Hillwalking Thread

[Chinatoon Bairn]

Buachaille Etive Beag on Friday night taking me up to the 50 munro mark, a long way away from what I was originally planning on doing but with the good weather we’ve had recently I wasn’t going to not go a walk. 
 

Found it a pretty average walk to be honest taking about 2 hours 45 in total but when you’re met with this view at the top you can’t really complain..

[derrybiy]

19 hours ago, Florentine_Pogen said:

https://www.pluscardenabbey.org/becoming-a-monk

Good point I should have added well paid! There was some sort of water tester job I seen but I didn't apply for it in time.

[Central Belt Caley]

Off work for a couple of days and decided to tackle the Cairnwell 3. They were easier than I had anticipated and from leaving the car park I was at the summit of Carn Aosda within 30 minutes.

Was pretty thick fog so didn’t get any views but managed to navigate my way to Càrn a'Ghèoidh easily enough. 
 

Headed back and got to the summit of the Cairnwell which is definitely one of the most uninspiring summits I’ve done another 3 ticked off though 

Pic attached is from heading back from Càrn a'Ghèoidh where the fog broke enough to get a decent-ish view

[Swello]

That walk is one of the poorer ones in a really good area - my tip is save this type for the winter as they get a lot more interesting/enjoyable in the snow (and it's an area with pretty reliable snow cover and the walking is great when it's consolidated).

Those 3 were in my first 10 Munros and my main memory was the fact it was -20 degrees before windchill at the summit, which is still the coldest temperature I've been out in I think. 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

Dun Caan last weekend. I can't recommend a trip to Raasay highly enough. The distillery is a good wee stop off (we missed the tour) before heading up to camp on the top of Dun Caan. Genuinely right into my top 5 of summits and piss easy to get to carrying a load of camping and camera gear.

I did however end up getting pished on whisky, can't remember getting into my tent and spewed my ringer at 2am. This made for an absolute fucker of a 6 hour journey home, comprising the midge-infested walk to the car, spending the 25 minute ferry crossing trying not to spew and a long drive home with one of the worst hangovers I've ever experienced.

f**k ever touching a dram again 

 

[invergowrie arab]

17 hours ago, Day of the Lords said:

Dun Caan last weekend. I can't recommend a trip to Raasay highly enough. The distillery is a good wee stop off (we missed the tour) before heading up to camp on the top of Dun Caan. Genuinely right into my top 5 of summits and piss easy to get to carrying a load of camping and camera gear.

I did however end up getting pished on whisky, can't remember getting into my tent and spewed my ringer at 2am. This made for an absolute fucker of a 6 hour journey home, comprising the midge-infested walk to the car, spending the 25 minute ferry crossing trying not to spew and a long drive home with one of the worst hangovers I've ever experienced.

f**k ever touching a dram again 

 

I'm looking at this for my "rest day" on Skye week after next.

By the way glad to have you back. Furious at how you were treated 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

5 hours ago, invergowrie arab said:

I'm looking at this for my "rest day" on Skye week after next.

By the way glad to have you back. Furious at how you were treated 

Cheers man. Raasay would be tremendous for an easy day, I'm definitely going back. 

[vikingTON]

Does the distillery have a tasting room (tours are generally boring/shite)?

Dun Caan was on the to do list as someone who does islands/long distances rather than actual Munros, but that post has bumped it well up the priority list. 

Some drinking effort to feel like spewing on a 25 minute ferry off Raasay, although I've been on a Morton away day where somebody contrived to get 'seasick' on the ferry between Gourock and fucking Helensburgh. 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

6 minutes ago, virginton said:

Does the distillery have a tasting room (tours are generally boring/shite)?

Dun Caan was on the to do list as someone who does islands/long distances rather than actual Munros, but that post has bumped it well up the priority list. 

Some drinking effort to feel like spewing on a 25 minute ferry off Raasay, although I've been on a Morton away day where somebody contrived to get 'seasick' on the ferry between Gourock and fucking Helensburgh. 

Aye I think it does, although we didn't get any further than the bar tbh (some nice IPAs in there also)

It wasn't so much an epic drinking effort as being a total lightweight these days who's pal was apparently pouring him triples  I still feel shite now so I think I probably coincided a hangover with some sort of viral thing. 

