Home again

Back home after a really enjoyable trip to Kintail and surrounding areas, getting just about everything the weather could throw at us. I'll sort out photographs and put them up on SmugMug in the next few days, in between getting ready for our next foray.

Thanks for all the comments on the mobile posts: Martin B, Alan R,Andrew W, David L, PhilR

Tuesday 27 March - Ben Vorlich and Stuc a’ Chroin

Early morning at Loch Earn

We were early and only one other car was parked at Ardvorlich on this perfect morning. I can never come here without momentarily recalling the tragedy that occurred back in 1977 or thereabouts. Camped by the loch we were jolted awake by screams but by the time we’d got out of the tent all was quiet. Someone had drowned.

Nor will I ever forget the fiasco on this hill one awful winter’s day in 1976 with Lynne, my then boss John and his friend Sandy. My boss’s wife didn’t walk so he was restricted to one day a month, maybe two, on the hill and this day was one of them foul weather or not. Sandy had forgotten his gloves and wasn't worried about that (he ought to have been) but half way up the hill he discovered he’d forgotten/lost his hat, left all his food, hot drinks and extra clothes in the car. The conditions were now appalling and he looked a sorry state – and a potential exposure victim for certain. My boss was unhappy at 'losing' his day out and muttered that he "hadn’t suffered enough” to allow him to retreat feeling satisfied with the day's effort. Down we came nonetheless.

Ben Vorlich from Ardvorlich

Lynne and I climbed Vorlich and Stuc a’ Chroin later that summer.

The track makes for fast progress and we gained height quickly today. Sheep in lamb were undisturbed by our presence, no doubt used to the hundreds that pass this way. I love sheep. True hill-goers.
I was slightly ahead of Lynne - we often walk in 'companionable silence'- but waited a short distance below the trig point so that we could go to the summit together.

A cairn lies some 100m along the ridge and we wandered across, chatted briefly to a solitary walker then left him to his peace and quiet after gazing in anger at the Braes o’ Doune windfarm in the distance. Poor Scotland.

 A 'cheeky wind', as Lynne put it, had us donning tops before having a hot drink, the scene dominated by our next objective Stuc a’ Chroin.



I’d be about seventeen when my brother invited me to climb what I've always known as 'Y-Gully' with him one winter. He drove up from Ayrshire and I took the bus from home and met him in Callander. It was the most wonderful winter’s day and why his wife wasn’t with us I can’t remember for she was also a keen climber. As I recall,we approached the hill via Keltie Water and enjoyed a fine climb – my first proper winter route - and after we were back on reasonable ground put on short skis that we’d carried up (I had his wife’s!). These were very light affairs with no metal edges and I’d never worn skis before, so it’s fair to say that my brother skied back down the glen while I did the best I could, slowing down by the skilful technique of falling over – sometimes on purpose, more often unplanned. I was already hooked on climbing, but I could now see just how useful skis could be in the winter mountains and as soon as cash allowed (many years later unfortunately) took the plunge (as it were). A good decision [Edit: at that time skiers were regarded by climbers as being well down the food chain. Thankfully all that has changed]

Reminiscing over, we descended to the bealach.

At the Bealach an Dubh Choirein we pondered whether to go straight up the rocky prow, our previous line of ascent, or follow the path which I knew would lead us into the 'Y-Gully' area. Staying in the sun won the day. Goodness knows we've spent enough time without it this year.







.... and after a steep little climb we emerged on the ridge a short distance from the summit. A large-ish lump of snow from the old cornice broke off and hit me as I stood beneath it sagely advising Lynne, who was some way below taking photographs, to "move out of the line of this snow, it might be a bit unstable".  It was soft and no harm was done but lest the whole lot should go, I took my own advice. "For once", Lynne might add.

A short walk along this delightful ridge took us to the cairn and much lazing around.








Returning to the bealach the way we'd come (the sun won again) we took the path which leads to Coire Buidhe and rejoined the main route but, although this is a pleasant enough way to go and new to us, we agreed that a re-ascent of Ben Vorlich would have been preferable and a finer finish to a quite magnificent day on the hills. I hope to return next winter and maybe repeat 'Y-Gully' with Lynne (a doddle with modern ice tools), traverse the hill and go back over Ben Vorlich. It would be a great day.

Here are some stats and a map of the route. All images can be enlarged by 'clicking'. More photographs of this day out and of the Ben Chonzie day can be found here and can be viewed as a slideshow or individually.

Two sets because I'd failed to clear previous data and I was getting a warning about memory being low so saved this first before clearing.

