Hillwalking Thread

[IrishBhoy]

Done beinn bhuidde during the week. Hardest hill I have done so far, the walk in and out is so long and the hill itself is very steep in places. Plus the fact we lost the path about 4 times made it quite a slog. 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

4 hours ago, IrishBhoy said:

Done beinn bhuidde during the week. Hardest hill I have done so far, the walk in and out is so long and the hill itself is very steep in places. Plus the fact we lost the path about 4 times made it quite a slog. 

That's on my "Can't be fucked with it, but it needs done" list. How boggy was it?

[IrishBhoy]

1 hour ago, jupe1407 said:

That's on my "Can't be fucked with it, but it needs done" list. How boggy was it?

Boggy in the sort of middle shelf area about three quarters of the way up. That’s where we lost the path and had to rely on a guy and woman from America who whistled on us to show us the way.

Can see why people give it a swerve tbh  

 

 

Edited May 26, 2018 by IrishBhoy

[Benjamin_Nevis]

7 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said:

Boggy in the sort of middle shelf area about three quarters of the way up. That’s where we lost the path and had to rely on a guy and woman from America who whistled in us to show us the way.

Can see why people give it a swerve tbh  

 

Can't wait for it tbh 

I've also got the slog up Ben Vorlich just along the road still to do as well. 

 

[Big Fifer]

Do they still divert you miles around to avoid the bird nests?
This was my view a couple of years back.

Nae sure about that, I don't know what route you're taking where it's all grassy like that as there's a pretty well defined path from the car park. If I've been meant to avoid birds nests then the wildlife police need to do their job better, I've climbed it 8 times!!

[invergowrie arab]

19 hours ago, jupe1407 said:

That's on my "Can't be fucked with it, but it needs done" list. How boggy was it?

I haven't done it yet but I think there is a new hydro track which means a lot of the Glen and bog up past the waterfall can be avoided.

I too can not be bothered.

Just home after my Glen Geldie adventure. Ended up walking after fannying about with bike racks not working on new car. My feet are utterly wrecked. I know you want a nice day for a walk but there's a limit. Two brutally hot days to be heather bashing with full weekend packs.

Doesn't look hot on the photo but that's at 10:30pm.

 

Edited May 27, 2018 by invergowrie arab

[The Chlamydia Kid]

I’ve never climbed up a decent hill before, been up the Ochil hills and that. I am looking for one to go up a weekend in June with my woman.

Any suggestions? One that would take up most of the day to get up and back down.
Both relatively fit. But would need to be reasonably easy to navigate and not have me relying upon a helicopter to rescue me.
Also any ideas for decent hotels, eateries round about?
No fussed where in Scotland it is, will travel.

[The Chlamydia Kid]

That Ben Vorlich sounds like a decent stab at starting off hillwalking.

[Benjamin_Nevis]

I haven't done it yet but I think there is a new hydro track which means a lot of the Glen and bog up past the waterfall can be avoided.
I too can not be bothered.
Just home after my Glen Geldie adventure. Ended up walking after fannying about with bike racks not working on new car. My feet are utterly wrecked. I know you want a nice day for a walk but there's a limit. Two brutally hot days to be heather bashing with full weekend packs.
Doesn't look hot on the photo but that's at 10:30pm.
 

Jesus. I was smashed after doing these two on a hot late May day last year and that was using the bike [emoji38]

I well remember the heather bash up An Sgarsoch. Fucking awful.

[invergowrie arab]

I have never understood people who do multiple munro rounds. I have been up most of the Perthshire/Angus hills multiple times but imagine choosing to do An Sgarsoch, Beinn a' Chaorainn, Beinn Chaluim, Beinn Heasgarnich etc having known what it was like to do them the first time.

 

[invergowrie arab]

44 minutes ago, The Chlamydia Kid said:

I’ve never climbed up a decent hill before, been up the Ochil hills and that. I am looking for one to go up a weekend in June with my woman.

Any suggestions? One that would take up most of the day to get up and back down.
Both relatively fit. But would need to be reasonably easy to navigate and not have me relying upon a helicopter to rescue me.
Also any ideas for decent hotels, eateries round about?
No fussed where in Scotland it is, will travel.

Well there is the usual caveats that you shouldn't go up any hills without being confident with your navigation skills but we all have to start somewhere.  Ben Lomond  is extremely accessible, will be busy and with a well worn enough path that should mean getting lost shouldn't be an issue. Also outstanding views. Plenty eating/drinking options in Balloch.

Schiehallion is also straightforward enough and you have the option of staying around Pitlochry/Aberfedly

Both of these are 5/6 hour hills but I just wouldn't bite off too much on a first go. The shorter hills are the busy one with well defined, well built paths.

