Page 1 of 5

Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 11:31 pm
by pollyh33
.....lend me your ears, for I have found the best hill, in the best conditions, in the best location with the best guide ever!!! Unlike Mark Antony's address, this report will contain no false flattery or thinly veiled mockery, this for me was everything a day on the hills should be and I'll happily present my case to back up my claims.

Due to commitments to work :( and training for running events :D, I had been unable to join the MWSPC for some fantastic outings. I was not happy about their tales of laughter and mayhem :thumbdown: My nose was so severely put out of joint that even Picasso would have found me repulsive :shock: Two things kept me going, a much planned trip to Skye in mid-September and the other was the promise from Ron that the first good day that was forecast after my half-marathon he would take me to do Liathach :clap: Ooooooh fantastic! Luckily the run jogged along nicely and given that I rarely leave my comfort zone I was happy to finish a minute faster than last year- but well done to all those who gave it their all and a wee bit more :clap:

And so to the report....The plan was for me to drive up to Inverness and meet Ron at Tesco, well I got the first bit spot on... I drove up to Inverness and met him at Tiso. Ach nearly right :crazy: From here we ventured northwest, past the Inverness Caley FC ground (not Ross Co, Iain!!!) and onwards to a pitstop for smashing bacon rolls and a cup of tea. :D

After about 40 mins we reached Kinlochewe and turned onto a very well maintained single-track road with lots of passing spaces and loads of places to park up and camp. The usual parking area was full so we just drove along to next available space and got ourselves organised. Waterproofs and heavy fleeces were left behind in favour of more fluids being taken along. Ron advised me to take along my poles but to tuck them well out of the way- Meatball's brush with death (read his excellent report on Liathach and you'll know what I'm talking about), had me following orders without question. Although in the end Ron put them in his rucksack but luckily didn't squash our lunch. :thumbup:

At last we were off!


The ascent of this hill is hard work but the path is excellent and not nearly as bad as I expected, plus Ron's laces kept coming loose, so it was only polite for me to stop too and take some photos :lol:
P1010301.JPG
P1010303.JPG


The wonderful thing about this type of ascent, you quickly gain height and the views get better and better, oh and you can still see you car :lol: Ron pointed out all the hills he had climbed across the road, which included Sgurr Dubh, Maol Chean-dearg and Sgorr Ruadh (apologies if I wasn't listening properly)
P1010310.JPG


The path has some interesting scrambling sections to warm you up for the main event and was great fun to do.
P1010308.JPG
P1010309.JPG
upclimb.jpg

Once we were up at the bealach we got our first sneaky peek at Beinn Eighe.
P1010314.JPG

We opted not to visit the top to the right (Ron had done it twice before) and instead joined the very prominent path and headed west towards our first target of the day- Spidean a Choire Leith.
P1010316.JPG

It looks a wee bit tricky but it was no bother because of the good path and you are soon at the summit. It was here that we met a lovely couple who were heading back down, they were happy just to bag Spidean today.
P1010324.JPG


As a reward for driving all the way up to Inverness, Ron had promised to provide all the food the day. I was a wee bit apprehensive about this because my approach is more is more!!! Whereas Ron tends to rely pranic energy :shock: :shock: But today the boy didn't disappoint :D



P1010327.JPG
P1010328.JPG
P1010330.JPG


The descent off the summit had too much scree for it to be enjoyable, it was only to be endured :lol:
Descent from 1.jpg


With the straightforward part of the walk out of the way, the best was yet to come- the Am Fasarinen pinnacles :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
P1010333.JPG
P1010334.JPG

As we approached them Ron turned to me and said 'we can go over the pinnacles or we can take the bypass path' . It was never my intention to use the bypass option because as Ron pointed out we had the Cuillin to tackle next week and this would be excellent training. And over the pinnacles we went- yippee :clap: :clap: I am not particularly skilled or confident at scrambling but I knew Ron would guide me over every dodgy move ahead. He did this previously on the Aonach Eagach and I was 100% confident he would do this again :D :D
scramble.jpg
down stack.jpg

It should be noted that these pinnacles are not in the same class of scariness as A/E and are over and done with pretty quickly, so please enjoy them- I know I certainly did and even Ron noticed that my confidence grew and left me to get on with the job in hand without having to give me step by step instructions :D
Final pinnacle.jpg
P1010338.JPG

Starfish.jpg
On top of pinnacle.jpg


The weather continued to be glorious and as well as having tremendous fun on the pinnacles we got to drink in our amazing views 8) .
Alligin.jpg
Beinn Alligin

Once we were back on the path the walk up to our second summit Mullach an Rathan was incredibly benign and relaxing. We spent a good wee time here posing for photos and identifying more hills in the distance including next week's target.
P1010354.JPG


A short walk from the summit is a marker cairn showing the best route of descent.
P1010359.JPG
If you like scree surfing, you'll love this!! If you don't then you'll hate it!! I employed my poles to help me down slowly and I was fine. I did try the surfing malarkey but ended up on my bahookie twice!!! :lol: The path soon improves and leads you back to the road, and fortunately for me and Ron a rather nice man from Torridon Activities gave us a lift the 2km back to the car :clap:

It had truly been an amazing day. Everyone goes on and on about how fantastic Torridon is and how the hills there are real hills that stand alone just asking to be admired- well I certainly did, they are unforgettable!!
Have I convinced you that this was Heaven on Earth? There's only one way to find out- get yourself up there!!! Oh and if you're lucky, you'll be able to convince Ron that he really does want to go there for a fourth time :lol:

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 11:50 pm
by rocket-ron
Polly i am so so glad you enjoyed yesterday. You had 1 hell off a drive there and back to do this hill. But yesterday you had a smile constantly you your face. Not sure if it was me or the hill that did it :lol: . n
Yesterday was constant laughs :D

Torridon is a amazing area. You now know that. Liatach is 1 of my favorite hills

Plenty of good practise for skye next week. When it will be fun fun fun. Before you hang up your boots :( For some silly degree :lol: . Being out on the hills would be better for you. More laughs and more memories. Instead off more letters after your name.

But inn pin next weekend. also 2 other day walking in skye. Am going to make sure you have so much fun. You will regreat doing this degree :lol:

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 11:53 pm
by Graeme D
Aye, it's a cracker isn't it! 8)

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 11:57 pm
by pollyh33
rocket-ron wrote:Polly i am so so glad you enjoyed yesterday. You had 1 hell off a drive there and back to do this hill. But yesterday you had a smile constantly you your face. Not sure if it was me or the hill that did it :lol: . n
Yesterday was constant laughs :D

Torridon is a amazing area. You now know that. Liatach is 1 of my favorite hills

Plenty of good practise for skye next week. When it will be fun fun fun. Before you hang up your boots :( For some silly degree :lol: . Being out on the hills would be better for you. More laughs and more memories. Instead off more letters after your name.

But inn pin next weekend. also 2 other day walking in skye. Am going to make sure you have so much fun. You will regreat doing this degree :lol:



Thanks so so much for taking care of everything yesterday, I must owe you a fortune in guiding fees by now!!! Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't pay for anything next week, oh I trust you're looking forward to your new jumper :lol: :lol: Hope it keeps all of your three arms nice and cosy!!!!

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 12:00 am
by pollyh33
Graeme D wrote:Aye, it's a cracker isn't it! 8)



Cheers Graeme- a cracker indeed!!!

I remember reading your report and being totally blown away by it- never thought I'd ever be up there myself!! :D

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 12:01 am
by scoob999
Nice one Polly
It sure is a fantastic hill, glad you had better weather than i did, but i loved it anyway :D
well done, and have a great time on skye :D

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 12:03 am
by rocket-ron
Polly just seeing a smile on some 1 face makes me happy. Come next weekend by the time you get home. your face will be sore. From the amount of time you smiled and laughed :lol:
Trying to make it a top weekend for you before you hang up your boots :(

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 12:09 am
by pollyh33
scoob999 wrote:Nice one Polly
It sure is a fantastic hill, glad you had better weather than i did, but i loved it anyway :D
well done, and have a great time on skye :D



Thanks Stuart- we were super mega lucky with the weather 8)

PS you're fair getting through the hills these days :clap:
rocket-ron wrote:Polly just seeing a smile on some 1 face makes me happy. Come next weekend by the time you get home. your face will be sore. From the amount of time you smiled and laughed :lol:
Trying to make it a top weekend for you before you hang up your boots :(


As long as I don't have to scree surf I'll be happy!!!

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 12:18 am
by scoob999
[/quote]
PS you're fair getting through the hills these days :clap: [quote]

Well maybe if you ran over the hills instead of on the flat, i would'nt be 40 odd in front of you now :lol: :lol:

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 12:19 am
by rocket-ron
scree surfing will be the last thing on your mind next week. You better go to doctors. to get your self something to keep ynou calm

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:20 am
by ChrisW
Cracking report Polly, what a day you picked for this one. Beautiful weather and spectacular views all around, not sure about a one legged balance on a pinnacle though :shock:
Well done on improving your half marathon time whilst still leaving room for further improvement next year :lol:
Good luck on the Cullin next week :thumbup:

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:31 am
by KeithS
Great stuff P, it is certainly one of the best hills, definitely in my top 5.

Well done for going over the Pinnacles, I chickened out and went round the side, although even that is pretty exposed.

Good to see you had a big grin on your face, it's the sort of mountain that does that for you.

I shall be looking forwards to reading about your Skye adventures, your grin should be even bigger on top of the Inn Pin. Enjoy it, be careful. Hope the weather hasn't broken by then, I'll be up in Glen Etive.

:clap:

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 9:39 am
by monty
I speak not to disprove what Polly spoke, but here I am to speak what I know. You all did love Polly and Rocket Ron once, not without cause. What cause withholds you then, not to praise them? O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts and men have lost their reason. Bear with me for my heart is on Liatach with Polly and Rocket. and I must pause till it comes back to me. :clap: xx

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 9:58 am
by SAVAGEALICE
great report polly ..i love this hill too ..torridon is one of my fav areas :) ..have fun in skye! :D

Re: Friends, Roamers, Countrymen!.....

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 10:25 am
by jonny616
Torridon, pizza & pie. i'm not speaking to either of you :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

What a fab day, can't wait to do this one myself. Have a great time on Skye :D :D :D :D