 

[Florentine_Pogen]

On 28/08/2022 at 16:24, Florentine_Pogen said:

Heading up to Glencoe on Wednesday to (hopefully) do Aonach Eagach, which I last did about 40 years ago. Mrs. F_P coming along also. Been asked to do this with another couple in order to scatter a friend's ashes on the ridge. (Big Lebowski gif not req'd......)

Just hope the wife isn't back up again in a couple of weeks to scatter my own.

Had an amazing couple of days in Glencoe, stayed at Red Squirrel campsite and managed to do the traverse of Aonach Eagach on Thursday in glorious weather. To be perfectly honest, the whole day (9 hours, start to finish) was various forms of torture for me as I'm unfit, overweight and an auld duffer. However, the reason for this trip was to say goodbye to a dear friend who died in May 2021, we weren't able to go to his funeral due to Covid restrictions and when his wife had a memorial day walk back in June, I couldn't go as I had Covid - She then asked 4 of us if we could scatter some of his ashes in Glencoe as he just loved this part of Scotland and we decided to walk the ridge as our own wee tribute to the man.

Mrs. F_P  felt the ridge was too much for her as she is quite small and would have struggled with some of the scrambling so she came up to Am Bodach and scattered a few ashes before going back to Glencoe Village to get some vittles & booze.

The slog up to the summit of Am Bodach made me realise just how out of shape I am but finally made it and said farewell to our pal on the platform just after the summit of AB..............

 

Didn't take any more photos after this and wasn't that aware of the exposure as I was concentrating so hard on where I was putting my hands & feet.. ..a shame really as the weather was so fine....I remember looking back after having done the first bit of scrambling coming off Am Bodach and thinking "Feck me, did I just come down that ?"

There's a few vids on YT of folk crossing The Pinnacles and if the weather is good, it is an exhilarating experience. We had one heart-stopping moment when we took a wrong line and descended into a dead end and had to climb back up to go over, rather than round, one of the pinnacles. I genuinely thought I had run out of gas at that point and needed to stop to gather my thoughts.

After this I got a second wind and felt more relaxed and confident and masochistically enjoyed myself, even though my lungs were bursting and thighs were screaming at some points......With hindsight, I think I maybe could have done with a bit more fitness (!) but eventually got to Sgurr nam Fiannaidh and the murderous field of scree / stoney descent towards Glencoe Youth Hostel which took me 3 hours (pretty f*cked at this point, it has to be said)....I told my companions to go ahead. I took loads of stops coming down and my final pic was looking towards Loch Linnhe & Ballachulish......

"Bye bye Jim....."

[IrishBhoy]

9 hours ago, Florentine_Pogen said:

Had an amazing couple of days in Glencoe, stayed at Red Squirrel campsite and managed to do the traverse of Aonach Eagach on Thursday in glorious weather. To be perfectly honest, the whole day (9 hours, start to finish) was various forms of torture for me as I'm unfit, overweight and an auld duffer. However, the reason for this trip was to say goodbye to a dear friend who died in May 2021, we weren't able to go to his funeral due to Covid restrictions and when his wife had a memorial day walk back in June, I couldn't go as I had Covid - She then asked 4 of us if we could scatter some of his ashes in Glencoe as he just loved this part of Scotland and we decided to walk the ridge as our own wee tribute to the man.

Brilliant pictures mate, and a very fitting place to have your friends ashes scattered. It’s a beautiful part of the world. 

[IrishBhoy]

Me and a friend are training for a marathon so decided to go and attempt a trail run up Beinn Ime last weekend. We were the first car in the car park at just after 5am, and we managed to get to the section of path that splits up to the back of Narnain just after 6am which I thought was pretty good going. We didn’t run up the steep sections, more a quick march, and we were sure we were going to be the first people of the day to summit Ime until some ultra fit maniac came running past us 10 minutes before we reached the top. 
 

We toyed with the idea of going up the back of Narnain and down the front but ended up just sticking to the path, and were up and down in roughly 3 hours. Back in the house for 10am after a Munro, it was a great feeling. 

