Hillwalking Thread

[microdave]

It’s a great walk. I did it on Saturday. There was no breeze at all on the summits and the views amazing. It’s was quite easy to miss the turn off near the end but luckily it was probably busier on Saturday so we all followed the groups ahead of us. I take it you were parked at the Lawers Hotel.

Aye, I was parked at the hotel. There were a few folk on the outward walk but I didn't see anyone on the way back and although I loved the solitude, it would've been much better if I'd had someone to follow.

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Going up Ben A'an early doors tomorrow. Seemed to be a popular one amongst the Instagram walkers over the summer.

That's probably because it's a piece of piss and takes about 45 minutes to climb. Cracking view right enough.

[paul-r-cfc]

That's probably because it's a piece of piss and takes about 45 minutes to climb. Cracking view right enough.

Yeah, that's really all I'm going for tbh. Nice, straightforward walk and scenery.

[Dunfermline Don]

Aye, I was parked at the hotel. There were a few folk on the outward walk but I didn't see anyone on the way back and although I loved the solitude, it would've been much better if I'd had someone to follow.

The Hotel car park had been full when we arrived on Saturday morning(just before 9am) but the farmer across from it was directing cars to park beside his barn and in any space he had free. I suppose he thought it was better than people just leaving cars by the side of the road or blocking his fields. We had initially planned to do a walk in Glen Lyon but that road had been closed.
Looking over to Ben Lawers from
The top of An Stac it looked as though whole bus trips were on the summit it was that busy. We also spoke with a few folk who were doing all 5 hills in the day.

[MONKMAN]

The top of An Stac it looked as though whole bus trips were on the summit it was that busy. We also spoke with a few folk who were doing all 5 hills in the day.

I did all 7 of the munros in the Lawers circuit, in one day a couple of summers back. Seriously warm day, it was very busy and we badly misjudged the amount of water required. Got to the lochan na lairige reservoir, no water left with another 8 miles back to the car. Had to hitchhike back to the Lawers hotel off some old couple from Hampshire. The old fucker never shut up about immigrants and Brexit but he did tell his wife to give me and my mate a bottle of water, which was nice of him.

[AUFC90]

A lot of farmland on Skye. Surprisingly difficult to get off the beaten track and when you do it's lumpy and soaking.
I have camped at Camasunary and Talisker though. Coastal and hope the midges get blown away is best.

Thanks mate. Think you've made up my mind. Mull it is haha

[paul-r-cfc]

That's probably because it's a piece of piss and takes about 45 minutes to climb. Cracking view right enough.

50 minutes walking and no view from the top because of the mist. [emoji23]

[kilMARKnock]

My walking mate was off today and whilst his Mrs enjoyed a wine in Brodick he enjoyed a temperature inversion on The Goat. Not that I was jealous of course.........

[Benjamin_Nevis]

On 13/08/2020 at 08:54, Chinatoon Bairn said:

Got plenty of holidays to take since the majority of the ones I had in I got back due to lockdown so thinking of a couple days up north possibly climbing Aonach Eagach on one of those. Has anyone on here done it?

Got some very basic scrambling experience but know the fundamentals. How much experience is actually required?

I've been over it a couple of times. There's nothing highly technical and route-finding is generally straightforward. There are excellent holds on all the hands-on stuff. The exposure at times is pretty sensational, but unless you do something extremely stupid, you're not going to fall off. Easiest direction is East to West (starting with the climb to Am Bodach). If you're on your own and want to shorten the return to the car, basically head left a bit after the top of Sgor nam Fiannaidh (second munro) for a steep scree descent into the glen. I think there is (or was) a cairn to mark it. 

It's a brilliant scramble, airy as f**k in places but really enjoyable. The first awkward bit is the down scramble from Am Bodach at the start. If you can cope with that, the rest should be fine. A couple of things to avoid: 

1. There are a couple of trails which look like they might be bypass paths - they aren't and just lead to nothing. Trying to scramble back up from them is pretty dodgy and shouldn't really be attempted. Just ignore them and stick to the crest. 

