Hot...Cold...Hot...Cold

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So....as Gary is away off to New York for hols, I thought I would use the chance to escape the workshop myself, so with the tent and a borrowed airbed, I set off into deepest Perthshire to 'bag' Schiehallion.

As you can see, she's a beauty of a mountain, but I had the devils job of finding the Braes of Foss carpark.  Hint...it's nowhere near the village of Foss.  Hmmm.   However, parked up and the sun was beaming down and as I expected, it was a lovely hill with a nice steady gradient up and lots of boulder-hopping to reach the summit.  Nevis was just visible through the heat haze, so had an extended lunch at the summit as there is nowhere else to go from this mountain other than down.

Met some really nice folk in the carpark, so blethered for an hour, then set of for Ben Lawer to find a tent pitch as that was to be the next days climb.

Upon arrival at the Lawer carpark, I noticed there was nowhere to pitch, and just then, a van pulled in and a guy with his Husky dog got out.

Turns out, his name was Colin and he was also looking for a place to camp, so we chummed up and found a perfect wee place a half mile up the glen, and set up the tents.

He was also up...from Devon, to have a go at the Ben Lawer route, but as we were cooking up tea, right in front of us was the mountain of Tarmachan which includes a cracking ridge walk with 4 Munro tops included, so we decided to team up and do that tomorrow.

Pitched with Tarmachan ridge above.

So, with full bellies and I must admit far too many beers, 2 bottles of wine and washed down with a snifter of port, we retired for the night.  Disaster....the mattress leaks and the temp dropped to minus 8 and I awoke at stupid o'clock with  ice in my hair and the tent frozen solid.  The only thing to do was get up and await sunrise to try and heat up.  The good thing is, it did, and very rapidly, so much so, that by 9, it was down to T-shirts as we set of to tackle the ridge and summit.  It's a peach of a walk.  As it was still early, after lunch, we descended down to the lochan via the steep rockface rather than take the north ridge and set off up Meall Corranaich for our 2nd Munro of the day.  This one turned out to be a slog compared to the previous summit.

We then came down and met the path leading to Ben Lawer car park and I decided that due to lack of sleep, I would head back to base, and Colin and Nimbus, (the husky), went on to tackle the Lawers range.  Well done mate.

Colin on descent from Tarmachan

Next day, with a slightly better sleep and temperature only down to 0 degrees that night, we decided to tackle a route of 3 Munros, being Meall Greigh, Meall Garbh and finishing of with the delicious An Stuc.

The walk-in was nice and easy with it only getting tougher going straight up to reach the summit of Meall Greigh.  This hill is a combination of 3 rounded humps and soft springy moss between them.

After a quick snack at the top, we headed along the ridge to Garbh and had lunch and admired the amazing view down to the loch with the majestic curve of Ben Lawer as the backdrop.

Ben Lawer and An Stuc

Summit Meall Garbh

Then the fun part as we descended into the gully and started the climb of An Stuc.  The first half is an easy, if steep winding path, then you hit the rock which was to be a mixture of solid and loose handholds, neither of which was really apparent until you put weight on them.  It was fun, and we had the advantage of following Nimbus up, who had a feel for finding the easiest routes.

We could have went on to do Ben Lawers from here, but instead decided to drop down to the loch and do out walk-out from there.

Summit An Stuc

An Stuc and Meall Garbh from the Lawer ridge.

Then it was back to the hotel where the cars were parked and a quick Guinness before heading to base camp.

After a wash up, we went into Killinn and treated ourselves to the best steak and chips I've had in many a year, then back to the tents and a few beers before retiring.  I woke again at 4 in the morning, frozen through and downright knackered, so broke camp, leaving Colin in his slumber (he had a hot water bottle), and headed home. In the house by 7.30, a long long hot bath and fell asleep on the sofa and missed 'The Wedding'.

Going AWOL

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It's holiday time...Hurrah!!

Well, that's the tent in the car, a multitude of various foods made up and a brace of bbq trays loaded.
The intention tomorrow is to head to Pitlochry, find a decent wild camp location and set off to climb Schiehallion.
Then, legs allowing, head west next day and go for Ben Laweres and Beinn Ghlas.
If upon completion of that I still haven't collapsed into submission, I may think of crossing over to Kinlochleven or down to Lochearnhead and see if Ben Vorlich is available for a date.