A longer option would be Ben Cruachan. Inveraray only 20 miles away - Loch Fyne hotel is meant to be nice but I always stay at the George Hotel, great food and bar.

[The Chlamydia Kid]

Well there is the usual caveats that you shouldn't go up any hills without being confident with your navigation skills but we all have to start somewhere.  Ben Lomond  is extremely accessible, will be busy and with a well worn enough path that should mean getting lost shouldn't be an issue. Also outstanding views. Plenty eating/drinking options in Balloch.
Schiehallion is also straightforward enough and you have the option of staying around Pitlochry/Aberfedly
Both of these are 5/6 hour hills but I just wouldn't bite off too much on a first go. The shorter hills are the busy one with well defined, well built paths.
A longer option would be Ben Cruachan. Inveraray only 20 miles away - Loch Fyne hotel is meant to be nice but I always stay at the George Hotel, great food and bar.

Cheers. Will have a look tomorrow.[emoji106][emoji106]

[FlyerTon]

Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawyers is straightforward walk on a good path.

Starts at 1,400ft from the car park so it's 2,500ft of ascent.  If going there for the first time, the car park is now on the left hand side of the road, and isn't as easy to spot as when it was on the right hand side, where the now demolished NTS Visitor Centre was.

https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/perthshire/ben-lawers.shtml

 

 

[Swello]

I've always had a hankering to cross Rannoch Moor - it's always held a bit of allure to me since I saw it on the Glencoe road when I was younger - so with the aid of one of my very favourite bits of outdoor gear - my packraft - I hatched a wee plan to do a circuit from Victoria Bridge.  Long report below, feel free to ignore (as I didn't get above 350m or so )

I set out on the walk out the West Highland Way to Ba' Cottage where i would head off across the moor to Loch Ba'. I've always found this path pretty interminable and not a nice surface to walk on - but in the sunlight, it was a decent but sweaty blast of about 10km and I was out there in no time (I felt quite guilty walking past lots of WHW-ers who had walked from Milingvie rather than a few miles like me). 

Kingshouse expressway (only had my phone, no camera)

Once I had squelched down to lochan  na s*****ne (how wet would that path be normally??), I got the packraft out and set up, stuck my pack on the front and paddled under the road and onto a very windy Loch Ba'. The wind was strong and directly against me, so it was a good bit of effort needed to cover the 2km or so to Eilean Molach, where I had planned to camp. Once I got round the sheltered side of the little wooded island, I saw a tiny beach that looked like a perfect spot. 

 

Eilean Molach

I got the raft out and got the tent set up and after a wee recce around the rest of the island, I spent the rest of the night sitting on the little beach eating my dinner and draining the hip flask - a really nice spot. As the sun went down, the wind dropped totally (good thing) and the midges appeared instantly (bad thing) - so I dived into the tent and got an early kip as I was up at 5am to leave enough time to make it to Rannoch Station in time to get the afternoon train south to Bridge of Orchy. 

I headed off at 6am this morning - the wind had got up a little bit again but that was short lived. I was soon at the end of Loch Ba. The water level was too low to think about the Abhainn Ba' - so back into walking mode for a few km. I usually like pathless wandering but this was pretty rough going and I was glad when I got to Loch Laidon and back in the raft. I really enjoyed this bit (especially a weird view of the Buachaille) and even though it was a fair distance to paddle (for me), I was sad when I got to the end of the loch.

I was 90mins early for the train - but as there is a cafe at Rannoch, I stuffed my face for a while and sat and enjoyed the view and the silence (2nd best train station anywhere). After a quick go on the West Highland Trainset, it was just a quick walk out to Victoria bridge to finish off. Top couple of days in perfect weather...

Take out point

 

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2019 by Swello

[MONKMAN]

That looks outstanding @Swello

[Lichtie78]

Was going through to Forfar driving range tonight but it was closed, ended up going for a walk up Glen Clova.

[Sujan Azad Parikh]

11 hours ago, Swello said:

I've always had a hankering to cross Rannoch Moor - it's always held a bit of allure to me since I saw it on the Glencoe road when I was younger - so with the aid of one of my very favourite bits of outdoor gear - my packraft - I hatched a wee plan to do a circuit from Victoria Bridge.  Long report below, feel free to ignore (as I didn't get above 350m or so )

I set out on the walk out the West Highland Way to Ba' Cottage where i would head off across the moor to Loch Ba'. I've always found this path pretty interminable and not a nice surface to walk on - but in the sunlight, it was a decent but sweaty blast of about 10km and I was out there in no time (I felt quite guilty walking past lots of WHW-ers who had walked from Milingvie rather than a few miles like me). 

