free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Here it goes my very first walk highlands report ! Be nice š
Once upon a time in the far distance of last week, a young Elf, and a knight in shining waterproofs set off on an adventure...
The weather as of late had been a bit of a downer to say the least, so when I spied a break in the weather on Friday with alright winds, dry majority of the day and some sun throughout I thought Perfect!
I had these 2 Munroās ready and waiting to be done given a good day so this was to be it. I was apprehensive with the walk highlands report of the amount of bog stated, but lessens once beyond the Forrest and drier higher up.
It may seem kind of stupid to tackle one of the boggiest Munroās out ? (I think Ben Chabhair takes that biscuit) But we were ready for a challenge.
So off we went setting off around 6:45am and arriving at the hill at 8am. A bit late for my liking during winter time but malcolm needed his coffee and we stopped at Asda to buy peanuts. Lol
I remember this car park from last time doing Ben lui, a very long walk in past the gold mine but an extremely rewarding climb in the height of summer.
We set off on the path walking across the railway bridge and peeling off right along the track with the railway on your right. A gentle stroll for what was to come. Over the fairytale wooden bridge and it was here where our dreams diedā¦ the Forrest of Bog. Complete with knee deep bogs, slipperily tree roots and low lying branches to catch you off guard. I wouldnāt be surprised if Bog trolls themselves existed to pull you down under the bog never to be seen again.
There was a clear trampled path the whole way but it was just a case of how wet and mucky you wanted to look by the end of it.
Once at the stile which you can choose to go under or over, my obvious choice was under, we continued up.
My thinking was that the bog stopped at the Forrest lineā¦ HA the Bog Troll laughed āNo you silly fool, we will follow you all the way!ā
Sigh
We meandered over masses of bog, sticking fairly close to the waterfalls on our left but deviating around the worst of the bogs. I counted about 6 different waterfalls, all beautiful with their own little pools below.
By this time the path gets more rockier and less squishy, again very clearly defined its hard to get lost on a path such as this.
Finally we came to a wee cairn and with that we were almost at the ridge to push for our summit of Ben Dubhcraig. It was here that the wind chill got us and the gusting winds of the north were biting at any exposed area of flesh. Wrapped up in my down jacket and outer shell I felt cosy and we continued left to Ben Dubhcraig.
The low lying clouds were putting on quite a show, teasing us with the blue sky just above them. But it gave us broken spectres and foggy rainbows š alike š.
Finally the first summit of the day!
Feeling chuffed we hid behind the cairn itself, protected from the wind and had a quick snack. More photos and videos later we headed back down to the ridge and over to Ben Oss.
The views of Oss were stunning and once at the ridge we were blown away (literally and figuratively) by the low lying cloud suddenly lifting to reveal Oss and Loch oss below. Wow!
Onwards we went and as we rounded the corner it showed us the decent down to reach Oss. Steep in some areas which involved a bum slide from myself to get down the rocks, the dew on the rocks might aswell have been made of ice they were that slippy.
Once at the base of Oss we continued onwards, Malcolm was realising the sheer size of this Munro and the enormity a task 2 Munroās in a day are. (This would be his 3rd Munro and my 37th)
What I thought was the summit was not.. a couple yards further and we were there.
Ben oss summit and the clouds had once again lifted, this time revealing the all mighty Ben lui! Shrouded in cloud most of the time it was hard to see the peak, the clouds were thick and fluffy, swooshing over the mountains like a snake.
Lunch was had and my flask stayed warm enough to have a quick coffee. All that was left to do was follow the path back the way we had came.
Heheheheh
An evil giggle was heard in the distanceā¦ The Bog trolls were gearing up for our return.
Now the wind had really picked up and I was feeling cold from sitting so long. I picked up the pace considerably but malcolm was much slower on the descent due to a dodgy ankle. Dressed in all silver hiking gear he was like a knight on a mission and pressed on despite his injury. I was worried we wouldnāt get to the Forrest before dark. I wasnāt keen on finding out what happened in there after the sun goes down.
Once back at the ridge between the 2 summits it was all downhill. I checked the time 3:00 oāclock.
Sunset was at 4:30.
We needed to make a move on.
I lead the way and we descended down the path, I was putting my foot down and hopping from one rock to the other, taking larger strides and when I hit a bog I danced over them like Legolas in LOTR. I wanted to keep the pace but I couldnāt leave Malcolm in the dust, so duly waited on him, helping him navigate the bog as best we could.
Once at the tree line malcolm had all but given up caring which way to navigate over the bog and was trudging straight through them, with some disastrous consequences. A few slips and falls between us, one snapped walking pole we were all but getting beat down by the relentlessness of the Bog and the evil little trolls.
4:30 and it started to rain.
Still in the Forrest I started to get worried we would lose the path on our descent. With the light all but gone now I was hoping we had stuck to the same path we came up. I had read of other reports taking a different path on the return and was concerned through tiredness and lack of light we might take a wrong turn. But we stuck close to the river and pressed on.
5:00pm and out come the head torches. Photos had stopped being taken and I resorted to quick videos hence the screen shots.
Ducking under a low tree branch and bum sliding down a thousand slippy tree roots we had all but reached the end of the Forest of Bog.
It has chewed us up and spat us back out, and now on solid ground, happy to be crossing the fairytale bridge to the car we gained some happiness back that the Bog trolls š§ had tried to steal from us earlier.
Once at the car we changed and took a moment of reflection. We had conquered 2 Munroās and made it back alive , feeling very chuffed with himself, malcolm was pleased with the photos he had taken and myself having ticked off another 2 Munroās which I looked forward to scratching off my map later that night.
Overall an excellent day on the hills and some courageous battling through bogs and trolls we came out on top. Until next time!