The Fairey Hill, Schiehallion

Ben Nevis

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So...myself and Gary headed North, yet again, but this time to visit Andy at the Glencoe Mountain Resort for a wee blether.  Buachaille Etive Mor, was looking stunning in the sunshine and reminded me again why this mountain has got to be on my 'to do' list this year.


Later that afternoon, we headed to Kinlochleven to the Blackwater hostel for a catch up with Callum and soon after, Gary headed back home.


Sad for me, good for Callum, all the Hobbit houses were booked solid, so I borrowed a tent, pegs and a couple of Rizla paper thin foam sheets to lie on and pitched up.


A good thing then happened as a wonderful group of 4 in the end Hobbit invited me to share their BBQ which they had excelled at, including some wild garlic picked in the woods at the site.


A good few tinnies then rounded off a wonderful evening.

Getting BBQ ready. Beinn na Caillaich in background

Next morning, I headed to Fort William with the intention of doing the Ring of Steall, but as I was so early and it was a lovely warm day, I thought I would take things a bit easier and so parked up and set off for Ben Nevis instead hoping to miss the 'coach parties'.

Whilst booting up and having to spend 5 minutes searching for my car keys (which were on the parcel shelf all the time), I set off and the only other person at the car park was a chap called Martin who was hoping to 'bag' his first Munro, so we chummed up for the ascent.

If you read this mate...I really hope your legs and blisters have healed and I was glad of your company.  You did really well getting up and down in the time we did it.  It really is a long hard slog of a walk.

On bridge 2

Martin at the summit of Nevis (not Rio)

Me 

We only stayed on summit for 10 minutes and had to get the jackets and wooly hats out as it had chilled a bit and headed back down through the remaining snow patches, then back to t-shirts at the 3,000ft level.  There were by now quite a few people struggling up the mountain, many who were never going to make it by the looks of things, but we still gave encouragement as we passed.   Then I donated my last bag of jelly babies to a woman who had her 2 young kids halfway up and they were suffering pretty badly, but we saw them arrive at the bottom as we were enjoying a beer at the bar by the car park.

The next days intention was to go for Ben Vorlich, but as the heavens had opened through the night which resulted in a rotten night in the tent, I chickened out and went home to have a wee afternoon nap instead.

Elie Chain Walk (tide out this time)

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Hurrah, Elie chain walk.....done it at last.


I set off nice and early, and there was a typical Scottish haar hanging around, although the sun was threatening to show.  Instead of parking in Elie itself, I stopped at the golf course and walked from there, deciding to do the chain walk first and return via the top path.  There was a group of kids already above the cliffs and heading West, obviously going to start at the Shell Bay end first.

It was a mixture of enjoyment and a smidgin of disappointment.   The good part is it was a lovely wee walk and the notice board estimate of allowing 1 - 3 hours is way off mark.  I'd say 35 minutes to an hour.

There are some cracking rock formations to be seen and a few 'caves' which upon first glance look promising exploration sites, but are really just shallow hollows into the cliff face.    There are quite a few nesting seabirds on the cliffs just now, so it's a tad noisy which in no way detracts from the enjoyment.

As I mentioned, this cannot be classed as a taxing walk, but then I'm a bit more used to the mountains and found this rather tame.     

However.......the magic of it all came back as I met up with the group of kids who had set off on the upper path, all helmeted and under the supervision of their instructors.  They were all doing the walk with carabeiners clipped to the chains and getting through the sections with a bit of 'shaky legs and squeaky bums', and it brought back great memories of when I was that age and things like this were a great adventure and I felt like I had conquered fears and gained a fantastic sense of achievement upon completion.

Therefore, upon that alone, I'll stop being a cynical old git, and give the walk the thumbs up for enjoyment.

A word of warning though, this can most definitely be a dangerous route if you get caught by the tides.

As for tomorrow, Gary and myself are heading off to Kinlochleven tomorrow to visit a few sites, then I'll likely use the excuse of being there to hang around for a day and try to get a couple of the Ring of Steal Munros walked.  

I must, must, must stay out of the Bothan Bar the night before this time

Binnein Beag & Back Again

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So, I set off late on Friday morning, and place the full blame upon Gary, the warden at Blackwater Hostel in Kinlochleven, who dragged me into the Bothan Bar at the Ice Factor and wouldn't let me out again.

Therefore, with a raging hangover, I decided to drive to Mamore Lodge to gain a bit of altitude as the way I was feeling, every foot would help.

