Stob Dubh

In the morning I wake up at the crack of dawn... other than an incident where a crow attacked our tent, we slept pretty well.

I'm up and about by about 7am... there's something about me and mornings. Once I'm awake, I'm up and ready to start the day. I get pout the tent for a piss and marvel at the beauty that surround me... it looks different with every glnace, and the fresh morning fills your lungs and makes you feel alive!!!



I know it's going to be hours before Mowgli surfaces, so I set about preparing breakfast. I stick on some eggs to boil, and see if I can get the fire going. It's likely to be a lost cause, but I need some entertainment.

I have 3 wet logs and a soggy bog roll to work with, but I throw in a few fire lighters and a match and see what I can do.... within 30 minutes.. amazingly I have a roaring fire.... less can be said however for the eggs... they still aren;t boiling. We seem to have run out of gas.....

I head off to the car and get the hill walking books we brought. The weather has been flirting with me all morning, just when I think it's clearing to blue skys, it starts to rain, fo this reason I'm flicking through a book looking for something pretty easy... something that doesn't take too long and will never put us too far away from the car. I've went hill walking with a few people and aside from his love of Jack Daniels, Mowgli is one of my fitter companions, so we can probably takcle something reasonably interesting. I decicide to wait till we see what the weather does.....

I',ve made a fire... ran out of gas... chosen a mountain... and am now reallly hungry... I need Mowgli to wake up.

"HAW!!!!! WAKE UP"

Well that worked....

We make do with soft boiled duck eggs(well mowgli throws one of his at the aforementioned crow) , fruit juice, bananas, apples, hot cross buns and bread toasted on the fire... it wasn;t the bacon, sausages and espresso that we had expected, but thats why we come prepared!!!

We quickly clear up the tent and get the stuff back in the car... We're going to head to Glencoe visitor centre and get a coffee. From here we'll decide how the weather is and whether we're going to go walking or not.



The weather isn't bad, so after our coffee, we pick up an OS map of Glencoe.

We're going to head up Stob Dubh, which is one of the Munros which make up Buchaille Etive Beag:



We park somewhere along the Glencoe road(near the waterfall and the roadworks if anyone's interested, although I don't think anyone should ever use the information in here as the basis for mounting an expidition), and get our stuff together.

We pack our bags with soup, nuts, fruit, rolls, hot cross buns... all our saftey stuff, waterproofs etc, and set off along the path. There's loads of other people out walking, as this path is used for lots of routes... it feels good to be out in the countryside again and we are bouncing along through the rolling hills which approach the more serious mountains:





As we make our way along the path we get wonderful views along glencoe:



Ahead of us through the glen is Stob Dubh:



We march along, our spirits are high.... we use the time to talk about our planned trip to Eastern Europe in August... there's mountains in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria... maybe we'll be there... who knows.. we just get off on the idea of packing a bag and living spontaneously for a month.

As we move further along, we find ourselves in a valley between this...



and Buachaille Etive Beag.

We continue along this path between the mountains, getting closer to stob dubh and moving around it's base. Our book says that once we get to the cairn marking the bealach(gorge) between the two peaks, we should head up the peak.... this information is all fine and well, but this point, the peak appears to be a wee bit steep. We walk a little further on and the peak softens, but it's clear that the path drops in altitude towards Glen Etive... so instead of continuing down and getting lost in the valley, we take to the steep side of the hill.

Over some food to rejuvenate us, we take the decision to make for the peak that we can see at the steep side.

After about 10 minutes of scrambling up the hill, our legs and arms are agony... we underestimated the steepness. It's not particularly dangerous, but it's really tough... we have to try to stick to the clumps of grass, as the stones and shingle are loose and don't support you enough to climb.... after what seems like an age, we are up at a high enough level that we now have snow to contend with. It's getting colder very quickly..... but the views are improving with every step:







the wind is picking up and it;s become clear that the peak was a false peak, there is another peak which seems extremely far away... we head towards that as the wind rips at our faces and the cold air makes our joints numb. Mowgli is ahead of me, and we can't hear each other for the screech of the wind... I catch up to him on what seems to be the peak, and we quickly take some photos..



We are pretty scared... looking at each other... but not admitting to each other how frightened we are.. It's not that we are in any major danger... just that in order to stay alive, we have to march on through heavy hail with our leg muscles killing us...

We just want out of the stormy weather which engulfs us.... we are face to face with the elements... and it's not a very nice feeling... when we get over the peak, we can see the ridge stretch out before us with the wind and snow whirling around on either side of it... it's not the weather to hand around, so we march on.....



