The Strathfarrar four - better than the South Glen Shiel ridge

Initially, I had planned with Darren to run the Mullardoch 8 but we calculated that this would be a very tough proposition and it would involve an overnight camp. After my incommunicado efforts last time out, my wife no-no'd such an idea and so a haul of hills in a single day was the order of the day. We had driven up the night before and camped not far from Carn a Bhodaich, an inauspicious sub-2000 Marilyn, just West of Loch Ness. Darren was accompanied by his wife Emma and the two dogs, Milo and Inca, who were delighted to be out. We had a couple of drinks (as did Milo) and a wee fire in the wet conditions and slept well - surprising for me. We aborted any effort to nab the smaller hill and opted instead to get to the gate at Inchmore by 0900, in case the glen was stowed. We needn't have worried and were 3rd and 4th cars in. The gatekeeper was a tad frosty but warmed up - I'm sure she deals with some numpties.

The glen is scenic, marred only by the electrical infrastructure which supplies houses and other regal buildings, which seem largely uninhabited. The weather had turned out fine, which was a relief after the wet evening before. Indeed, as we took off up the zig-zagging land rover track, it wasn't long before we were undressing and the sweat was flowing. We carried on up the boggy route, nipping over the burn in full flow. It was a very direct route up, which the book described as an easy enough hike. Darren's pace was hot and we were at the top of Sgurr na Ruaidhe within 2 hours of leaving the car, 40 mins ahead of book time. I found it quite unrelenting but the prospect of the 2nd and 3rd Munros being in such proximity encourage you higher. When we got to the top, we were in clag and Emma didn't seem in great form. Indeed, once we had headed down to the bealach between the 1st and 2nd Munro, they decided to head back to the car, which was a shame but Em had an early start the next morning. The rain had started by now and I carried on hoping the weather would again turn.

I was at the 2nd Munro quite quickly, and almost missed the cairn, which was at the far N of the boulder field. Carn nan Gabhar is a great hill simply for the view over to the 3rd Munro, which has a lovely profile of the mountain. It's a steep old ascent up on to this but by 1330, I had nabbed my 3rd Munro of the day and the sun was back out. There are two massive cairns, one either side of the trig point. I hit both cairns just to make sure. The temperature did drop a little up on this, the highest peak, and I donned by fleece. However, by the time I had dropped down to the bealach before the Munro top, I was roasting again. From here, the day was beautiful and it wasn't long before I was on the Top, with a relatively easy up and down over to the final Munro of the day. I ate my M&S pizza with relish and some jelly babies. I had been walking behind and in front of a guy and his son from the Borders and we both agreed that this ridge was better than the South Glen Shiel Ridge. While the first Munro is a bit of a slog, the walk over the rest of the ridge is superb and the views West over Loch Monar to the likes of Lurg Mhor were stunning.

Unfortunately, my iPhone had become saturated so my photos appear very hazy, which it wasn't. All that remained for me was to head down off the hill on the excellent stalker's path below the gleaming quartzite rock of Sgurr na Muice, itself a beautiful peak. I chose to leave the Graham until another day. I happened upon an IT-proficient lass from Edinburgh, Wendy, who was good craic and offered me a lift back to my car - what a godsend!! With a pint of Orkney Dark Island at the Tomich hotel, it had been a perfect day.