[Florentine_Pogen]

7 hours ago, IrishBhoy said:

Brilliant pictures mate, and a very fitting place to have your friends ashes scattered. It’s a beautiful part of the world. 

It is staggeringly beautiful, to be sure. Longing to go back and revisit walks I did decades ago.

 

[IrishBhoy]

3 hours ago, Florentine_Pogen said:

It is staggeringly beautiful, to be sure. Longing to go back and revisit walks I did decades ago.

 

Nothing better than standing atop a Munro in that area, on a nice clear day, and looking across the peaks in every direction. I’ve said it on here before but we are lucky to live in a country with such access to that kind of scenery. 
 

Sometimes I look at the mountains in Austria or Switzerland, with their jagged peaks and snow topped summits and get jealous. Then I remember it would take about 3 days to reach the top, and I’m grateful for our munros that we can walk up at a minutes notice and get back down in time for your dinner. 

[Florentine_Pogen]

37 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said:

Nothing better than standing atop a Munro in that area, on a nice clear day, and looking across the peaks in every direction. I’ve said it on here before but we are lucky to live in a country with such access to that kind of scenery. 
 

Sometimes I look at the mountains in Austria or Switzerland, with their jagged peaks and snow topped summits and get jealous. Then I remember it would take about 3 days to reach the top, and I’m grateful for our munros that we can walk up at a minutes notice and get back down in time for your dinner. 

Or in my case, a very late supper. 

[Swello]

With my original plans for the weekend - Dingwall for the fitba and a summit camp on Bheinn Bhan on Saturday night/Sunday - totally fucked by the decision to can the whole fixture card, I instead opted for a big day in the area South of the Fort William-Mallaig road. Because it is Munro-free, it's still an area that I haven't been in much compared to other parts of the highlands, so was looking forward to it.

The forecast was for things to deteriorate over the day, so I headed up to the parking area late on Saturday night for a car kip and I was on my way at 7am just as the sun was on it's way up

The walk in was along an old right of way which was pretty boggy in places but I soon enough arrived at the remote (and lovely) Cona Glen where I had to drop all the height I'd gained so far to start the climb onto Druim Tarsuinn on the far side of the glen.

The deer keds were out in numbers at this point - but I had my ked proof top that I've used for the past couple of years on walks like this which meant that the b*****ds couldn't get me. The climb up a gully was surprisingly easy given that everything in this area is steep as f**k and I was up on the ridge and looking at the huge horseshoe I had to do. Tarsuinn is one of the less climbed of the big mountains in scotland - but totally worth the effort.

The walk was very rough but the views were fantastic all round - away from the rocky stuff, I loved the view from head of Cona Glen (final Corbett on the left in the distance)

The view from Glenfinnan down Loch Sheil is a classic and I've seen it a hundred times but it was brilliant heading up the 2nd Corbett and being at the other end of it - all the benefits and no adult Harry Potter fans.

The way off Sgurr Ghuibsachain was hilariously steep and rocky - not a place for a slip as can be seen below - but the walking after that was decent .

After that, I had to summon the last of my energy for the 3rd and final summit of the day and then a walk out with a nice backdrop. The first raindrops were hitting the windscreen as I got into the car at 3pm, so the ridiculously early start had worked out. Great walk - very hard going but the location is amazing - would really recommend it. The walk home: 

 

Edited September 12, 2022 by Swello

[arab_joe]

This thread makes me very, very homesick.

[Florentine_Pogen]

12 minutes ago, arab_joe said:

This thread makes me very, very homesick.

If you haven't already seen this channel..............................................

https://www.youtube.com/c/ScottishMunroJourney

[Florentine_Pogen]

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2022/sep/14/moffat-walking-festival-scotland-southern-uplands-dumfries-galloway

Moffat WalkFest - 30th Sept - 2nd Oct.

[invergowrie arab]

Finally bit the bullet and did the Inn Pinn today. Did Sgùrr a' Mhadaidh and Sgùrr a' Ghreadaidh Monday and Am Basteir and Sgùrr nan Gillean yesterday but all in the cloud.

Perfect conditions today though amd as you can see I had the ridge all to myself (you can't see guide and ropes, I'm not free-soloing)

As Alex Ferguson once said, "the Cuillin - bloody hell"