It was a cold morning so we didn’t hang around and made quick progress over the moor to gain the stony ridge.
At a large cairn we met the two people ahead of us, the male of the duo announcing that fifty years of smoking wasn’t helping his second ascent. His wife was carrying a full pack while he had cleverly lightened his load by not carrying anything. We left them resting at the cairn and were soon crossing the quartzite boulder field leading to the summit.
We didn’t linger long on the top and descended in improving weather. Late starters were met lower down most saying ‘hello’, some passing by grim-faced or head down. Some appeared to think I was their ‘pal’…
We eventually found a decent spot away from the busy track, had tea and rolls in the sun then dropped off the ridge and so back to the car. An enjoyable day with happy memories of times past.
Note: Our 1977 ascent was by Gleann Mor starting from Glengoulandie Farm on a reasonable path, followed by some heather bashing to reach the start of the east ridge. These days, most will start from the attractively located carpark at Braes of Foss as we did today. £3 a day with free, clean toilets. The awful Beauly to Denny transmission line has industrialised and degraded the landscape here.
11 comments:
I don't remember all my Munros in detail but some stand out. Near Schiehallion summit I watched a raven for some time gliding around just beyond the ridge in front of me It seemed very close unfazed by my presence, just demonstrating that this was his mountain. Fair do's.
I don’t remember much about our first time on Schiehallion except the start at Glengoulandie Farm. We expected to be challenged at any moment because we had a dog but either we weren’t noticed or nobody cared. In 30 years with two collies we were only stopped twice, ironically on a RoW so the conversion was short! Ravens are real birds of the hill and quite widely distributed in the Highlands. Scotland has the majority of the UK population. We also have the majority of idiots it seems, in the form of the embarrassing ‘tartan army’.
*conversation
Well done on your ascent. Time passes so quickly. We have been in Scotland for a week now and we have been shocked at 3 things. 1. How much littering there is. 2. How ignorant people have become when you pass them on the hill and say a greeting, they ignore you as though you are invisible. 3. The cost of accommodation .
There was an article in the Guardian the other day about repairing Munro footpaths. I have never sent a letter before to the Guardian but I was motivated to do so. I don't suppose it will get published, but writing it helped to get something off my chest.
Dear Sir,
Your article, "Bagging a Munro gets easier as volunteers fund repairs to mountain paths.”
I understand that repairing erosion is necessary. I completed the Munros on 28th June 2009. That was perhaps the end of an era when Munros were less frequented.. I am glad that I was able to huff and puff, scramble, and navigate on often pathless ascents sometimes in adverse weather and limited visibility, and experience that sense of adventure challenging oneself in a wilderness environment. Walking up an engineered path is just not the same. As one drives around Scotland now the popular setting off points are crammed with parked cars which was not so during the seven years that I did most of my ascents.
I find it all quite sad, but fortunately there are still hundreds of un-eroded tempting summits in Scotland that are not classified in Sir Hugh’s list where that sense of exploration on rarely visited heather clad hills can be be experienced.
Conrad Robinson
We didn’t find any litter on Schiehallion or at the carpark but that may be down to JMT. You’re right though, litter and worse is a problem particularly in Glen Coe and the Aviemore side of the Cairngorms I’m told.So few people now acknowledge the presence of others on the hill that I’m beginning to assume that will be the case so I say nothing and pass on. Not normal for me to do that though. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.
An excellent letter Conrad which deserves to be published. Some engineered paths are better than others but they’re all inferior to finding your own way in my opinion.Could it be that we both come from a climbing background which is inherently more exploratory? As I’ve said before, we used The Tables and found our own way up in all weathers and seasons.
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afoot - I think you are right . In no way would I intend to be condescending but I reckon there are several classifications of people who tackle Munros. There are those of more recent generations than ourselves who obtain pleasure from occasional ascents whilst on family holidays with little intention of completing the list.
But among all generations there are some who have an inherent penchant for exploration, and perhaps with some mild form of untreatable masochism? Speaking for myself I can't help wanting to see what's round the next bend, or over the hill. Climbing provided an outlet to satisfy that part of me. After my climbing partner died unexpectedly after a short illness I shunned further climbing and turned to visits to Scotland adding to the twenty or so Ms I had already done. After realising I had done a hundred or so I could see the possibility of completing and once that decision is embedded you know that you will have to accept days of adverse weather, and long strenuous outings. Somebody with that mind set is a far cry from those making more casual ascents. I asm not saying there is particular merit in my approach and I don't want to sound elitist. We all do it our own way, and that is a large part of everybody's satisfaction.
Times have changed and there is no doubt that recent generations, generally, have been more mollycoddled. Here is an extract from a post I did some time ago:
"As a youngster I remember "playing out' with others from the neighbourhood, often on the flat roof of a motor garage built into the hillside with drops of twenty feet or so on three sides, with access possible from the rear which was level with the sloping terrain. Here we would ride, un-helmeted on ramshackle secondhand bikes and play games of our own devising, often to the annoyance of adult residents. Later we went further, down into the woods, unaccompanied. Cuts and bruises were common but visits to the doctor were a last resort, I think you still had to pay, the NHS didn't arrive until 1948. Of course this was just after the war and resources were limited.
Now we have "adventure" playgrounds in every village, designed by experts with university degrees, with soft surfaces, and helmets almost obligatory..."
We walked the West Highland Way from Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy and back. I am not joking we must have passed at least 150 pieces of litter. That’s a conservative estimate.
We camped at Inveroran and before I put the tent up I went round the site and picked up a whole bag full of rubbish which I put in the bin at the hotel. I found tent pegs, tent poles, tent bags. Compeed plastic cases, crisp packets, odd socks and other detritus. All the remains of camp fires had just been abandoned so all that rubbish was removed and the site cleaned.
Then we put the tent up. It’s more than annoying that people think that this is acceptable.
Sir Hugh - As you say there’s no one way to climb the hills but this by Eve Livingston irritated me in The Guardian article: “ As well as ensuring hillwalkers, climbers and runners can safely access mountains, keeping them to paths is essential for protecting local plants and animals.” This is dross. Apart from the safety drivel, has she heard of the Land Reform Act? Here in Scotland we could roam pretty well anywhere long before the LRA but now apparently keeping us on paths is ‘essential’. There are times, for example during the shooting season when, like it or not, sticking to paths is the sensible and responsible thing to do. Other than that, unless there’s a good reason, I’ll approach the hills the way I choose.
I’m not surprised Alan. Reports of this sort of mindless behaviour have become increasingly common since the end of lockdown. To some extent it’s down to the misleading term ‘wild camping’ and the Access legislation in general I think. I doubt that the trend can be reversed. It was good of you to clean up.
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