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What a week this has been, 3 days on Knoydart, that I loved and yesterday was the hill that most non climbers dread the Inaccessible Pinnacle along with Sgurr Mhic Choinnich. Yes it was challenging, yes it got the adrenaline flowing and yes I kind of loved it. The walk report for that day was passed across to Pam (pamfox) as the In Pin was her very first Munro, can you believe that, has anyone else ever started the journey on the In Pin?
We were lucky with the weather yesterday, especially as our guide Paddy did stress that there was a possibility of thunder later and if that did happen we would be off the hills pronto
Thankfully the forecast bore no resemblance to the actual weather and todays was very similar.
Paddy did warn us that Gillean would be the hardest hill and he certainly wasn't wrong
Not only was there more exposure, there was more rope work and definitely more hands on.
The plan was to meet at the layby in Sligachan at 9am and we were all early and were on our way at 9am. The hills couldn't be seen due to low cloud, there was little or no wind and it was very, very humid. It wasn't long before we were all leaking and Paddy was setting a good pace, the initial part of the walk has a very gradual incline but the humidity made it seem harder
Photo of my boots after yesterdays descent down the scree, lots of shades of grey
No blue sky - yet
Karen managed to persuade Paddy to stop so we could cool down for a second
Still a tad overcast, still going up
Looking back down
Getting steeper
Trying to brighten up
Harness & helmet time
Looks pretty scary to me
We have now reached the first of the rope ascents, this one is probably the longest but was fairly easy as it was up a chimney with plenty of hand and foot holds. As chief photographer I was snapping away like there was no tomorrow. I won't post all of the "climbing" photo's, hopefully the ones I select will give you a flavour of what to expect
Sorry Andy I seem to have lot's of your ascent
The faces say it all
Karen's turn
On you go Simon
I went up next sorry Pam & Jimmy, your turn will come
Every face tells a story?
It wasn't that difficult Simon
Starting to brighten up
Who is going to appear next?
The next manoeuvre was probably the hardest of the day, it involved working your way round a large rock that was in the way, sounds easy but if you look down there is a reminder that you are very exposed
After getting round the rock you then have reach across another massive drop, place your hand on the rock opposite and then eventually get your feet across, before then trying to pull yourself up. Hopefully that describes it
Karen volunteered
Long legs make it easy
Unfortunately Jimmy is the only one with long legs
Nice view
Another awkward rock to negotiate
Pam being supervised
Smiling at the moment
More hands on
Jimmy long legs
Andy pointing out a blade of grass
An easy bit
The way up
Bet you weren't expecting that?
Weather definitely improving
Still going up
Nice little window
Not far now
Happy summit faces
After a brief rest and a few photo's it was time to move on and head down, we knew it would be even harder descending as it usually is. Great care and concentration were required
Heading down
Down through the window
Hands on as it's a long way down
Rope time again, descending down the chimney. I volunteered to go first so that I could get some 'action' shots on the rope
Pam next down
Safely down
Looking down towards the Slig
Andy next
Time for a smile
Nearly there
I'll let Andy explain
Jimmy next
Smile time
Down safely
Simon next
Nearly down
And finally Karen
Smile time
Showing off, one handed
Safely down
Time to move on
Going up for a few minutes
Looking back
Next photo's are of a very short rope descent, once again I volunteered to be heroic and go first
Simon
Jimmy
Karen
Pam
Andy
On the way up to Basteir
Summit of Am Basteir
Now the long descent, we would of course have to climb back up the step using the rope again so get ready for the last few rope photo's
This time I would be last to ascend using the rope.
Paddy about to romp up, showing us the hand & foot holds
Paddy all ready for us to 'romp' up
Andy first
Karen
Pam
Simon
And finally Jimmy
The end of the ridge
Final descent
Long way down to the Slig
Above shot zoomed
Bit of catching up to do
The descent down was straight forward and we were back at the vehicles by 6pm, Jimmy was heading back home to Alnwick and was anticipating arriving home at about 2am. The rest of us were heading to the Slig (pub) for a well earned drink and a bite to eat
After 2 really tough days on Skye we had achieved our goal of visiting all 12 summits, it had only taken us a year, we were really thankful that the weather finally had been kind to us
A massive thanks must go to Paddy, as without him none of us would have ever achieved our goal
Also thanks to my colleagues for all their support, we really did try and help each other, especially when we were all well out of our comfort zone
For me the journey is now nearing the end and what a journey it has been so far, my final Munro is Ben More on Mull. Unfortunately I have to wait until Saturday 13th August before I can compleat, naturally I want my children to share the special moment with me and that is the earliest date they can all make it
As the WH community have also been fantastic to me since I joined in May 2013 I would like to invite anyone who wishes to join me on Mull? If you fancy joining me, please PM me for the gory details
So this time the 'next' is obvious, but I will of course have to keep fit in between time, so the Borders will be back on the menu.
