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After years of walking around the Kilpatrick hills and taking in views towards the Highlands from the top of Duncomb I finally got my act together and took in my first two Munro's on the 1st of May. I arrived in the north face carpark and set off with my friends Kev and Owain. As the experienced climber of the group, Owain acted as our guide and kept us motivated on the way up Carn Mor Dearg as our legs quickly began to give way from underneath us. The other main influence that helped us drag ourselves up CMD was the imposing frame of Ben Nevis towering above us and Owain's promises of the buzz we'd get from scrambling over the Carn Mor Dearg arete on our way to the Ben.
Several wheezy water breaks later we made it to the top of our first Munro for the day and the first ever for myself and Kev. We took a short break for lunch and spoke to a couple of small groups passing by on their way to the ridge including an older couple with a very small but equally energetic dog. This immediately made me feel extremely guilty as i'd left my Cocker Spaniel Alfie at home for the day.
Of all the days to begin bagging Munro's I don't think we could possibly have chosen a better one. Visibility was perfect and while the searing heat didn't help us on the initial climb up CMD it did make the views even more spectacular than they were already.
Without a doubt the best part of the day was the scramble across the ridge towards Ben Nevis. If I hadn't caught the bug before that point I was well and truly hooked by the time I reached the Ben. I even had a huge grin on my face the moment a powerful gust of wind caught me off balance at the most exposed point of the ridge!
We made our way up the final punishing ascent to the summit of Ben Nevis for a mid afternoon snack and a contemplation of our day's achievement.
I had been warned in advance of the deflated feeling of reaching the top to meet the swarm of cotton clad, trainer wearing, Morrison's carrier bag toting tourists on the plateau but to be totally honest I was too busy basking in the sunshine and the view to take any notice. Also, the smug feeling of knowing something they didn't after taking the CMD route far outweighed the loss of tranquility. Everyone on top was clearly in awe of their surroundings and as long as they carry off everything they carried on and respect the mountain enough to avoid putting a strain on the mountain rescue service then they should have no less of a right of access than anyone else.
The walk back down the tourist path was brief as we left it just after Lochan an t-Suidhe and cut across the burn between the two mountains before rejoining the path back to the North Face carpark.
