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Cobblers!
Ah well,, plans are made to be broken and today was a perfect example.
Our original plan was to take on The Cobbler followed by Bens Ime and Narnain, but read on for a gripping tale of how that didnt quite work out.
We left a midge ridden Succoth at 9:10, Avon oil spray applied and fully waterproofed against the smirry moisture that didnt quite deserve the name 'rain' That was a bit of a mistake,,we sweated so much before we even got out of the tree line that we were soaked anyway,,stripped off a bit to let the air dry us out a bit.
Reached the dam and tip toed across the burn to start our ascent up the front of Ben Arthur instead of the slightly less adventurous route up the path. There was a definite route set down by earlier walkers but couldnt really be called a path. This ground was VERY wet and boggy with long grass, so the gaiters were invaluable but my waterproof boots didnt hold up too well. Damp feet got worse as the day went on but it wasnt actually cold so no real issue.
Eventually greenery died down a bit and we were covering more rocky ground. There was a spooky feel to the prehistoric setting, with low mist and cloud adding to the mystery. Visibility had started off not bad to promising but had now come down to 30-40 yards.
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- I must be as light as a feather!
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- Get out of there!
We looked forward to a bit of scrambling and werent disappointed. Plenty of big rocks to clamber over and round, but, we then reached a small grassy ledge and the only 3 obvious routes up were a bit daunting,,we had an attempt at 2 of them but decided we needed either great stupidity or ropes...dont think we have the former,,and definately didnt have the latter! We took the safest option, the one our mothers would have wished,,we wimped out and climbed back down. We met two young lads at this point going to where we had just come from, brief discussion about what lay ahead of them. They advised there was a route skirting to the west of here which we aimed for. Never saw them again, sincerely hope I dont read about them in the Sunday papers.
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- Can you see the face on the right hand side of the rock?
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- Rocks and cloud,,lot of both about up here!
We continued our scramble up and through vast rocks under the huge bulk of the South peak (we would NEVER have made that!) Reached the top and the Needle, wet conditions and the will to live stopped us scrambling through this, got a notion to do it but not in these conditions.
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- Thats quite close enough young lady (can hear my mum now!!)
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- No chance of a sea-king picking you out on a dark night Mags!
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- Who needs to see where theyre going anyway?
Headed off towards the North peak and when we realised we'd reached a rocky outcrop further East than the path, we sat down and had lunch. By now, visibility was about 20 yards max and we had to rely on voices in the mist to follow until we reached the main path down.
Descended by the stone staircase, passing several parties on their way up. Reached ground level and headed off towards Ben Ime. We had already decided to leave Narnain, due to the time it had already taken us to get this far. (Did Narnain last year in snow so werent too bothered at missing it)
As we followed the VERY wet path to Ime, the visibility got,,yes, wait for it, even WORSE. With a map in hand where the path wasnt even shown,,and the path on the ground all but disappeared,,we started to question the sense in this. No compass skills between us and we couldnt see ANY land features never mind the hill we were heading for we took the safe option, for the second time today, and decided to head down. We climb for the excercise, views etc, we'd already had a fair bit of excercise and there were no views anywhere, so off we went, back to the main path down to Succoth. To the superstitous amongst you, this may have been foreseen, this would have been my 13th Munro!
Visibility rolled from 100yds back to 10yds in a matter of minutes, only really clearing when we were just above the treeline but the hills above were still totally shrouded.
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- at last, a view
Funny anecdotes that you recall from days on the hills....Met 2 teenage boys just below the treeline,,sitting on the path, designer jeans and tshirts,,no jackets and carrying an empty bottle of water. They asked if there was "water up there?" we offered to fill the bottle from our hydration packs but they wanted "spring water" (didnt look the types to worry about such details) As they headed up the path, teenager #1 piped up, "if you see a wummin wi a chihuahua, tell her we went this way" Round a bend or two,,we did encounter said woman with a man, chihuahua and a small child in a midge hat. The dog (!!!) was being carried in palm of the mans hand as we passed. At this point, we felt slightly overdressed,,I mean why on earth did we bother with boots, waterproofs, rucksacks etc when this can obviously be done in trainers, jeans, summer top etc! Hey,,at least they're out there,,enjoying the country.
Anyway,,great hill done in very poor conditions. I would certainly love to try for the 3 again, on a better day.
Thanks to Margaret again for a fun day out,,never a dull moment. (Note to self, get a compass/navigation course booked!!!)