My intention was to walk Sgurr Eilde Mor, but there was another couple at the parking area with the same intention and I didn't want them to see me struggle on the ascent, so in my ...wisdom???...I decided to let them have that and I would tackle Binnein Beag, then cross the ridge to Binnein Mor.

A quick re-programme of the Satmap Active 10 and off I set and started to burn off the previous nights lager.
Passing the wee lochans at the base of Eilde, I veered off to the North and was in dismay to see I had to drop copious hundreds of feet down to the river then ascend again to reach the first peak.

By this time, my ankle blisters from last Sunday had opened up again...but hey, I'd come this far.
Upon reaching the ridge, the wind had picked up a good bit, so it was wooly hat time and then stow the poles as it was all loose scree to the summit and not the best of climbing conditions in my fragile state.

I quickly decided, that due to the state I was in, I would just descend and follow the path back to the lochs, and if I felt ok, would veer off and climb Eilde, but this was not to be, as the cloud base had started to lower and so I headed back into Kinlochleven.  At least that's the furthest away Mamore done, and next visit, hopefully in better fettle, I can have a wee pop at my missing Mamore Munros.

Meall Glas & Sgaith Chuil

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It was a glorious sunny Sunday as I set off to Lochearnhead, and there met up with Cathy and Digger, then waited on the Glenrothes Hillwalkers bus to pass, and tailed that to the start of the walk, which was setting off from Auchessen Farm.
As it was a fairly large group, it was split into 3, first group doing Meall Glas, 2nd heading up Sgiath Chuil, and the idiots....(hands up here), doing both, starting with Meall Glas.

Meall Glas & Beinn Cheathaich seen from Sgaith Chuil summit

It was quite a gentle, but boggy ascent to the first of the Munros, but Digger the dog took great delight in rolling in the bog ponds and sliding down the snowy slopes on his tummy. Sarnies at the top, then headed over to Beinn Cheathaigh, ready for the steepish decent into the valley, then an even steeper climb to the ridge of Sgaith Chuil.   If it hadn't been so hot, the views over to Ben More would have been stunning but there was a heat haze taking the edge off things.  By this time, it was getting like the dance of a thousand veils, as layer upon layer of clothing was being shed.

I wanted to put Digger on the lead to help pull me to the summit, but Cathy wouldn't let me...Spoilsport.

Luckily 3/4's of the way up, I decided to break away from the group as I had spotted a path running parallel to the ridge, but climbing gently, and hurrah!! got to the top of the ridge way ahead of the masochists doing the vertical stuff.

Cue 2nd sarnie break at the top, and Digger had nibbles from everyone elses lunch as well, so he was a very happy dog.

WHERE'S THE JELLY BABIES?

Cathy and Digger on the summit of Sgiath Chuil

So, a bee-line descent back to the start which involved a bit of river crossing which in full spate would likely deem this route impractical.

Then came the drive up to Loch Ness to finish fitting the additional roof slates onto Hobbit 10, and a big difference in the weather as it was chucking it down, so a greater part of the morning was just waiting on a weather window.  Eventually, it slowed to a drizzle and the job got done, then the long drive home to a lovely hot bath.

Satmap Active 10

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It's been a glorious Saturday weather-wise, and so hard to believe that just 6 days ago I was caught in a blizzard up Ben Chonzie.
I took a stroll up West Lomond with the intention of testing out the new satnav in a location I'm very familiar with.
I had downloaded the route as a gpx file from the excellent 'Walk Highlands' website and stuck it into the unit which was a very easy task.   The return leg was on a track I had never used before, so it was a good test.

I'm so impressed.  The unit tracked me to the route within 15 feet, and had it been whiteout conditions, I would now be very confident that this piece of kit would get me safely off the hill.  I'll still carry map and compass, but I can see them being stuck in the rucksack as backup rather than the main method of navigation.

From the reservoir.

Well, early to bed tonight and up at stupid o'clock to drive to Crianlarich, do a couple of Munros, then back up to Loch Ness for a day.

Good news just in from the Willows in Abersoch.  Their Hobbits are getting excellent bookings in.  Hurrah!

Also got my invitation in today for Garys wedding, so I guess I'd better get the kilt aired out for that.  

No doubt he'll also be wanting time off work leaving me home-alone whilst he jaunts off on honeymoon.

Never mind, I'll have the dog in the workshop to keep me company.

