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Schiehallion 2nd time lucky.... oh and my 50th as well

Schiehallion 2nd time lucky.... oh and my 50th as well


Postby weescotsman » Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:01 pm

Route description: Schiehallion

Munros included on this walk: Schiehallion

Date walked: 08/02/2012

Time taken: 5 hours

Distance: 10 km

Ascent: 731m

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Having failed a few weeks ago due to severe clag not giving any views and thus giving up not even half way I was determined to give Schiehallion another go..... and Wednesday was the planned date with the MWIS forecast giving a 60% chance of a cloud free summit, that was good enough for me.

Left home unusually early for me, probably the earliest ever at just after 6 am but as I was planning on going via the M90 then I wanted to avoid the worst of the rush hour traffic. Picked up my co-pilot Karen at Linlithgow station and we were on the way by 6.20. I'd estimated 2 hrs to get the 80 miles to the Braes of Foss car park and I wasn't too far wrong. Roads were pretty clear apart from a bit of slush on the B846 approach road near to the car park and on the Schiehallion road. No other cars in the car park at that point but we did meet others later on.

Got suited and booted and we were on the way by 8.40. Pretty chilly but once we got going then we soon warmed up. Didn't use the microspikes till we were probably halfway up but by then the path was more frosted than path so it was sensible. The higher we went the more that parts of the path were covered by snow but it was quite hard packed mostly so easy to walk on.

Back down below and to the west was a huge cloud of what I'm presuming was snow coming in but it stayed on that route and we avoided it completely. Quite chuffed that we had mostly blue skies with the odd tinge of pink with the sunrise as well. On we plodded to the top but as usual I was the tail that wagged the dog and Diane was way in front and even though she was taking more photos than me she still had to hang around for me at times.

Once we reached the trig point at the end of the path it was on to the boulder field with most of them covered in rime ice. A few slippy moments but nothing too serious and before we knew it were at the summit in just under 3 hrs. Well chuffed with that time. And even though the summit isn't particularly big there's decent shelter from the biting wind to stop for a food break.

Going down was harder as the wind really whipped up and my right cheek felt frozen. Surprisingly my £3 thinsulate gloves coped with the cold pretty good, can't find my proper gloves so these were pressed into emergency action... :)

Spotted a few ski-tracks on the down slopes but I wouldn't have thought there was really long enough runs for proper skiing.... but then again I'm not a skier.

Back to the car just a shade under 5 hrs so well within the WH estimate which was pleasing considering the several stops and the snow as well.....

A few pics now not in any particular order....

db4.jpg
The dark cloud over to the west which we avoided.

db5.jpg
Plodding on....

db16.jpg
Conquering hero...........

db17.jpg
Diane's attempt at planking....

db20.jpg
On top of the world....


All in it was a fabulous day and the icing on the cake was finding out I'd made 50.... I thought I was only on 47 but I found out I'd not ticked off 3 of the 4 Glen Lyon munros that were on my very first trip....... :D

On to the next 50 now...............
weescotsman
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Re: Schiehallion 2nd time lucky.... oh and my 50th as well

Postby pollyh33 » Mon Feb 13, 2012 12:50 am

Congratulations on your 50th :clap: :clap:

Er don't know about Diane's planking though, a wee bit bendy!!!!
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Re: Schiehallion 2nd time lucky.... oh and my 50th as well

Postby KeithS » Mon Feb 13, 2012 10:00 am

Congratulations on your half century. :clap:
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Re: Schiehallion 2nd time lucky.... oh and my 50th as well

Postby quoman » Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:42 am

well done on your 50th good report to
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Re: Schiehallion 2nd time lucky.... oh and my 50th as well

Postby pigeon » Mon Feb 13, 2012 6:34 pm

Well done on the half century,this is another munro that Hazel has climbed to half way :lol: :lol: Aw the best for the next 50 :thumbup:
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Re: Schiehallion 2nd time lucky.... oh and my 50th as well

Postby skuk007 » Tue Feb 14, 2012 10:48 pm

Congrats on your 50th, another minor target reached. :clap:
Agree with Polly about the suspect planking, good sky-diving pose though. :D
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Re: Schiehallion 2nd time lucky.... oh and my 50th as well

Postby steven65 » Tue Feb 14, 2012 10:55 pm

Congratulations on turning 50 .......( twins ) :lol:
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