The Ben for 100 up

[U059361]

100, the hunner, an ceud, I wanted this to be marked with something special, so kept Beinn Nibheis for it. The weather would be dry and cloud clear late on but if I waited it would be pretty hot too and take an extra hour at least to get from Edinburgh. Instead I left at 5am and got parked at 7:30am having driven almost non-stop to get there. £4 for the parking at the visitor centre but it's worth it. Lots of folks already on the hill and I basically joined the queue to go up. There are rough bits as highlighted on WH but it is well made for the most part, diverted to avoid eroded bits and ease the climb so it never gets really steep. Had a big drink above the loch and then carried on. Hit cloud well before the top as it was clearing up, just not fast enough for me. People coming down all the time but more so the higher up I got. The cairns certainly help keep you on the path when in cloud, but the path is well worn and easy to follow. Got there at 11am. Pretty much busy, but after having a look round, found a sheltered spot to have lunch and text Adele that I'd made it. She was surprised by the time of the text and so was I, took less time than I'd thought. Good path I guess. Although I didn't see the view, I did see a snow bunting hopping about, the first time (and possibly the last) I'd ever seen one. No one else seemed to notice it. Going back down involved avoiding the huge crowds that were now coming up, thousands of people. A lot must come from the holiday camps in the glen as there is no way everyone could have come by car. Needless to say when I got back to the car park it was full to bursting with creative parking on a scale I'd never witnessed before. How some people got out their cars, I'm not sure. Drove off at 2:15pm having taken almost as long to come down as go up, due to the amount of people on the path. Really hot too, felt sorry for a lot of distressed looking folk going up. When I got back to Edinburgh, Adele surprised me with congratulations posters, a card and so as intimated on the walk description, a celebration was in order, the hundred, done. I'm not a completist, but it was a milestone and happy to have done both the hundred and Ben Nevis. Drams all round, cheers.

[Sgurr]

Congratulations on the ton up. Really makes you feel you'r getting somewhere.
We saw a snow bunting on the Ring of Steall while we were dropping crumbs having lunch, and not a soul remarked on it. Maybe thought it was a chaffinch, or more likely a bird.