We're staggering on along the ridge.... hoping that the weather will ease, or that we can in some way escape from nature, but we have to just trudge on, with no certain idea as to when it will end and we can go lower and shelter from nature.

After a while, we see a great site.... another walker walking towards us. He's going through this ordeal alone, something I can't imagine. We have a quick conversation... the usual bravado... he tells us that the other side is easy and we tell him that our side is easy.... even though both are anything but.....

We continue on... once we get the peak behind us, the weather eases a bit, but the snow becomes thick under foot. It's a wonderful site:





We seem to be through the worst of the weather... People say that climbing mountains is good for the mind, cos once you're up there, all there is in your mind at that point is the mountain and you... survival... it kind of cleans out that work deadline that is approaching or whatever you've been losing sleep over.

For us it's just Mountain, ourselves and Pearl jam on Thursday. Everytime, one of us is down or quiet for too long the other shouts "PEARL JAM THURSDAY" and the smiles and energy return. Mowgli claims that it was greed alone that kept him alive, cos he didn't want anyone else getting his ticket.

From here in, we can see our way down... but its covered in snow.... it's not the icey stormy snow that was scarey 20 minutes ago on the ridge, but the soft snow that you make snow men out of.. We try wading through it for a little while, but swimming through snow is only getting us wet and cold. We decide to just jump and aim forward, tumbling and sliding down the side of the mountain... it's certainly a more entertaining way of descending the metres.....



We carry on like this for a wee while, enjoying the fresh snow, coupled with the euphoria of the climb, and the relief in being able to see a path all the way back to the car. This euphoria and fun ends after about 15 minutes once we can't feel anything from the knee down.

Now it's the downhill trudge... tired legs, and random dips into snow up to your thigh to zap your energy. It's at this point that we have the option of detouring to climb Stob Coire Raineach, but there's no question of it... the weather has really taken its toll on us... our legs ache... the ground is getting softer and sliding about around our feet.

At one point I take a step and my leg plummets down into the snow, I fall over and we both laugh.... until I realise I can't get my leg back out again.. the snow has fallen around it and we have a hurried dig while i feel my leg go numb... when we pull it out, we realise it was a roof of snow over a small river that I'd fallen down into.

We continue on... the weather is deteriorating into annoy rain which lashes off our faces...

Eventually we get back to the car... another couple of climbers get a flash of our bums as we hurriedly get changed into some dry clothes...

The next hour in the car is almost silent, cos we are so tired, but after that we are reminiscing about interesting parts of the climb and forgetting the dread and agony of climbing over false peaks and wanting to be out of the snow...

We pick up the Space Cadet in Glasgow and return to Ayrshire to a big hot dinner after our weekend adventures... Luke Skyetrekker heads over and we spend the rest of the evening in front of the telly talking nonsense with each other....

1km closer to god.... well almost

I wake up with the alarm and start to organise the day....

My sister is coming to pick us up in Glasgow at 10am. I get up and The Cadet provides me with poridge and coffee - the perfect start to any day on the mountains. I feel reasoanbly okay given that I may have had one to many Jack and Cokes the previous night. The Cadet appears to be fresh enough for Rock N'Roll too....

I start the difficult task of finding out where Mowgli and Иiña are..... EVentually after trying both of them for a while, it transpires that Иiña is awake and in her won hoem and Mowgli left not to long after us and should be in his own home also.... We're doing well so far. Several more phone calls to Mowgli suggest that he ain't climbing no mountains today.



We make it to the rendevous point and meet my sister. Иiña is not here as she promised and luckily I have chosen a meeting point which is just round the corner from her home... We head to her door - the scene of the party..... After phoning ringing, buzzing and doing the famous five trick of throwing stones at her window... I eventually get let in. She is not a well lady and looks like nine inches of Hangover has taken away her climbing legs too..



So my plans are shattered.... The skys however are blue, and it looks like good climbign weather. We set out on a climbing exhibition of three to the cheesy sounds of Queen Greatest Hits II to wake us up:



This is enough to keep my spirits going..... but the Cadet is asleep on the back seat before we are out of Glasgow.

Once we have travelled the well worn road up to Loch Lomond, it becomes obvious that fog could be a problem today. There is a layer of fog covering ground level up until about 200m. This could make for some lovely views, but it could also make things unsafe. We drive on to Inveruglas and see:



When we get to Inveruglas, our normal views along Loch Lomond have been replaced by misty mystery:









There was some concern that it was too cold to go munro bagging....so I have ensured that there are lots of layers of fleece and wool for everyone. As a result, when we start off walking along the road to the mountain path, we are leaving a trail of sweat behind us.

