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- What the Cobbler SHOULD look like in June!!!!
If only,,,,,,,,this was taken last November....June on the other hand,,grey,misty, very windy and VERY wet. Happiness is......dry undies!
Having had a nasty fall on my Nevis descent, 5 weeks ago today,,where I sustained badly damaged ligaments, I was just happy to be getting out and about,,,planning to take it easy and "see how it goes".
Id seen my foot, ankle and lower leg swell up to the size of a small tree trunk, bruising going through the colour spectrum and a LOT of difficulty negotiating the slightest obstacle,,(who would have thought that monoblocked pavements are SO uneven) But the past 2 weeks had seen a visible improvement on almost a daily basis. I was back in to filled in shoes, walked a few miles on flat paths last week at Pollok Park, in my climbing boots and the physio is going well, movement 95% and working on building up the strength (standing on one foot with your eyes shut sure makes you wobble
)
Margaret, my stalwart bud, suggested we just get out and take things as they come. Knowing this path up to the middle of the Arrochar Alps so well, we decided to wander up and see how the foot coped. Id bought new boots last week but left them at home,,still a little too rigid for my wee sare foot!. So on with the culprits from Nevis, strapped up the ankle and off we went.
The forecast was promising when we checked mid week,,,but this had all changed,,rain all night,,all the way up from Glasgow and no option but to get straight into the waterproofs.
We had made an early start so reckon we left the car park before 9am, I was of the mindset that this would be a stroll with no agenda and was feeling good to be out,,rain was constant but refreshing.
The river was in spate, thousands of gallons of lovely peaty water gushing down in torrents of white. The weather was actually helping, if it was sunny and nice,,I would be inclined to look around me while walking,,but with my head down, against the rain,,was able to keep my concentration on my footfall, aiming for as flat and forward facing a step as I could, with ligaments,, standing on a match the wrong way can knock it out again!
By the Narnain boulders I had felt 1 slight twinge,,but nothing to worry about. The joint is still weak and a bit limited still on movement but just meant I had to slow down to negotiate some parts. Felt fine,,so carried on,,,next check point would be the joining of the paths from Narnain and Ime. Got here, again, felt fine and knew the majority of the climb from here was on a stone staircase with little scrambling nearer the top.
Headed off up the path, bit slow in places, using poles all the way today, which isnt like me but anything to reduce the strain on my joints helps,,and they came in to their own on the way down.
Having climbed The Cobbler up over the shoulder from much lower down the path,,and more recently by the middle route with the smashing scramble up between the two peaks, I was amazed when in almost no time at all, we were at the saddle. Couldnt believe, on what was supposed to be a stroll out to stretch my legs, we were nearly at the top. I used to class this route as a bit of a cheat,,,but it served its purpose well. Took my time picking my way to the North summit, VERY windy at this point and had to put the poles away for a scramble over the long flat rocks. Reached the top. small stone deposited on the cairn and back off again. Cant believe this weather JUNE!! We were up here in November in T-shirts, something badly wrong here. We had topped the South Summit before,,so didnt feel the need to head over there today, in these conditions.
Anyway,, as every step up was taken with care, I was aware that downward was going to be a bit trickier. Any catching of my heel can jerk the foot into a painful position,,so rocky staircase was handled at a 45deg angle,,no heading straight down, but made pretty good time considering. Wind and rain just not letting up and by the time we were back on the path, wind was gusting heavily,,had to stop several times to prevent being blown over.
We had seen a few pairs walking and one or two small groups too. For The Cobbler though,,this was a fairly quiet Saturday and indeed we had the top to ourselves.
We made really good time, having only stopped for a quick sandwich at the Narnain boulders on the way up, we were now feeling the pangs of empty tums. We were soaked through top and bottom, (soggy knickers,,,bad!) But as I had treated myself to a wee runaround a couple of weeks ago,,no hanging around at the bus stop,,dry shoes and clothes in the car which had a HEATER,,wooooohoooooo, that,,and the sandwiches in our bags, spurred us on. Pace picked up a fair bit, easy to get lax when heading home, so had to remind myself a few times to take it easy on the foot.
Spirits, as ever, were high and this had been a great achievement, long way to go in the healing process but no point sitting back on me laurels. Felt really good to be out in the hills again.
Made a wee mental note yesterday to get some heather and myrtle , making up a wee posy to take to the cemetary tomorrow for fathers day, I know he'd be proud of me, having had to drag me, kicking and screaming up hills as a girl, I had got to them in my own good time. Other than the odd wee stone, I dont like taking anything off the hills but, special dispensation here, so Margaret went off road and picked me up some heather, I got the myrtle and Ive added a wee bit of our lucky heather that saved us from a possibly mucky death on Skye last year(
) tied up and ready to go.
So people,,no epic views or trademark smile pics here,,although there were plenty smiles for the duration, despite a grotty June day. Im back out there,,Margaret, as ever,,thanks for your support and encouragement.
We have the Aonach Eagach ridge booked for 3 weeks from now, feeling better about it now but still aware I may not be fully fit,,,my alternative? sitting in The Clachaig in Glencoe, with a few drinks, good book, waiting for everyone else to finish,,pretty good as consolation prizes go.
Reflecting on a great day,,smashing company, and raising a glass of vin blanc to good times to come.
