by Mal Grey » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:24 pm
Nice description! In the old days you could at least finish in the pub...long gone now, thanks to a fire.
I used to subscribe to the "don't waste a good day on a rubbish hill" train of thought. Fionn Bheinn changed that for me. Having been to the Torridon and Coulin Forest hills for a number of years, we'd always ignored FB as being one to tick on a rubbish day.
One year, though, there was snow down to the road and EVERY day was sunny! (yes, I know its hard to believe). So for a rest day, we wandered up Fionn Bheinn. From the start, the snow was deep enough to make for hard work, but with blue skies above, why would you want to be anywhere else? We were a jovial group of 4, I think, and stopped often just to take in the magnificent views of the more interesting distant hills.
Steve contrived not to notice the long line of a ditch under the snow, a depression in the snow the give away, and went in the bog up to his waist. Much mirth.
When we reached the top, the views to the Fannichs opened up, snowy white mounds against a pastel blue background.
Steve decided to take a summit shot on his camera timer, so went to set it up. The rest of us hatched a plan. As he pushed the button and ran towards us, we ran in 3 different directions...the result being 3 disappearing blokes on the edge of the shot, with a bemused Steve in the middle, against a backdrop of mountains. Shame this was pre-digital.
On the way down, the poor lad fell in a bog again. It was the SAME ditch, about 10 feet from his previous hole. Again, the rest of us had seen the obvious horizontal line under the snow...
We had a great day.
So now I think of these less interesting half-day hills as places to enjoy in good weather, when you have all day to spend on them with good mates, to stand and gaze at future, rockier summits, with no need to press on or be benighted. Days to take a bit of extra nice lunch, to eat without haste. It doesn't always work out like that, especially when you are limited to one or two trips north a year from the distant south, but boy when it does, these days can be as good as the best hills.
Saying that, I'm very glad we did FB in the snow, if the bogs are as bad as they sounds!