Any hills I've done befoore have had a clear path, but for this oen, I'm following insturctions I printed off the internet, and I've got an OS map as an extra back up should I need it. The instructions seem to be clear... follow the path up and get good views. The fog is present at the moment, but not a problem. We are walking along a tarmac road, so we can't go to far wrong should anything happen.

We continue along th path and it gets steeper and steeper:






It's a really nice walk and far more Forresty than walks I've done in the past, about an hour in, we start to get a little confused:



We had expected to walk up the east side of Ben vane, and we are now wallking around the south side of Ben Vane. My instructions said follow the path, and I'm starting to suspect, that either the instructions were written before this path was built this far, or the instructions are wrong.

We decide to settle down and have some lunch while we work out what to do. We've got quite high up and we are standing between Ben vane and another ridge, it's very pretty. The path continues out towards a saddle, where we can basicallly go no further. We sup on some filled rolls and the Thai Curry soup I made. The views are nice and we are now fully wrappped up due to the sub zero temperatures:



We have definately missed the path, and should we be able to find it again, we have spent to much time getting lost, so it looks like we aren't going to bag a munro today.

We head back down to Inveruglas. As we do, we notice people coming off the path to Ben Vane.... We really overshot it. I'll know next time....

Back down at Inveruglas, The Cadet is starting to feel a little rough. While, the walk has knocked my Hangover right out, her's seems to have got worse, and she also thinks that the next day would be better spent doing uni work that marvelling at the wonders of Glencoe...

We drop her off at Crianlarich so that she can get the train back to Glasgow:


We head further up the road, and have a nostalgia stop at The Green Welly shop in Tyndrum..



It's where we always stopped on the road to my grandparents as kids... It is the one excuse for civilisation in an otherwise non stop game of tetris that is Scottish travel when you are a kid. My sister and brother were usually carsick(Which is why my sister is driving on this trip.) The journey seems so much shorter now. The weather isn't great, but there are still some great views of Beinn Dorain:



The rannoch moor onto Glencoe:



These views meant so very little to us when we were kids. The only enjoyment was Glencoe , cos you knew the story of Kilted warriors fleeing for their life up the hills, which we now know means calves and thighs of steel.

Eventually we are through glencoe and we pop out on the serenity and calm of Loch Linnie.

From here, it's a shoirt drive to Appin to visit my grandmother and take her out for dinner, we have a nice emal in a local hotel and then settle for the night after a couple of glasses of wine......

A bigger Mountain: Ben Lomond

And so with a new found testicular fortitude, I decided to embark on a more challenging mountain. My brother is off to Australia for the summer, so we decided to have a brotherly bonding session by climbing up Ben Lomond, which is the highest peak seen in this picture:



Ben Lomond is a mountain beside Loch Lomond. It takes about an hour to drive to from Glasgow. Loch Lomond is a very popular tourist trap, due to its proximity to Glasgow. A 30 minute drive from Glasgow will take you to the bottom of Loch Lomond, which on a good day has beautiful views of Lochs, mountains and nature. It’s a great way to have a quick drive out of Glasgow and feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, although you are soon reminded that you are not with the mixture of Jet Ski’s tourists, etc, but it does feel a little more exotic than the city.

Anyway. I managed to convince my brother to take some time out of packing for his trip to make a trip up Ben Lomond. I woke up about 7am, and although it had been beautiful weather for the whole week, it was pouring with rain. My bro had been a little lackadaisical about going anyway, and I knew he had been out clubbing the night before, but I headed out to collect him from his flat anyway. Since it was raining, I went to a camping shop and bought two waterproofs in bags, in case the weather turned for the worse.

Luckily when we finally got through the winding roads on the right side of Loch Lomond, the weather had picked up, It was a goof fresh Scottish morning. So with our walking shoes on and a backpack full of provisions, we set off into the woods to start climbing. As with earlier in the week, I was done in from the first step. This then picked up, as my heart rate got used to it. 20 mins in, and all regrets are gone, as you come out of the woodland path and start to get some views.



Loch Lomond is full of little islands, so the views are wonderful. You just see the loch meandering into no where with tree filled islands dotted all over them. To the south you can see Glasgow and further south. They say you can see the Isle of Arran, but I would need a compass and a map.

The walk is now a little more serious, we can see a peak(we thought it was the peak), and its miles away up a steep hill. It’s a hard slog, but you keep going at it, and resting every ten minutes or so and take in the views. The only thing driving you to tire yourself out step after step is that you know when you next take a breather and turn around the view is going to be even better.


