Hopes pinned on Ben Hope

[Geohalray]

This walk was a test.

I'd been an avid trailrunner and hillwalker in my 20s, living in Glasgow, heading out to the Trossachs every weekend I could manage. But then my 30s happened, all 10 long years of them, and all that wonderful stuff fell by the wayside. And now here I am. In my early 40s, older, wiser (mibbee?), definitely heavier... and really not sure if I could even get halfway up a proper hill anymore?

I hoped so. I'd been easing back in to my running for a while, but an actual mountain would be different. Ben Hope was going to be the one for finding out. Not too far from home, no long slog in at the start, a clear path the whole way. Seemed like an ideal choice to test the water.

I dug out my old hiking boots the day before, polished them up, tried them on. They were so tight they nipped, like really, nipped till my toes were numb. Spent the day clunking round the house in them in thick socks, trying to stretch them out without cutting off my circulation. A quick Google showed that yes, indeed, feet can spread with age and excess cake. Realised there was no longer room in them for both feet and thick socks, and no softening or stretching of leather in the next 24 hours was going to change that. Luckily, September is not a month that needs thick socks.

Set off from the Ben Hope carpark at 8am on the dot, delighted to see not another car before me. A lone boot was planted on the carpark sign post, hoping for its partner to come back for it. Nobody came, not that day at any rate.

I was so excited to be in the hills again, I fair rattled up the first, slightly soggy stretch along the stream. I glimpsed three brightly coloured jackets toiling upwards ahead of me, and wandered where on earth they'd materialised from. As I kept climbing, I was gratified to see that the distance between us didn't really change. I was keeping pace with, presumably, proper hillwalkers. A good sign.

The more height I gained, the higher I got. That sounds stupid. I mean, the higher I got, the more exhilerated I felt. It was like coming home, to be back out on the hills.

3/4 of the way up Ben Hope, and the views of the hills open out

As the views opened out, as I got a glimpse of Ben Klibreck, and away off my local mountain range of Morven (Caithness version) and Maiden Pap, I felt ever more 'right' about being up here. My toes were fine, honestly. My pace was pretty fast. Yes, I was stopping for plentiful photo opportunities (read breathers), and my heart was pounding, but taking pics is half the fun and the heart was beating in a good 'isn't it great to be alive' kinda way.

Rattling up the ridge on Ben Hope

I'd been up this Munro twice before as a youngster, but both times the view from the top had eluded me. Though the sky was kinda moody today, it was looking promising for a clear top, so I kept up the pace and kept going with high hopes. Once, aged about 16 and climbing with my dad I'd commented that there must be a waterfall nearby because of the roar we could hear. Nothing could be seen in any direction but thick swirling cloud, and he had the map. My dad hadn't told me till we were safely down that that sound hadn't been a waterfall at all, it had been the wind and rain roaring up the cliffside just to our left... Now, at least, I had enough visibility to see what he'd been talking about.

Views of Loch Hope

Red on the edge

Cracking views all the way up but, of course, no views for me at the top. The three bright coloured jackets passed me on their way down just as I was barely a hundred yards from the top, calling out encouragement and camaraderie about the wind (and they did indeed look like proper fit hillwalkers so that was fine). It was blowing an absolute hoolie at the peak, and I could barely stand straight, I was bracing against the trig point for balance, and trying to coorie down in the shelters made absolute hee haw difference. Which all felt amazing and made me absolutely cackle out loud. I'd made it to the top, nae bother at all, and it was great.

The top of Ben Hope never looked so good

But it was not a time or a place to be hanging around. I set off swift back down again, aiming for enough drop in wind speed to open my pack and get a buttie out. Chomping on the best ham roll on this earth, and feeling very pleased with myself as I descended out of the cloud that was snagged to the top, I quickly realised it was too soon to be feeling triumph just yet.

My toes were getting rammed by the tops of my too-snug boots. It really hurt.

And my knees! My knees didn't know how to do this descending thing anymore. It was like I'd left my nimble 29 year old knees in Glasgow, and somehow rocked up aged 42 with the knees of a octogenarian. I imagined knee replacement surgeries waiting for me in the not too distant future. I promised myself that if I managed to get down this hill without buckling them completely, I was going to do something about them.

And sure, I'd had a lovely full climb up the mountain in glorious solitude. But coming down I was meeting a steady stream of climbers, pretty much all of whom got to witness my creaky agonisingly slow clunk descent. It was, frankly, embarrassing.

And a blessed relief to get back to the car and prise those nippy boots right off my poor squashed toes.

So, vital statistics time: Did the full Ben Hope experience in 4 hours 22 minutes. Ate two ham rolls and a fistful of mini Snickers. Drank one Lucozade Sport on the hill and was grateful for a second one back in the car.

Have been doing daily yoga ever since. Don't know if the knees are improving, but lower back pain has disappeared so no complaints. If Covid would just clear off, I'd be back in the gym doing lots of knee strengthening work, but that will just have to wait.

And in the meantime, reluctant knees or not, more hills await...

The Ben Hope and Ben Loyal skyline (picture taken another day)

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[gaffr]

A long drive for most of us to reach....even we living in the lower down Highlands to get to this fine hill. I also saw your report of a visit to Creag Riabach Mhor....had to look it up ....looks like a good day out from at the image that I accessed. The report does not appear on here?

[Geohalray]

Cheers, Ben Hope is indeed a great hill and I'm glad its so close for me - will hopefully be making the most of the North Sutherland mountains in the months to come. Shame it's now a seriously long trek for me to get to even anything in the Cairngorms though, let alone the Trossachs.

That's weird that the report for Creag Riabach Mhor isn't showing, but unsurprising, I'm still figuring out how to use this platform. Will have a tinker about. Thanks for flagging it up for me.

[NeepNeep]

Nice report. Jealous that Ben Hope is your local but although putting you in a very beautiful part of the country, it does have its long distances to others...
We loved this hill and did it a funny way due to unplanned events. We were approaching from Altnaharra but the bridge was out at Altnacillich so had to park at the Southern end of Ben Hope. We quickly changed our plan and added a good 5Km to our day!! We continued up to the main car park (that bridge had been washed away also) and up the main track. We were rewarded with fine views on a baking day. Thankfully our new return route along the tops of Lietir Mhuiseil led to a beautiful pool at the top of the waterfall for a refreshing dip!! lovely.
Look forward to your other wanders.

[Geohalray]

Thankfully our new return route along the tops of Lietir Mhuiseil led to a beautiful pool at the top of the waterfall for a refreshing dip!!.

Yes, I was eyeing that route from above, looked like a very appealling reason to come back and have another go.

[Pastychomper]

We were approaching from Altnaharra but the bridge was out at Altnacillich so had to park at the Southern end of Ben Hope. We quickly changed our plan and added a good 5Km to our day!! We continued up to the main car park (that bridge had been washed away also) and up the main track.

I remember when those bridges were washed away, I was just getting to know the area and found myself in Altnaharra looking at a pair of signs on one road: One said "Hope" and the other said "Road closed". Sadly I didn't have a camera with me, but I suppose it wasn't a good image to dwell on.

Thanks for the report, Geohalray, it's a great choice of hill and I'm glad you got to see (and show us) at least some of the views. I went up with my brother a couple of years ago and he told me that was his fourth time at the summit, and his first seeing the view.