Some thoughts and reports from outings...
Blogs from some outdoor adventures.....
Fiacaill Ridge, Cairngorm wild camp and finishing on top of Ben
Mac Hadn’t planned on getting out for a few weeks as the garden needed landscaped!! However quicker than expected erm landscaping?saw us finish at 15.00 and the forecast looked like the last good day/night of the recent great weather. So guide books open and internet on and a Cairngorm special was plated up! A possible cloud inversion may be possible the next morning and to increase the likely hood of this I decided to go high. Can only go one place higher than Macdui in the UK so I set off around 16.30. By around 18.00 I was in the upper ski car par packing my tent and bag for the night. The only fly in the ointment were the high winds!! I had noticed the trees blowing around a fair bit on the drive up and on leaving the car I was surprised at how gusty it had become (a quick look at met office app – confirmed possible gusts of up to 50mph!! – was not on MWIS earlierL). Anyway – thought I would head off and see as forecast was for winds to drop. My plan of attack was to gain the plateaux via the Fiacaill ridge which I had never done before. I headed off and a bit of panting and heaving later I was walking along the start of the scramble on an airy ridge – fantastic. It was still windy but I deemed it safe enough especially as the steeper parts of the scramble were on the leeward side J I kept left of the scramble on the way up as the right hand side of the scramble is handsin pockets stuff. There was nothing too technical and only slight exposure in a couple of places but this did not detract from the enjoyment. The views were outstanding, and the only other people I saw on the whole trip were camped a few hundred metres below in Coire na t-Sneadcha….. Scramble completed and I had resigned myself to heading home due to the high winds lower down. However on the top the wind seemed a little lighter so I headed towards Cairn Lochan’s summit – hoping for a more sheltered spot on its leeward side toward the Lairig Ghru. Finding a pitch was harder than expected as the further towards the Lairig Ghru I got the steeper the slopes became – eventually I found a compromise with slight shelter and not too much of a slope….. Tent up, now about 20.30pm and I took a wander up round the rim of Coire an Lochain, stopping at the summit of Cairn Lochan to soak in the sunset. An amazing place and an amazing sunset. The cliffs shone red in the dipping light and to the south the rest of the Cairngorm plateaux slowly fell to darkness. A full moon rose to the south and the final embers of the sun died in the distant northwest. Usually not too impressed with Macdui to look at, I was pleasantly surprised tonight as it glowed red longer than all the other surrounding hills including the 1200m peaks across the Lairig Ghru who fell dark long before Macdui. An impressive sight with the moon rising behind it J So to bed- once again found it hard to sleep – might have been the gusty winds but I think I eventually dosed off around 02.00 L Woke at 04.00 as sunrise was around 04.45. I peeked outside on the side facing north hoping to see an inversion - nothing just dark , clear hillside. I was about to (try) and go back to sleep but luckily opened the other side of the tent to see the cloud streaming through the Lairig Ghru hundreds of metres below me (could just make out the pools of Dee). The cloud was streaming in from the south so was not getting out to the north. My mind was immediately set on getting to Ben Macdui as I expected the views south over the sea of cloud would be fantastic – I was not to be disappointed!! I cracked on and by the back of five I was stood on the summit of Britain’s second highest peak. The sun hitting the 1200m peaks west across the Lairig Ghru was a spectacle and I dropped to the north of the summit to take in the inversion and sat for nearly an hour watching it. I eventually dragged myself away and headed back along the tourist route to the head of the Goat track. I followed the northern corries rim up and over Stob Coire an t Sneachda and descended to the car via Fiacall a’ Choire Chais. Way by 08.00am and home for 09.45 for a spot of coffee and breakfast. A great wee Micro Adventure…….
