by lainemd » Mon Jul 28, 2014 6:33 pm
Date walked: 23/07/2014
Time taken: 5 hours
Distance: 15 km
Ascent: 2498m
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"Schiellion schiellion i hear your voice calling across the great glen to the coast of argyll"... After eventually finding the carpark at braes of foss i was most surprised at the very clean and tidy toilet cabins at the bottom of the walk and how much information was available at the start of the walk all thanks to the john muir trust. Starting out on the trail on what turned out to be the warmest day in Scotland was easy, a long straight trail going gently up the side of the mountain. The trail gently winds up the side of the hill with a few engineered steps made of the stones and a good few large boulders where we could sit regain our breath and have a drink. Up an up we went meeting 2 mental young lads who were out for a jog up and down the moutain as you do !!. After about 1:30 mins we reached a circular dyked pen which was great as the wind was picking up and provided a great shelter for a little sandwich as the boulder field was just ahead. There are a few false summits with cairns on the trail but nothing prepares you for the boulder field. Took us longer to negotiate through the somewhat huge stones than it took to climb the steep trail. Again another false summit but we pushed on only to be used as targets by 3 raf fightet jets which was a bit scary up to high but also awe inspiring at their ability. The boulders get larger and you eventually reach the top where a few plaques in memory of people are placed and what a beautiful place to put them. Looking all around I can see why this is regarded as the heart of Scotland. We sat for about 30 mins to take in the view, have a refreshment and ponder our descent back over the boulders. So Munro number 1 conquered and we have the bug.. So where next?