Ardvorlich to Ben Vorlich

Ben Vorlich to Stuc a' Chroin and return to Ardvorlich

Monday 26 March - Ben Chonzie (Ben-y-Hone)

It was difficult to believe that this was a March day and that for a 26 mile drive we could be in such surroundings.

We decided to take the route via the morraines at the head of the loch rather than follow the track further up the glen where heather burning was in progress. The worrying experience of being surrounded by smoke and fire when descending Beinn a' Ghlo many years ago wasn’t going to be repeated today.





After crossing the Turret Burn the terrain was a mixture of deep heather and tussocky grass and we wandered at will to find the best line, aiming for the gap in the snow rimming the head of the corrie.

From here gentle slopes would have taken us to the broad ridge and fence which runs all the way to the top of Ben Chonzie, but we opted for the 'direct' route since we planned to return by the ridge and possibly traverse the hills on the west side of the loch back to the dam. In the event we didn't!



A few others were at the top having come up from Invergeldie from where we’d set out to climb this hill in a white-out, some 35 years ago. Other faint ski-tracks had appeared occasionally - those of my brother and his wife -  although we never met them. Clearly insanity runs in the family. On that day we touched the cairn and scurried off the hill as fast as we could sometimes skiing, sometimes not.

Today we settled down in the shelter for a while before beginning our leisurely descent.



A mountain hare kindly posed for us.



An enjoyable trip.  Here’s the route and some stats from SatMap.

A Post Script to 'Munro: Mountain Man'

It is often said that Munro never completed (compleated) his round of the Munros and Tops, but this is not strictly accurate. He did in fact do so, posthumously, on 10 July 1992 on the In. Pinn in the company of  Robin N Campbell, Helen Ross and passing climber James Kenyon. This was of course in the form a full-sized effigy constructed by Robin himself. The resemblance to Munro was remarkable! The full story, recounted by Campbell at the Centenary Dinner in 1991 (he had yet to do the In. Pinn of course), was hilarious and can be found in 'The Munroist's Companion', edited by Campbell and published by the Scottish Mountaineering Trust.

Munro: Mountain Man

Note: the little Sony Cybershot developed an intermittent fault so some of these pics are not as good as they ought to have been.

Mulloch Fraoch-choire

I watched 'Munro: Mountain Man', presented by Nicholas Crane, for the second time last night; this was quite a U-turn for me, given that I declined to watch it when it was first broadcast on BBC4.

 No, I decided,  I'll look after my blood pressure by not listening to the inevitable factual inaccuracies about Munro, the Munros themselves, The Tables and why Munro's initial list should be sacrosanct, a subject sure to get a heated debate going with a friend who's done them twice including all the tops!  No, previous experiences of such outdoor programmes had warned me off!

But said respected friend had watched it first time round, and proclaimed he'd enjoyed it, so when I noted that it was to be shown on BBC2 last week I resolved to put all prejudices aside and settle down to view - and what's more, tape it.

Spring in the Cairngorms

It was easily the most interesting hill programme I have seen in recent years. Crane's natural style and his enthusiasm for his subject was obvious from the opening shots and he spoke to knowledgeable people too:  Robin Campbell of the SMC, Graham Little and Alan Hinkes; and it never seemed to lose its focus like some recent offerings, staying true to its subject matter. The filming was also superb, especially of the North Face of Ben Nevis, the cliffs of Bidean and of course the Cuillin, although it did flatter the Inaccessible Pinnacle, showing it to be a soaring needle at one point, rather than the blade of rock that it is. I do not denigrate though because I love it, and everything about the Cuillin. Dearly.

Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, Sgurr Thearlaich, top of Stone Shoot
and Sgurr Alasdair 

It was also a pity that, having established that A E Robertson was not in fact the first person to climb all the Munros, Crane did not mention Ronald Burn, a hardy and tough walker who, if AER's claim had been dismissed, would now occupy that spot. Still, AER completed the list as it stood then and you can't really ask more than that I don't think. Or maybe you can.

                          Sgurr Dubh Mor and Sgurr Dubh na Da Bheinn

These two points are of course mere nit-picking, a fact which would have met with Munro's approval! Those who want to make programmes of this nature could do worse than watch this and learn - oh and ask Nicholas Crane to do them; he was sheer joy.

                                                Light cloud on Ben Nevis

And it's given us an idea for a long walk in 2011. An obvious one which we ought to have done years ago and something that would take us over and through the very best of Scotland's hill country. Planning has started (just) and when ready I'll put details up here. We'll blog as we go, so hope some of you mobile bloggers out there can advise on, for example, whether there is much to choose between say a BlackBerry or iPhone, and any other associated problems. Thanks in anticipation.

Stob Coire Sgreamhach