Kingshouse expressway (only had my phone, no camera)

Once I had squelched down to lochan  na s*****ne (how wet would that path be normally??), I got the packraft out and set up, stuck my pack on the front and paddled under the road and onto a very windy Loch Ba'. The wind was strong and directly against me, so it was a good bit of effort needed to cover the 2km or so to Eilean Molach, where I had planned to camp. Once I got round the sheltered side of the little wooded island, I saw a tiny beach that looked like a perfect spot. 

Eilean Molach

I got the raft out and got the tent set up and after a wee recce around the rest of the island, I spent the rest of the night sitting on the little beach eating my dinner and draining the hip flask - a really nice spot. As the sun went down, the wind dropped totally (good thing) and the midges appeared instantly (bad thing) - so I dived into the tent and got an early kip as I was up at 5am to leave enough time to make it to Rannoch Station in time to get the afternoon train south to Bridge of Orchy. 

I headed off at 6am this morning - the wind had got up a little bit again but that was short lived. I was soon at the end of Loch Ba. The water level was too low to think about the Abhainn Ba' - so back into walking mode for a few km. I usually like pathless wandering but this was pretty rough going and I was glad when I got to Loch Laidon and back in the raft. I really enjoyed this bit (especially a weird view of the Buachaille) and even though it was a fair distance to paddle (for me), I was sad when I got to the end of the loch.

I was 90mins early for the train - but as there is a cafe at Rannoch, I stuffed my face for a while and sat and enjoyed the view and the silence (2nd best train station anywhere). After a quick go on the West Highland Trainset, it was just a quick walk out to Victoria bridge to finish off. Top couple of days in perfect weather...

Take out point

 

 

 

 

Beautiful I must say. Lonely road, great location and nature at its best, what more do you need? What is the best time to visit? Did you go alone?

[Swello]

7 minutes ago, Sujan Azad Parikh said:

Beautiful I must say. Lonely road, great location and nature at its best, what more do you need? What is the best time to visit? Did you go alone?

I did go alone - as I don't know anyone else with a packraft* (boat that weighs a couple of kg and packs down to the size of a backpacking tent) and this trip really depended on that due to it being half walking and half paddling. The best time to go is when there isn't too much wind - I had various alternatives worked out in case the conditions mean that rafting was a non-starter. They are incredibly tough little boats (you can do serious whitewater in them if you (unlike me) have the skillz (see the vid at the bottom which is the same model as mine) - but they are slower than a kayak or canoe and if the wind is strongly against you, you would be quicker walking in most circumstances.

 

*If anyone has one let me know!  For everyone else, get one, you'll thank me once the blue bits on the OS Map become a possibility...

 

 

[The Chlamydia Kid]

Well there is the usual caveats that you shouldn't go up any hills without being confident with your navigation skills but we all have to start somewhere.  Ben Lomond  is extremely accessible, will be busy and with a well worn enough path that should mean getting lost shouldn't be an issue. Also outstanding views. Plenty eating/drinking options in Balloch.
Schiehallion is also straightforward enough and you have the option of staying around Pitlochry/Aberfedly
Both of these are 5/6 hour hills but I just wouldn't bite off too much on a first go. The shorter hills are the busy one with well defined, well built paths.
A longer option would be Ben Cruachan. Inveraray only 20 miles away - Loch Fyne hotel is meant to be nice but I always stay at the George Hotel, great food and bar.

Wish I’d got round to this earlier. Planning on doing it 10 June but every where decent looking around Balloch and Pitlochry is booked. Pity. Looks some cracking places. I’m going to give Inveraray a look now.

[Chapelhall chap]

5 minutes ago, The Chlamydia Kid said:

Wish I’d got round to this earlier. Planning on doing it 10 June but every where decent looking around Balloch and Pitlochry is booked. Pity. Looks some cracking places. I’m going to give Inveraray a look now.

I thought you might just keep walking up South bridge street but as a fellow Airdrie hillwalker who now concentrates on wee rambles I can recommend the Pentlands for good training-well laid out paths and some puffing involved. Lots of good parking starts at Harlaw/Thriepmuir/Hillend/Flotterstone and lots of escape routes if you take on too much in the early days. If you are staying over in various places and don't want to drive more than 2 hours then the Lawers area around Killin is good.  The Ochils all have steep starts apart from Dumyat which now has a well laid out path from the minor road to Sherrifmuir from Bridge of Allan-takes about 1hr to top etc. I always liked Ben Vorlich at Lochearnhead as it also has a good path( The Loch Lomond one is a bit more tricky)  There is an excellent path to "The Cobbler" at Arrochar( Walk for as long as you enjoy it)  and reasonably good hotels . Hope our season is also more up than down.