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OK I accept that we have been spoiled on previous years on our Feb week in Scotland, however this was my 50th birthday - why could conditions not be perfect. I've been good (sometimes). Actually, I spent my actual birthday at the Ice Factor at Kinlochleven which was absolutely superb. Not having ice climbed before we opted for instruction and young Connor was given the task of showing us how it should be done ..... we then did a version of how it could be done!
Andrea's first climb
Me hanging on for dear life!!
Can I just say - what a fantastic afternoon we had there - Glasses raised for a great 50th birthday experience.
ANYWAY
The alternative was a wet day on the hills, which we put off till the next day!
We opted to approach from the Glen Etive side - a route detailed by Stretch on June 2011. As we drove along Glencoe and down into Glen Etive - things looked promising.
Stob Dearg: Maybe a better option!
We parked and made our way through the forest track - we were making good time. Maybe we weren't the slowest walkers on WH? My GPS said 3.1mph - excellent. Oh..... wait a minute..... are we going that way?
Obstacle 1
After a detour through the forest we looked back
That's no right.
This was the storm damage which they had not put on their 'to do' list. Oh well. Plod on.
There were 6 obstacles in total however as you went along each one I had in my mind - 'I just hope we do not come across one that we just cannot get over/round/through'.
As we left the forest the weather closed in: the rain started and the clag came down - it was not officially dreich!
I really would like to show you the views but this is really as good as it got:
This is one of the few times I had to go into change and put dry clothes on and carry on - but I did today.
We opted for the fence posts as a handrail, which turned out to be correct and it did mean we felt a little reassured that we were on the right tracks.
Eventually, the top was reached.
Smile - I am now 50 (+1 day)!
As we descended we had a wee visitor who flew in to wish me happy birthday -
Can't be exactly sure but I am sure that was the jist.
Can I say that the way up was..... wet and the way down was..... er...... as wet.
Never mind - obstacle course to come....
Done!
We would just like to thank Stretch for his report, and his pictures, that allowed us to see what we should have been looking at. It could have been very good actually.
Right....... home and shower methinks!
