a plod up to the 863m mark and from here, I could see I had quite a bit of distance to go but this was no ordinary ridge. Soft snow interspersed with boulders made for a tricky walk and what with more descent and re-ascent, it was beginning to feel like a bloody hard walk. A couple of walkers had come straight up the coire and once i finally reached the top, I really didn't hang about. 3 hours to this point. It was indeed a tough, little bastard. Rather than go back down the way I came, I continued N and then W down the steep slopes. I followed a chap in the distance down to the fence but traversed back to my destination rather than follow his descent. It wasn't until I got an old steading structure that I realised it was Ian and we chatted on the way back to the car. I arrived back in 5 hours, which I thought was decent going - only a 10 minute break for banana bread and tea. A cracking wee hill, which has to commend it even if the farmers don't agree.
