Ben Rinnes
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 9:28 pm
On leaving Inverness this morning your intrepid reporter and fellow walkers/mountaineers held out little hope for the day... pouring rain, wind.. not a nice start to the day at all! But with the remaining menbers of the party having carefully investigated weather forecasts we ignored the pleas of the Pet Shop Boys to 'go West!' and headed East.. the weather improved en route and we decided to have a wee walk up Ben Rinnes. Off we went from the car park.. going good underfoot.. not wet but a little windy. Well.. as we ascended the hill the wind incresed in strength to the point where it was difficult to stand and walk and keep one's hat on all at once! Unperturbed we soldiered on to the summit, whereupon your intrepid reporter removed a mitt, dropped it and off it flew never to be seen again. Having taken the advice of a very helpful assistant and packed 3 pairs of gloves 'just in case' all was not lost and feeling was returned to fingertips in jig time! Following a short stop for much required water and food we decided to continue over the hill to a distillery approximately 5-6k away. One of out party returned to the car via the ascent route and the remainder of us descended.. initially at a 45 degree angle to the wind! I was only blown over once which was a first. We carried on down the hill through deep waist high (on me at least) heather and finally reached the car.. there are a number of distilleries in the vicinity of Ben Rinnes so fortunately our driver got the right one! Just as we reached the car a few spots of rain started as the weather began to close in. Perfect timing! This was my first trip with some members of Inverness Mountaineering club and i can say it was great fun!