Back from Loch Ness

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It rained...and rained...and rained.
We were up at Loch Ness to do an annual service on the Microlodges and after an early morning start, 170 mile drive...nothing, so we could have just stayed at home.
So, it was a few beers at the local hotel and in bed for 9 as the Met office said sunny day tomorrow and for once, they were fairly right.

Gary and Ewan on yet another break!!

However, we only got 9 out of the 10 done, so I'm back off up there on Monday.

A braw view up the loch.

Hurrah, my new 'toy' has arrived. I treated myself to a Satmap Active 10 gps unit and been playing with that today and downloading gpx files for it.  So far it seems pretty good, and for the price, it should be.  I'm very impressed so far.

So, tomorrow, I'm going for a wee stroll with my toy up the West Lomond to make sure I'm ok with it before Sundays jaunt to Meall Glas and Sgiath Chuil, a couple of Munros at Glen Dochart.

Then it's back to Loch Ness for me, solo this time and hopefully home on the Monday night, quick sleep, the off to Hawick for the day on Tuesday.

Then on the Wednesday, Simba, the wee Tibetan Spaniel that came to stay with me for a few days last month is going to be a permanent fixture in the household.  Hurrah.

If I don't post again, you'll know I never got to grips with the GPS and am still wandering the mountains...

Beef Olives

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Ok...so mountain food. What to take.
Well in normal circumstances, I'm usually the same as everyone else with a narrow range of options, these being the cheese sandwiches, egg sandwiches and snack bars.   BUT NOT THIS WEEKEND.

My nephew forgot to close the freezer door which resulted in a mini-glacier creeping out of the freezer cupboard and invading the kitchen, meaning a defrost was in the offing....and duly done.  Then, freezer reloaded, he forgot to plug it in, which meant I had to do a mega cook off.

Has anyone else bagged a Munro with  this as the summit snack??

(high energy beef olives anyone???  No, I thought not)

Ben Chonzie

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I hardly slept a wink last night. Must have went to bed far too early..and was still tossing and turning at the back of 2.   Anyway, up at 6.30, into the car , and headed for Comrie.
The sun was rising and a beautiful day beckoned.  This was not to be sustained though...

The mission for today, climb Ben Chonzie. (This is honestly easier done than said).
 I've heard so many differing ways to pronounce the name of this mountain

                                     

The track up to the plateau is soul destroying, large rubble and horrible walking surface.
I had the hill to myself as I started so early which was nice.
The highlight of the day was seeing all the mountain hares (for which this hill is famed for), bounding around.

Cue picture of hare:-

There was still a wee drop of snow on the way to the summit and it was really quite pleasant...and then, as is wont to happen to me it started to go belly up.  (if you are a reader of my blog, you'll know this is a regular feature of my life).

No sooner had I settled at the summit, cracked open the flask for coffee...and by god, did the snow come or what?   The wind speed hit about 50 knots within minutes accompanied by horizontal hail.

This signalled the time for a change of clothing, so off with the lightweight jacket and on with the heavy duty job.
By now my ears, which shall we say, are a tad prominent, started to freeze.
No problems as I had borrowed my nephews wooly hat...Had I not left it back in the car that is...

So, I headed back down, and luckily my jacket had a hood which I flipped up, pulled the tightening cords, at which point they promptly snapped.  Oh Joy!!!
This left me bent over, heading into the wind clutching my hood closed and my walking poles in my fists now protruding like a portable TV antenna from my head.

Ah well, better than sitting in front of a lovely log fire in a pub with a pint....

Back to work tomorrow and working on a shower hobbit and also drawing out designs for an exciting new addition to the microlodge range. (top secret, details to follow).

Who let the tide in?

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A rare weekend off and undecided what I was to do with it, and my options were as changeable as the weather.
However, my mind was made up for me when the sun split the clouds and it looked like a glorious day beckoning.
As it was too late to go romping into the hills, I headed along the coast to Shell Bay and parked there with the intention of strolling along the coastal path and doing the Chain Walk.

                                             

Now...this is what I was meant to be doing.  However, I was in for a letdown, as after scrambling off the path, down the rocks, and finding the start of the walk, I encountered this....

Yep...the tide was in and I couldn't even get to the first part of the walk without the use of a canoe or getting the boots and socks off and wading knee-deep to the first section of chain.   So...back up the cliffs and continued on the coastal path, and a bonus at the end by dropping into the Ship Inn at Elie.

                                           .
Checking the weather for tomorrow to see if it's worth a wee wander.