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sunday 25/9/11.
11.15 am.very wet & windy with cloud covered tops. on my own. shorts, jacket and hat.note.no gaiters. made it to the west top which is 1045m . east top is 1046m and five minutes away ? remember always check map no matter how wild it is !
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- start of walk. grey height
parked on a82.ignored comedy stile which tempts you into boggy field. climbed gate onto track. walked around bogfest. headed through sheepcreep .along path to other path on left towards river just before open gate. down the path and across the rickety bridge. the river is flowing along nicely with a Y shape falls just up a bit.
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- river falloch
don`t think that bridge will last much longer. it`s rotten and holey. cows on the hill made me veer to the right of the path through the longer wet grass. full gaiters and shorts combo now in action. followed cow/sheep tracks through the grass up the hill. headed back towards forest to base of grey height. ladder over deer fence above the forest. i`ll use that on the way back. turned right onto path up grey heights. wind quite strong and clouds are just clearing above me. but in front of me . white. told myself it`ll clear. i didn`t believe me. headed on anyway. felt like i was walking into a giant candyfloss wind machine. bumped into a group of older walkers. they looked pleased to see me. they asked which way to crianlarich. i turned. i pointed. i walked on. headed up meall dhamh. sheltered in a crevace looking down onto coire ardrain. the allt carved a snow white ribbon through the glen. in this narrow shelter it was silent. no wind.no sound.i drank tea. roast beef and smoked cheese sandwiches. kendal mintcake. mmm. fooled by sweet sugar the wind was gone. i`m easily duped. funny, no matter how much further i walked on i could always see behind me but not in front of me. until i crossed over meall dhamh, down onto the bealach. white all around. shadows of rock. i paused behind one. stepping out.stepping back. feeling the huge difference in the power of the wind. i thought about it. i waited. i went for it. as long as i wasn`t on any exposed ridges i could be blown off of i would carry on. my shorts were soaked through. but my jacket kept me warm and dry. i was fine. it wasn`t long before this battle with the elements left me confused. had i missed a path up onto ardrain and was heading towards tulaichean ? hmm. i didn`t check the map. i didn`t know exactly were i was. i saw some cloud pouring up over an edge up ahead on my right. it wasn`t cloud. it was water. a small waterfall was blowing up over the edge. time to go home. i turned to head back. within minutes i spotted a small cairn. a path. i headed up. still the wind and rain battered me. i knew now i was near the top. up over a few false summits. a seal shaped rock. beyond that a medium sized cairn. i sat behind this.2.05pm
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- me
when i read up on this hill i didn`t look into the summit. i just skimmed over walk reports half watching MOTD. i waited for the cloud to clear. to no avail. i struggled with my gloves as i fished out my phone from my sodden rucksack. so much for the raincover. i tried to get a gps reading which i was then going to check on my map. it wouldn`t locate. switched on the tracker instead and dumped it in my sack. leaving the map also.i got up.i headed back down. i`d had enough. nearly at the bealach. i see a crowd standing around in the rain. young walkers this time. they looked shocked to see me. i asked where they`d been. cruach ardrain. doubt creeped into my mind. where had i been ? it was too wild to chat. i walked on quickly. gathering pace into a run. back up over meall dhamh. i was beaten by the weather. but i didn`t mind. i knew i would be back on a better day. all the way down to the deer fence. towards the forest. i walked down along the fence. on the "wrong" side. eventually i clambered over with the finesse of a high-heeled hooker, high on crack, walking the cobbled streets of old london town. i digress. in the fire break,two dear. one sniff of me and they`re off. into the trees. i followed the path down. under the trees. huge mushrooms. fly agaric.
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- mushroom
huge red toadstools. they look beautiful. deadly. i walk on. the river falloch is now jawdropping. furious rapids. the little waterfall is now gone.
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- rapids
its just white power moving at a furious pace under the bridge. hopefully it won`t go just yet. back up the path. to the car. steamy windows. i poured the water out of my boots. wrang out my clothes.home. gps loaded up. no. i was so close. next time anyone reads that i haven`t used my map, lynch me.
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1302584