2. Clachaig Gully offers a tempting looking descent straight to the pub, but it's dangerous AF with really steep scree. If you lose your footing or slip, the consequences are pretty serious. Either head left into Glencoe or follow the standard descent which meets the Pap path, though you'll be miles from the car. 

Basically take your time and enjoy it. It's a fantastic route. 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

Absolutely brutal day in Glen Etive yesterday. Took the day off work and did Ben Staravs's four pals to finish the munros there. It ended up being about 18 miles with 2200m of ascent on a blazing hot day with loads of midge action (even at the tops), a cloud of keds at the top of the 3rd one and one of the worst descents I've ever experienced off Meall nan Eun back into what seemed to be the never-ending Glen Ceitlin down pathless tussocky grass with the a few resets required due to crags higher up. I will probably go back and repeat Starav as i had pish weather for that, but any notions of repeating the other 4 can get right into the fucking bin 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by Day of the Lords

[jamamafegan]

Just me who thinks the Isle of Skye is overrated? I’m really not that arsed for it. That’s not me saying don’t go, if you haven’t been before then you should visit. I’ve been to pretty much all of the main islands and Skye ranks as one of my least favourite. Much prefer the likes of Islay, Mull and the Outer Hebrides. Overall I find Skye to be a bland island that is really big but has little to offer!

[Benjamin_Nevis]

3 minutes ago, jamamafegan said:

Just me who thinks the Isle of Skye is overrated? I’m really not that arsed for it. That’s not me saying don’t go, if you haven’t been before then you should visit. I’ve been to pretty much all of the main islands and Skye ranks as one of my least favourite. Much prefer the likes of Islay, Mull and the Outer Hebrides. Overall I find Skye to be a bland island that is really big but has little to offer!

It's overrated to an extent, but still has terrific scenery and the Cuillin mountains are absolutely top-drawer. It is however absolute tourist hell. I much prefer Torridon and Assynt. 

[jamamafegan]

It's overrated to an extent, but still has terrific scenery and the Cuillin mountains are absolutely top-drawer. It is however absolute tourist hell. I much prefer Torridon and Assynt. 

I actually thought I was in the “Scottish Islands” thread [emoji38].

Aye the mountains aside, which I agree are some of the finest in the land, the rest of the island is little different to the bare, lifeless slopes of the mainland. Just open moorland and commercial forestry.

[derrybiy]

For the last few years I've been wanting to go hillwalking every other week in the summer and something has always came up to ruin that. Due to illness I did only my second munro in at least a year on Friday.  I thought it would be best to pick an easy one I've not done yet so went for Ben Lomond. I'm still trying to judge whether that was a mistake or not. 

The first hour was one of the worst I've had. I've done 45 munros and never been bothered by midges for more than a few minutes but this was constant and being absolutely covered wherever skin was showing. I'd wrongly assumed because I'd never been affected before that I was one of those rare people that don't get bitten but now I know differently. I didn't take any repellant and didn't want to put a coat, trousers and a face mask on in 21 degrees so stuck it out until higher up in the slight wind. I couldn't outwalk them quickly either because I was breathing out my arse. The other annoyance was the hundreds of people there as I'd left it slightly later than usual and decided to go to I'm assuming is the second busiest munro. I did know this before I went and it wouldn't have bothered me so much if it wasnt for the midges.

Anyway further up the midges were away and I got my first good inversion.  This twinned with the fact I know I'm capable of going walking again means it was probably all worth it. It also means I don't need to be jealous reading this thread. It's not an exaggeration to say I've over 100 bites on my legs and arms but I've now bought a long sleeve shirt, net hat and smidge cream for next time. My plan was to do a few on my week off starting with an easy but busy one knowing I can do a more enjoyable and quiet one later. I might see how I recover from the bites whilst waiting on my new gear getting delivered first.

