The Mamores, Ben Nevis the Aonachs,
Loch Leven all merged together to
give a nice picture postcard view

This was a trip I organised for the hiking club, it was the first time I ever organised something like this and it proved to have unexpected problems in the organising part of it. We stayed at Strathfillan wigwams which turned out to be very warm and comfy though they would have been a squeeze with four people in them. Luckily we only had three people in each one.

The weather for the first half was generally rough(ish) and the majority of the people on the trip felt they didn’t have a good bargain from the weather. Personally I feel the club is going soft for rough weather along with the nice weather has always been part of Scottish weather. The people in the pub gradually got used to our presence on a regular basis and we always seemed to have the same table.

The view back up the very snowy
corrie beneath Meall Glas

People were talking of this day being a day of severe weather, in the end it wasn’t too bad. The weather in the morning was generally dry with the snow lying down to 500m. I had good reports of the snow being excellent for crampons and was looking forward to using my spikes again. The ascent up the first summit was tiresome, deep heather and soft snow topped with a hard crust I kept breaking through meant that I wasn’t too quick.

The winds were light the whole way despite being exposed to a southery wind direction. It was only on the summits that I experienced gales. At the summit it was on with the crampons, out with the axe and compass and off I went to the broad connecting bealach. I read my compass at regular interludes and in the end I was spot on with reaching the bealach despite the ground being difficult for navigation.

The ascent to the next summit proved nicer on hard snow but I was behind time none the less so the second Munro would have to wait another time. Navigation off the second summit was harder, my compass needle seemed to settle down less quickly and the prospect of facing hail in a gale didn’t appeal.

After numerous false starts I found the correct way down aided by someone elses footsteps. I fell through a snow bridge and got my leg wet from the stream underneath. Snowbridges are often quite a hazard though they tend to receive far less publicity than the other mountain hazards. The rain had set by the time I reached the road and it was back to the nice warm wigwams.

Ben More and Stob Binnien as
seen from the Strathfillan Wigwams

The day dawned wet, a severe weather warning was out for the night before and the rest of the group, bar one other person went shopping. I decided to climb the local summit Ben Challum. The morning was wet wet wet and with a gale force side wind keeping me company, the ascent proved tiresome. Numerous electric fences added to the challenge and the snow was soaked today. Brief breaks in the rain made me wish I had my camera today for there were very nice views but the rain / ice soon started again.

Some shelter was to be had on the summit ridge. The ridge for a short distance turned to a double ridge and the dip between them avoided the gales all together. However one ridge fell away meaning I had to go back up to the proper ridge for the rest of the ‘fun’. The winds died on the summit itself but it was only the summit that was windless. I decided not to traverse the two Corbetts I wanted to traverse owing to the yucky weather.

I went back the way I came, this time it meant walking in to the icy rain, snow goggles should have been put on here but my mind kept saying "don’t worry it’ll clear up!". It did clear up in the end with the rain turning more showery and eventually turning out quite nice by the time I got back. I got back by lunchtime and cursed myself for not continuing the walk with the other summits. A character building day!

Cruach ardain as seen from the wigwams

Beinn a’ Bhuiridh as seen on the way down from Ben Cruachan

The view south from Beinn a’ Bhuiridh to Loch Awe

Today was forecast to be reasonable with gales on the summits. I knew I had to be up early for I had a considerable distance to hitch. This I did and luckily I arrived at the Falls of Cruachan just as dawn broke. The ascent seemed daunting, nearly 900m ascent in 2 – 3 km. This I did quickly and easily up the steep western slopes. I thought I would be blasted by the winds on reaching exposed slopes as the clouds were moving fast. The wind turned out to be a light breeze on the summit ridge and I wandered why did I pack my camera away?

The ridge was cloudy one side but exposed to brilliant sunshine the other and the effect was one to be caught on camera. Into the cloud I went on the descent to the bealach separating the Corbett from the main ridge. The snow was hard and at times crampons were needed. The cloud allowed views in the immediate corrie surroundings but Glen Etive was obscured for most of the time. The wind was quite strong up to severe gale force at times and I was glad to have crampons on. Though the snow was softening now that the day was warming up so taking them off in a gale took up quite a bit of time.

Ben Cruachan in the mist

The winds moderated after the first drop on the main ridge but I still kept the camera inside my pack. That was something I was to regret for the ridge was under identical snow conditions to those found in Butterfields’ Munro book . I found the ridge to be very graceful and rocky but not scrambly with the exceptions of the Granny Stopper and a 10m section of ridge just before the main summit where I needed crampons for just that bit. I made an unhurried stroll back down to the reservoir and then back to the road. It took all the daylight hours to do the hike from the road so I was a bit slow owing to dehydration. A prompt hitch brought me back to the wigwams just in time for dinner. The best day so far this trip.

"The hiking club at the Inververy Hotel - Tyndrum

Phil Endecott and his dickie bow tie

Couples forming already this time on new years eve

Getting a bit closer to the new year

Well, Phil has really lost his trolley!