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In 2015 I suddenly found myself with a bit of time on my hands, as my wife was back in Indonesia for a long holiday. There was a bank holiday coming up, and since I had a driving test in one week's time, I figured this might be my last big experience of Scottish Citylink. Why not go out with a bang, eh?
Yaaaaassssss let's go!
I bought a three-day Explorer Pass for the sum of £41, and it would end up being 41 of the best pounds I would ever spend.
Bonnie Bonnie Banks Update: STILL bonnie.
I think this was my first time passing Pulpit Rock since the temporary traffic lights of 1982 (!) had been removed and replaced with an actual proper road.
Ben Lui.
Beinn Dorain.
The sun was splitting the sky as we headed over Rannoch Moor.
There's a view that'll never get old.
I was surprised to see snow so late into May, but I take it as a bonus these days...
No need to apologise!
The car park was very busy and there were dozens of people heading up onto the chairlift with bikes. It looks like I had stumbled across some sort of race / time-trial thing?
I've got form for this, as I accidentally climbed The Merrick in the middle of the Merrick Hill Race in 2012.
Magic.
Bit of an Evil Knievel section there (well, low-budget Evil Knievel).
Ah. They seem to be using a track that heads down to the North-East then turns sharp left towards the cafe. But I've headed straight up the hillwalkers' path under the chairlift, and now I've merged with them. Best be careful!
Randomly, and to my shock, I found a bloke from my office acting as one of the stewards. It's a big old office though, and he was in a different team (technically a different company), so I thought he wouldn't recognise me if I said hello. I've got terrible social anxiety and one of the offshoots is that I'm terrified people won't say hello back to me (or that I'm actually just saying hello to a confused doppleganger). So I just walked on. Probably looked rude, actually.
After passing the top of the main chairlift things suddenly got very quiet, as the cyclists were all turning back down the track.
Nothing looks more random than a ski centre cafe halfway up a mountain, in late spring, when nobody is skiing.
There were some big patches of snow up ahead, but it looked like they could be dodged. At least I wasn't going to have another "The Brack" situation on my hands.
The Ben.
Schiehallion.
Closing in on the Top Station now. The summit is just up to the right behind it.
It's quite a weird feeling to be towering over the summit of Buachaille Etive Mor, and weirder still because you're surrounded by ski tows.
Gotcha.
Rannoch Moor and Schiehallion.
The Wall of Rannoch.
Right, next goal is Creise, and I'm just hoping that ridge is not tougher than it looks. Most of it looks snow-free, but these things have a habit of surprising me once I get closer...
Clach Leathad got relegated from Munro to Top (I think in 1997?), so now people like me turn right instead of left.
It's a bit daft when you spell it out like that. Sorry, Clach Leathad!
Looking back to Meall a' Bhùiridh, which suddenly looks amazing.
Ooft. I best be careful here.
I always feel reassured when dogs pass me on the hills (with their owners, of course...) It suggests that there's no horrific rock climb up ahead.
Up onto the main ridge now, but potential cornice alert.
Did I even brush my teeth this morning...?
Clouds were now wisping over some of the hills.
Most Munro-baggers would turn back here, or head over to Clach Leathad, or maybe descend by Sron na Creise. But there was a Corbett nearby, and that was far more interesting to me...
Even in late May there's still the potential for this.
Beinn Mhic Chasgaig.
A zoomed view of Stob Dearg.
Still don't understand how Stob na Doire isn't a Munro?
All that remained was to head down the increasingly steep ridge. Oh, and cross the River Etive(!)
A frog! Blink and you'd miss it.
Yeah, it be steep towards the end. Don't think I saw a path after the summit of Creise.
Ok, that's the descent basically done and dusted. Now for the tricky bit...
Errrr...... where do I start?
I think I had brought a towel in anticipation for this one, so I just picked the least wettest route with the most rocks.
From memory I think I might have held onto my boots until halfway, then absolutely launched them over to the other side. It's quite a wide river and I'm not sure I could have had that reach from the other bank. But by the time I got halfway it was affecting my balance to hold onto the shoes, so I cut my losses.
A path, tantalisingly close.
Made it!
The decadent luxury of a tarmac road.
I was heading up Glen Etive on the long final stretch when I found a camera on the roadside. Literally a full entire camera, in a bag.
At first I just kind of stood there, doing some kind of double take. But after a minute or two, it was clear there was nobody around. I considered leaving it there, but if anything that could be more dangerous. It was right next to the roadside so could be rich pickings for a thief, and also there was rain forecast for tonight, which could damage the camera. In the end I decided to pick it up and take it to the Kingshouse Hotel. As the only building for miles around (well, apart from the ski centre), it would be a logical place for the owner to head to, and probably acts as a Lost Property centre for the area.
About 15 minutes later, I rounded the corner to be greeted by a man looking at me with a very confused face. He asked,
"......is that your camera?"
In that instant I realised that I looked like a thief.
"No sorry, I found it on the roadside, I was going to take it to the hotel-"
"Oh great, sorry that's mine! I dropped it earlier."
A happy ending? On this planet? Surely not!
The man (who I think was German, but I can't remember) walked back to Kingshouse with me. We had a good chat: I can't remember how on Earth he lost an entire camera and bag, but he thanked me for picking it up.
I never did get to see my old friend Hector the deer at Kinghouse (maybe he was climbing Beinn a' Chrulaiste). The camera guy offered to walk with me to the bus stop, but insisted on taking me to the middle road of the three (not the official bus stop), as he insisted the bus would "definitely" stop there.
It was rude to say no, so I went with him.
In the end the bus did stop there, and we said our goodbyes.
It was a great day, even if it did cloud over a lot (there was a fair bit of rain on the bus home, so it arrived just in time). I went back to Glasgow and watched another so-bad-it's-good edition of Eurovision. But I would be climbing another hill tomorrow, where I could be facing my Waterloo. At the hands of a herd of cows.........
Part II: Loch Fyne to Loch Lomond with Scary Cows
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=114664Part III: More Scary Cows & Salvation At Holy Pool
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=114778