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Why was I doing Beinn Bhuide again ? I was asked. Few people do it once never mind twice, but i`ve always been a glutton for punishment. I had asked my mate Jim if he fancied a walk on sunday, thinking an easy wee corbett or something when he said "Av no done that wan oot it Loch Fyne, you fancy doin that one with me?" I really enjoyed it the first time i did it and was happy to go along with him, and we were joined by another mate from work ,also Tommy and his sister`s jack russell, Toots ! As Jim had a five mile run in the morning with his club, a late start was on the cards, which suited Tommy as he`d been at a wedding the night before and was a little bit rougher than he should have been for a big hike like this, Toots was also a bit ruff !
We didn`t get to the car park till just after one and once suited and booted we made the bottom of the hill dead on 3. With sunset due around 6.20pm , i knew we had a mission on our hands.
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- nice
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- moove along
Last time i did this i cycled the 4 and a half mile road in, but this time we walked, and walked and walked. It wasn`t too bad a day, the rain was still off and the sky was cloudy with the odd bit of optimistic blue peeking out here and there.
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- eagle`s fall
As we approached the gate were the bikes are to be ditched, for those lucky enough to bring one, i jumped in excitement , shouting "Jim,Jim,Jim" and pointing like a madman to the sky as an eagle(or something similar) glided over above our heads and Jim caught a few pics, before i remembered i had brought my new camera , doh! Needless to say, we kept a much closer eye on Toots
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- eagle ?
We walked on and had a wee rest, had a quick munch, got gaitered up and jumped the fence on the near side of the waterfall(which is just by the abondoned house for those unfamiliar with the walk) and bounded up the path like spring lambs at easter............not.
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- glen lui
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- up we go
The path was muddy and slippery, but the rain was still off and we made our way up along the gorge with Toots running in and out between our legs. Before long i was stripping down to my tshirt as it was quite clammy and the jacket was stuffed in the bag again. (There really should be a wee bunker somewhere halfway up a mountain were you can pick up a jacket and ditch it again on the way back down) I had explained to the guys that there was one wee dodgy scrambly bit were we would possibly have to carry Toots and we got there pretty quick.
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- scramble
The scramble is pretty simple but traversing with a dog and a hangover couldn`t have been that easy for Tommy, but he handled it well and passed the pooch up onto me. Jim meanwhile, was snapping away with the camera, taking shots which didn`t make it look so simple !
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- don`t look down !
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- pass the pooch
We were soon up to the corrie where the waterfalls all meet and didn`t waste any time getting up. At this point Tommy declared that he was dying to ask if we were nearly at the top for ages and we informed him we were just about halfway
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- corrie
The path was now getting steeper and i was feeling it in the legs so i could imagine how the hangover was taking effect and promised a break once over the ridge. When we got over i could see the ridge before the summit ridge disappear behind the cloud and we stopped behind some big rocks and got the kettle on for a brew. The choice was between hot chocolate or ainsley harriots compact chicken cup a soup, the chicken won and it was a great choice.
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- Toots gets a cuddle
Think the kettle`s a good idea, i`m sick of cold tea
After our soup , we headed towards the ridge in a WNW direction, which i thought was taking me onto what i initially thought was the summit ridge and was scunnered when i saw the real one. The path at this point flits in and out of the grass and it was quite boggy but not as bad as you know where, Johnny
The last time i was up here i was able to follow footsteps in the snow to the path up the ridge , but all there was, was soggy wet grass and we got to the cairn on the summit ridge in time to pick our spirits up. Five more minutes along this ridge, i lied,
Now that we were exposed to the strong wind, i advised Tommy to put Toots on the lead before she blew away, and i imagined i`d see her flying like a doggy kite on the end of it soon
The ridge was just a tad longer than five minutes but as they couldn`t see anything for cloud they didn`t complain and marched on. We reached the summit at about a quarter to five and stopped just long enough for a couple of pics and headed straight back down again, with a bit of messing around in the small patches of snow near the summit.
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- summit pose
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- help !
The descent itself was a barrel of laughs, at first Jim kept slipping on his arse on numerous occasions, with all fours in the air at times, and then Tommy started showing us his breakdance moves from the previous night and then i myself eventually gave in to the slippy slopes and ended up on my bum a few times too. We descended down the north side of the river as per the WH route and were glad to hit tarmac as the light all but disappeared. When i say glad i don`t think our feet agreed to that an hour or so later. With our head torches lighting up the path for only about two feet in front of us i was dreading another meeting with the demon cows, but with the long hair blocking the heelan coos eyes they weren`t so scary until one trotted across our path We headed back to the car wondering if Toots would ever emerge from under the couch next time she hears "walkies" and complaining that we couldn`t have just brought the car along the road and parked it at the bike park , well me and Tommy moaned , wereas Jim just marched on as usual and even offered to run on and bring the car back for us. Although i would have loved it, i didn`t want to wimp out to the pain which i was now experiencing all the way down my right leg and we could begin to see the glow of streetlights ahead of us. As we settled into the car we hoped that no one, especially cops weren`t walking by in the dark because the oohs and ahhs coming from us would have sounded like a dogging session in the car park We were sore, wet and tired but happy, here`s to the next one, when maybe we`ll get good views again.
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1482440