[derrybiy]

[Swello]

I blew my own rules at the weekend and ended up on the one of the most popular/busiest non-Munros - Ben Vrackie (which I guess is the non-weegie Cobbler). I would normally avoid the busy stuff like the plague during the (English) school holidays but I had agreed to take some non-regular walkers on Friday, so that was that.

I'd missed out on a planned camp to watch the Perseid meteors during the week, so I decided that in order to be in Pitlochry early enough to get the car parked at the Ben Vrackie car park and meet the others, I would head up the night before, do an easy summit camp and hope for some clear skies. I decided to camp on Blath Bhalg - a Graham that I'd never heard of but was practically in pitlochry and was less than an hour to the summit. The clear skies lasted about 20 mins and by the time the skies darkened, I was in the clouds - I was also set upon by midges and cleggs as there wasn't a breath of wind at 2000 feet, so it was pretty grim. Woke up in the morning and the tent was dripping with condensation and the midges were back - not a classic. No #wildcamping pics as I was trying not to get eaten - but my "leaving pic" sums up the experience.

Ben Vrackie on the other hand turned out to be a great, easy walk - it was really busy (as busy as any walk I've been on in the last 10 years) - but from the car parking to the summit, there was no arsehole behaviour at all, which was a shock. The clouds parted just as we got onto the summit and it stayed hazy/sunny for the rest of the day - definitely a hill I would do again (in the winter)...

[vikingTON]

I caught the tail-end of the Perseids down in Galloway, only realised that they were happening on Thursday when a massive yellow-white fireball about one-third of the size of the Moon streaked through the sky to kick things off for the evening. 

I'm looking for P and B recommendations for a decent pack to invest in for next year, as my current one is somehow both managing to plough into the shoulders all day while also lurching around and putting all the strain on my lower back as well. 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

35 minutes ago, virginton said:

I'm looking for P and B recommendations for a decent pack to invest in for next year, as my current one is somehow both managing to plough into the shoulders all day while also lurching around and putting all the strain on my lower back as well. 

Day pack or camping/backpacking type thing? 

I can't look beyond Osprey for either. For backpacking i've got the Kestrel 58L version, which is enough for all my usual camping gear, some clothing, food and bare essentials of my camera gear. For day stuff I use a Talon 44 which is plentiful storage for almost any day walk, including winter as there's still enough space for crampons, ice axe(s) and extra clothing. I did briefly try a couple of Berghaus packs (30L and 50L iirc) but both were pretty poor, not great in terms of comfort and support and just felt quite faffy to use. 

[Swello]

43 minutes ago, virginton said:

I caught the tail-end of the Perseids down in Galloway, only realised that they were happening on Thursday when a massive yellow-white fireball about one-third of the size of the Moon streaked through the sky to kick things off for the evening. 

I'm looking for P and B recommendations for a decent pack to invest in for next year, as my current one is somehow both managing to plough into the shoulders all day while also lurching around and putting all the strain on my lower back as well. 

For summer day hikes (and quick overnight summer camps), I've used a Montane Cobra 25l  for the past few years which is pretty light and robust - recommended (assuming you can still get them). 

For the other 3 seasons, I use a Lowe Alpine Airzone Pro 35-45l - which has been great after years of trying to find something decent to replace my old-school Karrimor Alpiniste that did me since I started out. Carries heavy loads really well in the winter and isn't heavy. It has one of those mesh back systems that people either like or don't - it's worked really well in the sweaty back stakes for me, so I'm a convert.

For big multiday trips, or when I'm carrying a ton of gear, I use a weird US-made ultralight cuben fibre thing that no-one sensible would want (but works well for me :).

[paul-r-cfc]

Got a few weeks before I can start my new job so got plenty of time to kill before then. Trying to tick off some munros before then and make up for the time I probably wasted during the summer holidays! [emoji23]

Going to do Ben Vorlich and Stuc a'chroin on Wednesday. Anyone done the two together? Seems the best way to do them, rather than separately.

Also going up Ben Lomond next week. I've already done it but a pal of mine fancies starting to bag munros and he fancies it. It's the closest and it's straightforward enough, so I'm happy to go again.