Crossing the Splinty.
Avro Anson N5297, Airspeed Oxford T1287,
Hawker Hurricane KZ398 and Hawker
Hurricane KZ674
on Shalloch an Minnoch.
(Distance covered = 7.1mile/Ascent =+519m)
I first attempted a walk up onto Shalloch an Minnoch on 29th October 2021. On that occasion it was very very wet and windy and I only managed to go 150 metres before I was forced to abort due to a very swollen Splinty Burn.
Almost exactly one year later on 26th October 2022 I was back for a second attempt, but as well as being almost the same time of the year it was also almost the same weather conditions.
Parked at the exact same spot as one year earlier.
Although crossing the Splinty Burn was a concern due to my experience a year earlier as soon as we set off from the cars I could tell by the lack of noise that it wasn't as swollen this time, despite the weather being just as wet.
Succesfully over the Splinty and off up the hill.
It was quite a long arduous slog up the path towards the summit of Shalloch an Minnoch but along the way the weather did show slight signs of improvement, until that is we reached the summit where it changed it's mind and began to batter us with gale force wind and horizontal rain.
Bit of a moody view south to Cornish Loch on
the left and Loch Riecawr on the right.
Approaching
the summit of Shalloch an Minnoch.
The first crashsite we were visiting lies on a flat plateau near the summit trig point and should of been very easy to find, but due to the weather conditions we were encountering we had to give up trying to find it visually and use the gps to locate it.
On
the summit of Shalloch an Minnoch wandering around in gale force wind and
horizontal stinging rain looking for some tiny fragments of Anson, a
definate "we must be mad" moment!
The second crashsite we were looking for lay quite a way downhill so we were hoping it would be on the leeward side of the hill, offering us some relief from the wind and rain. It wasn't!
Down the hill a bit looking for remains of an Airspeed Oxford.
At the Oxford crashsite. As can be deduced
from the quality of my photos the wind and rain didn't let up for the
duration.
We also had locations to check out for two Hawker Hurricanes that crashed up here. The weather was doing nothing to encourage us to spend any more time than absolutely necessary on this hill so we settled for having a quick look for one of them as it lay roughly on our return route. The obvious plan for the second one, which lay over the other side of the hill to where we now were, was to leave it for another day, preferably a warm and dry summers day!
