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Stats: 4 miles, 3036 feet of ascent, 3.5 hours exactly
Me and Richard and a very low cloud
I always say the sign of a great hill is when you do it in awful weather but still enjoy it... this was one of those hills... Unfortunately, I can't write one of my long, rambling reports on it as there wasn't really much to say. Due to the aforementioned weather, I also only have 3 photos - two before we went into the cloud and one when we came out...
We were much amused on driving to the parking spot just after the end of Loch Hope to see this sign
If only there were more helpful sets of directions in the Munros like that - we could stop having to take a map!
There were 2 other cars parked up (not many for a Sunday but it was afternoon when we got there) and we could see 2 people heading up the hill... at least one (a guy in orange) was heading up the hill steeply - the other was coming back down... no, they were going back up again... must have dropped something?
We booted up and set off eagerly up the well-defined track (if only all the Munros had them - I know they're not to everyone's taste though)... We soon caught up with Mrs. Going-up, coming-down, going-up - she was a bit older than us and didn't look quite used to Munroing. She looked quite hot and bothered so we commented what a sticky day it was - she readily agreed. Shortly after we passed her she gave up and went back down... the guy in orange above was setting us quite a target to catch though as he was going pretty fast. Richard swore the 2 of them were together but I didn't think so - turned out later he was right - she was waiting back at the car for him when we all came back down...
The path soon climbs the initial steep bit and levels out along the ridge... into the cloud. We could see it was a splendid escarpment edge though and so just imagined what the magnificent views would be like for the rest of the climb... We were starting to gain on Mr. Orange when we met a couple descending and we ended up chatting to them for quite a while - we noticed they hadn't been chatting with Mr. Orange at all though - we were later to find out why. I was in my customary cotton t-shirt and the couple had originally stopped to ask how come I wasn't freezing but I never am when climbing...
After our natter we resumed in our separate directions and we continued up the easy path into the cloud. I'd assumed when we went into the cloud where the path levelled off a bit that we were nearly up but not so - there was quite a lot more climbing to do. Eventually though, we met Mr. Orange coming back down - we were just going to speak to him but he took avoiding tactics and went round us - he didn't look a very cheerful chappie to us!
We didn't stay long at the summit cairn as it was pretty cold - just long enough for me to put some clothes on really. I commented to Richard about the superb view we should be having of the Orkneys from the superb northern crags and told him that, had it been clear, I'd been going to send him down that way so he could have some fun (he likes craggy stuff). But I said that unfortunately, we'd have to both descend the way we came. He agreed and we set off... him for the northern crags in completely the opposite direction! I asked him where he thought he might be going? He said "Back down the way we came"
Now you can see why I don't generally let him wander off up Munros on his own! I informed him he was heading towards a big drop near the northern crags and asked him to follow me please...
We descended back down through the cloud, again admiring the lovely escarpment edge until we came across Mr. Orange having a break near the path. We said hello but met no response so we shrugged and continued on down. When he passed us having a break further down he took care not to look in our direction again.
I had half a mind (sometimes I have even less than that!
) to go along the ridge above the steep bit to the path further along the ridge which goes down to Alltnacaillich and the broch but Richard didn't seem all that keen and I changed my mind at the last minute so we descended the same way. If it had been a sparkling day, I'd definitely have gone along the ridge to Alltnacaillich though... We drove there after we'd descended and had a look at the broch and saw it was a beautiful track down which would have been really nice so I was a bit miffed then. Oh well...
So - Ben Hope - definitely a hill we'd do again - preferably on a nice day though to see the views and the northern crags! Oh yeah - I took 2 more photos from the Tongue Road on different days - still had his head in the clouds though...
- From the top of a wobbly deer fence stile!
Last edited by mountain coward on Sun Jan 02, 2011 1:25 am, edited 2 times in total.