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Glen Etive Adventure
An amazing trip. Can’t really start to put into words how good this was, the video goes some ways to capturing some of the moments experienced but as with everything the memories of being on top of Glen Etive, surrounded by some of Scotland’s most amazing scenery were just simply amazing. I have been really active in the great outdoors over the last few weeks in an attempt to get “fed up” or “saturated with the hills. Why you may ask – well, for the next 5-6 weeks I aint going to be getting much outdoorsy stuff done as I have a large landscaping project which needs seeing to in the back garden!! So this was the last trip for a while – and what a way to round off two weeks of magic weather and incredible experiences!: I got to the end of Glen Etive at around 17.00hrs and packed the tent in my bag and headed skywards (think I was the only person taking the tent away from Glen Etive as it was like on big campsite all the way down the road – can’t blame folks as it is a fantastic place with some awesome pools for a swim in the searing heat!! The heat made the ascent to Trilleachan tiresome – made harder (and quicker) by a couple of over friendly clegs!! I was starting to dread camping as there was little wind and being on the west coast that usually means one thing – more beasties and more specifically – THE DREADED MIDGE!! I made the summit in about two and half hours and the views were great – in addition there was a lovely dry spot about ten metres from the summit which was nice and flat and perfect for the tent J Amazingly – there were no midges (a few fly’s right enough) but no blood suckers – couldn’t believe my luck. I spent the night taking pictures and enjoying the sunset- all in Mediterranean heat – t shirt was not cover by a fleece all night! I eventually withdrew to the tent after sunset and set the alarm for 04.20 to hopefully catch a sunrise. I checked the Met Office forecast but it said the summits would likely be in cloud in the morning L Indeed when I awoke I immediately felt the wet dew and condensation on the outer tent and when I stuck my head out – all I could see was the inside of a cloud ;(. I hung around on the summit in the hope it would clear but after 40 minutes I decided to get off the hill and head home – I had planned on trying to do Stob Dubh but decided on binning that, as it was only getting done in good weather !! haha… Then ………… on my descent and between the two peaks on the Ben Trilleachan – I started to notice more light! Then it happened – the cloud level seemed to drop – and from looking at the cloud from the inside I was suddenly above it- the next hour was incredible and a stopped and took as many pictures and videos as the cameras SD cards and batteries would allow!!!!!!!!! I eventually pulled myself off the hill and re-evaluated my plans – Stob Dubh was on again. I was tired (didn’t sleep that well as usual, and legs were tired!). Anyway – got to the Starav car park – immediately brewed up a coffee and had breakfast – turned out to be the perfect tonic and my energy levels were back again J The heat was lower now as I was under the cloud (due to temp inversion) and I headed off with a spring in my step. This lasted until I reached the base of the hill. This is a definite – straight up hill and no matter how good I was feeling the ascent sapped the strength from me – jelly babies were devoured!!!!!!!!! Didn’t take long for the cloud to burn off and by 10.00 I was sitting on the summit soaking up the views of all the iconic Glencoe and Glen Etive peaks!! An amazing trip!! The only thing that remained was the pool. I had spotted it at the base of the mountain and decided that if it was warm on the way home then I would go for a dip – and that’s exactly what I did (apologies for the skin shots in the video !! I did try and keep it respectable!!!! Haha) Home by 13.30 and more memories to savour. A great adventure…. North Buttress – The
Buachaille The weather had been good all week, however the forecast for Saturday for the Western Highlands was not so good – cloud bases at best 700m and a risk of rain moving in - with high winds on the summits and ridges L Determined, we set of from Altnafeadh around 09.30am with the weather looking not too bad. The morning was meant to be better than the afternoon so we got going. We had done The North Buttress route a couple of years ago in torrential rain and my lasting memory from that trip was water streaming down my arm every time I reached up for a hold! I was told it was one of the best routes up the Buachaille – with amazing views – hopefully I would experience these views today!! Before we even reached the start of the route, clothing was shed as the sun was beating down – a pleasant surprise given the forecast. The weather turned out to be fantastic all the way to the summit J - for once the forecast was wrong but in our favour!! We scrambled up until the first easy chimney where we roped up. A few easy moves and we were onto the ledge above. My turn to lead through and up the harder chimney – fantastic fun. Beyond this we did another couple of pitches before scrambling up to the summit Alpine style for some practice. The weather was awesome and so were the views! The only thing to watch out for on this route is the amount of loose rock so careful foot placements are necessary to reduce the likely hood of dislodging rock onto climbers below! The summit was busy when we reached it – the route virtually tops out right on the summit! A spot of lunch and we were heading back down before midday. On the descent the weather started to turn with infilling cloud and windier conditions. The forecasted rain arrived in a timely fashion – just as we drove off! A fantastic day and probably my favourite route to the summit of the Buachaille so far!! Drumochter Wild Camp
The plan was to do another overnighter on top of a new Corbett with the new tent – however there was the small matter of the Wimbledon final on the same day!! Well after the great result I decided on taking advantage of the glorious weather but heading up a hill near by which was not too much of an effort. Geal Charn at Drumochter was the chosen hill and I set off around 18.45. I was walking by 19.30 and the hangover from earlier was at last starting to disappear !! Took about an hour to reach the summit and as always the views from the top over to the Alder group and up Loch Ericht were fantastic. Now to find a nice place to sick the tent – this took longer than the walk!! Too many stones !! I Eventually found a spot around 200m north west of the summit which was ok – great views down Loch Ericht, but still very uneven ground!! I loitered around for a few hours and got some pictures and photos before hitting the hay. A few hours later and I was up and the tent was away. The skies were looking good back over towards the summit and the East so I head back up to the top of Geal Charn and watched the sunrise – amazing – no winds and more incredibly – no midges!! Couldn’t believe my luck. More photos and I decided to head round and up onto A’Mharconaich, all the time keep my eyes open for any signs of the lost dog. The views from the top were grand – excellent visibility – reckon it was around 07.00 by now so headed back for car which I reached and headed off . Made it home by 09.00. Fantastic wee trip up some local (ish) hills J Its bee a few weeks since my last blog (solstice blog) and since my wild camp in Glencoe the summer has been , well simply amazing!!!! For a change the good weather and my annul leave have coincided and I can finally say I have made the most of the great conditions. I have done three sensational wild camps, a route on the Buachaille and three crag nights at Cambusbarron as well s getting out on my bike. I can truly say that I have taken every opportunity to enjoy life and the great outdoors at their best. I have written a number of reports and taken numerous videos which I will post below- currently raining again so who knows when the weather will be as good as it has been for last 4 weeks - hope its not the end of the summer!!
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WilkieMurraySome thoughts and reports from my outdoors activties... Archives
August 2017
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