The 2016 Challenge, day 5: Killin to Fortingall (16)

Beyond the snowfield, I had a new problem: the path gave out, and I found myself at the top of some nasty rocky outcrops with no obvious way down. In utter despair, I contemplated calling Mountain Rescue and reporting myself cragfast above Lochan nan Cat; but I was still mobile, so before that I needed to explore my immediate surroundings to establish whether or not I truly WAS cragfast.

I retreated a little and moved across to my right, and after crossing alittle stream I eventually found a viable descent to the lochan; but it was an extremely steep and tricky grass descent, and hardly the sort of thing you want ideally wish to attempt immediately following a near-fatal glissade! Nevertheless, I made slow progress downwards, and was eventually rewarded by a steady levelling out of the ground until I eventually reached the shores of the lochan.

I took this photo looking back up from a little way along the lochan. The snowfield on which I glissaded is in the centre background: I had been working my way down the lower edge of the rocky outcrop below the "toungue"pointing diagonally up to the right in the picture. The slope had a dual aspect - both towards the camera and off towards the left of the picture - and this is why the grass glissade quickly became a snow glissade.

The rock outcrop I found myself on after recovering from the glissade is to the right of the picture, in the centre. I worked my way across to the other side of the stream making the gully in the middle of the picture, and descended the little ridge to the left of it.

When I got down to the shores of the lochan, I took several minutes to regroup and regain my composure, and then I set off along the South shore of the lochan, aiming for the path down the Lawers Burn.