A wet start to mine and Sam’s week in Scotland. We woke in Aviemore and had a slow start with a café breakfast, then drove to Torridon for a scramble, as it was all the weather allowed.
We found a scramble that started at sea level, which was a win given the cloud base was at 200m! Grade 3, West Spur up Meall Ceann na Creige.
We set off expecting to get cold and damp, but the weather turned out better than expected! I was struggling at first, having run 83km two days before, so I was pretty stiff, but that eased up a lot as we got going.
The climbing was ace, and the route guide was straightforward to follow. The route just kept getting better as we climbed!
The crux move was tough in the wet. Sam went up first with a ‘sod it, I’m committed now’ attitude. I followed, impressed by Sam’s climbing in these damp conditions!
As we topped out, Sam pointed out the incredible rock formation made of volcanic rhyolite—you could clearly see where the lava had flowed and cooled! We trekked back through the bog, eventually heading down a path next to a river.
After a post-activity brew, in true old married couple style, we drove along the coast to an awesome van camping spot for the night.
Given the weather and my aches and pains, I think this was a great first day of our holiday!
Sump To Summit 
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