To the North of Loch Lomond, the landscape gets far more serious. The higher you get, the more hills you can see poking out from on top of each other to the north. These are serious mountains. As we get further up, the terrain becomes steep and rocky, not quite steep enough to be on hands and knees, and scrambling. It would probably be easier if it was.



Your lungs start to get sore from taking in so much air, you’re face starts to feel the wind and the sun in your face. A guy passes us coming down.(He must have been up early to be coming down now.), He is the typical Scottish hill walker with rugged red cheeks. My brother says he’s a real man, he doesn’t fear nature, he just absorbs it into his cheeks. Maybe it’s just the exercise and the views, but your heart pumps and you feel alive. This is the reason for climbing mountains. Every time we think we can see the peak, there is a bigger one behind it. Eventually, we reach the peak of Srón Aonaich(577m). From here you can see almost vertically up the real peaks. The weather is starting to get wet, not with rain, but with cloud. The wind lashes off your face. 30 minutes go we were wondering if we should have brought sun cream, but now it feels like you are on an oil rig or something. We eventually struggle along a path and can see the peak through the cloud, we decide that it’s time to sit somewhere sheltered and have some lunch..



The scenery is immense, we can now see over the other side, over the trossachs, which seem so much smaller than they did at the start of the week. We are having lunch next to the cliff formation, when we hear a helicopter, and it suddenly appears. It’s the mountain rescue team who we assume are doing training.

Our heart rates settle from our rest, as a supermarket sandwich, a banana, and a mars bar suddenly taste like food of the gods. We are sitting on the cliff with our legs dangling over, top of the world. But mountains don’t climb themselves. We’ve decided it may be time to put on the waterproofs, so we continue up to the peak. It’s now very wet, visibility is very low, and you can’t hear each other because of the wind. We quickly stand at the cairn(Summit marker), realize theres nothing to see and get some photo’s of each other at the top. Then we look at how tough the trip back down is:



The easy way, is to come back the way you came, but there is more scenery on the other side, so we opt to follow a path back down the other side.

We soon realise that this is tougher.. We have to get on our bums and edge down the rocks carefully, you can’t see many more than 10m in every direction.(iPod selection: Misty Mountain Hop) We can hear the helicopter, and as we come down, its getting louder, as a the cloud blows past once, we realise its parked on the oath ahead. Theres a rescue going on. So we have to sit for 20 mins in the wind, rain, and cold, without being able to talk to each other, being very close to a helicopter, but not able to see it. The sobering thought occurs to you, that you are one wrong step away from danger, it seems so long since the only thing that bothered you was how long you could keep running up hill before needing a rest.

I sit and read the guidebook I have in my bag. I got the height wrong, I thought it was just below 900m, its actually 974m, which makes it a Munro.

I was elated at getting to the top, but now that I know it’s a munro, I am even more elated. Munroes are hills in Scotland above 3000 feet(914m). i.e. mountains. There are about 284 munroes, and the sport of climbing them is called Munro Bagging. So having bagged my first Munro, I read a little about them in the guidebook, as we waited for the helicopter to disappear.

Sir Hugh Munro created a list of Munros in 1891 for the Scottish Moutnaineering club. In 1901 Rev. AE Johnstone was the first to climb them all. Since then, about 2000 people have climbed them all, including a Glasgow postman, who cycled, swam, ran and scrambled round them in a continous run in 48 days and 12 hours. Who says scots are hard bastards!!!

Anyway. Back to the mountain. The helicopter eventually goes. The mist clears, and we start to make it down, what is almost a sheer drop of crags and rocks. Between the Helicopter, the weather, and the fact that I’m now a munro-bagger, I start to realise that this isn’t a country walk, but once the ominous cloud parts and we can see green again, I feel much better, elated at having made it to the top, and able to enjoy a beautiful scenic downhill walk.



Well, mostly downhill. First we detour over Ptarmigan(731m), which affords a beautiful view up to the north of Loch Lomond. From here, you can also see the cloud strewn Ben Lomond and feel proud that you were up there. All the way down the hills , and over our last peak of the day, Tom Fithich(499m), you look out on the views you looked back for on the way up. Downhill requires far more skill. You have to watch your feet, as the natural inclination is to run down. It’s also pretty tiring concentrating on your footwork so much. When we have made it to ground level we have a well deserved cooling dip in Loch lomond, which ends our first Munro, another walk, and a great exhilarating day in my holiday in Scotland.