TRAIL 100
RUSS MOORHOUSE is on a mission to camp out on every Trail 100 peak – a challenge that spans four countries, 100 of the UK’s finest hills and mountains, and a punishing 88,339m of ascent. This month he joins the elves and trolls in a world of sunsets and dreams that come true.
WILD SLEEPS
Merrick Grasmoor Ben Cruachan Ben More (Mull)
Black Combe
TRAIL 100 BIVVY COUNT 52/100 ucket lists – what’s on yours? I pass
B halfway on my ‘Trail of 100 Nights’ this month and have been joined by two camping buddies with lists of very different lengths.
Galloway nights
A tricky, rocky path mixed with bog and turned into an obstacle course by deforestation trucks makes the first half of the climb on Merrick hard going. “This one has been on my bucket list for a long time,” says Jay. And he has a lot of lists – Wainwrights, Munros, Nuttalls, Hewitts and, of course, the Trail 100. Once you enter the montane zone it’s a different story – magnificent views over a Tolkien-esque landscape, uninhabited by people, perhaps only by elves and trolls. In the morning our camp has been doused with surprise snow, and heading down in the patchy clouds makes it a great walk.
To the Lakes
Last time I camped on Grasmoor I witnessed possibly the best sunrise ever. A translucent red sun rose from below, uplighting puffy clouds, making them appear as a golden orange, upside-down cloud inversion. That’s not as daft as it sounds; the light shining on top (or in this case, bottom) of the clouds is what makes inversions special. Today I walk up from Force Crag mine practicing my ‘look at the eagle, look at the badger’ modelling poses. The weather is changeable, from rain to cloud and back to rain. It’s a good walk passing over Sail and then Eel Crag on the way to the summit. There is a feeling of space all around in the north-western fells.
Munro calling
It’s a scruffy start to the walk on Ben Cruachan, passing pylons, power stations and glacial erratics until I reach the glistening reservoir. The imposing dam signals the start of a beautiful mountain top ‘grand horseshoe’ of peaks. Thin cloud masks the summit like a veil and the last remaining snow clings for life in the steep gullies. Magical and visually stunning, this is a spectacular mountain to spend the night on. Far below Loch Awe lies flat in the valley.
Island hop
The winds are blowing on the Isle of Mull. Heading up the final rocky ledge on Ben More a man coming down is blown over and sits on his bottom. He becko
