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Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)


Postby Mountainlove » Fri Jun 08, 2012 12:47 pm

Route description: Ben Klibreck

Munros included on this walk: Ben Klibreck

Date walked: 25/05/2012

Time taken: 3.45 hours

Distance: 16.6 km

Ascent: 1033m

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Are you moving house? One of my friends asked me, when I packed my car for a weeks camping trip up north… Growling back, I denied and explained that some wild camping will require more stuff than usual! After all, I needed food, water, cooking stuff plus everything else one needs…I am sure guys are different, but I could easily survive until autumn if needs be.

My plan was to head up straight to Durness – a long journey, but with amazing weather and even more amazing beaches up there, I did not mind the 300mile journey.
Heading up the A9, for the first time driving myself (I prefer the more scenic route through Glen Coe and avoided the A9 so far, ) I think it was the first time I was in the Cairngorms without clouds as well. A lovely area I have to say.

Up north from Inverness the Sat Nav suggested to take the road which would take me to Tongue and knowing that Ben Kilbreck was on the way, I mulled over the option to climb it on the way.

My thoughts came to an abrupt stop, when I stopped for petrol and realized that my debit card was missing. I still had my credit card to pay, but I could not think what happened to the debit card??? Paying for petrol I drove on, thinking about the places where the card could be and deciding I might have lost it after packing my car after shopping at the supermarket, I stopped to play it save and phoned my bank to block the card. I was told that I could go to any branch to withdraw money…but surely they did not realized that in the far north west, Lloyds does not have a branch …but I left that problem for another day.

When I reached the bottom of Ben Klibreck my bum was sore from driving for 6h and I decided to climb it, regardless of feeling tired.
Changing clothes, I left the car soon after arriving and made my way up the grassy slopes.
From what I have read there are 2 routes up, but the slightly longer one was gentler and suited me better. It was a late start at 16:00 hours, but as it was light well after 22:00 hours, I did not mind…apart from climbing the hill I had nothing else to do anyway.

DSC00791.JPG
Ben Klibreck from the road


The climb will take you up gently and reaching the first hill I took pictures of the 2 cairns I moved on and sweating in 25C I was glad for the breeze. Soon the first walkers appeared on their return. After saying my hellos continuing up the mountain.
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One of the cairns on the way up


The second top was reached in no time as well and from there the path slopes along the side of the mountain…a great way to pick up some speed and enjoy the countryside.
Until that day I have never seen any Ptarmigans…..but that evening they where everywhere and I stopped often to take pictures. Reaching the last bit before it was time for the last climb it
Was a hard push to the summit, but I was happy when I realized it had only taken me 2h.
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A Ptarmigan


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View up north


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me


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Summit cairn


The views from the top were amazing…Ben Hope and Ben Loyal to the north and great wilderness all around me. I settled down in the warm sun and had a relaxed dinner in the warm sunshine. It was in fact 50min later when I had to drag myself away from the summit. But when do you ever get evenings like this …warm, sunny and views for miles and miles…a rare occasion that far up north.

Leaving the top I continued the same way back and bouncing along the path with full energy. Feeling that it was a great start to my holiday I was back at the car 1.45h later. 3.45h for the whole walk including some small breaks on the way up and down- not bad.

At my car I realized that the drive up to Durness was something I could not be bothered to do, so I decided to stay put and put my tent up right next to the parking area. There were literally no cars and the burn looked inviting for a foot bath…so the plan for the evening was set.
DSC00844.JPG
Camping wild

Leaving the next morning on my way to Durness the countryside was splendid. But I nearly crashed the car when I saw 2 men inside one of the many lochs…one of which was completely naked, with a facecloth in his hand …washing like he was at home…and not next to a single track road with helpless females driving past :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Road to Tongue

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Bon Loyal

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Ben Hope

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Loch Eribol

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Fishing boat
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Mountainlove
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby pollyh33 » Fri Jun 08, 2012 12:55 pm

Cracking report ML :clap:

Heading up there in July, so very very timely :thumbup: :thumbup:

I hope you're intending doing such top notch reports for all the hills up there ( for a small commission??) :lol:

I have to ask...... photos of the bathing beauties??? :wink: :wink:
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby Mountainlove » Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:06 pm

Hello Polly,

a week up there called for 6 reports of doing the mountains up there :D - will post the others ones as well very soon...have some great photos as well :) Its my favorite area up there ...jealous that you will head up so soon!!
The bathing beauties....unfortunately they were so close to the car that it woudl have been too obvious to take photos....lol as I was the only car there and nearly crashed it when I saw the guys.. :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby pollyh33 » Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:37 pm

Mountainlove wrote:Hello Polly,

a week up there called for 6 reports of doing the mountains up there :D - will post the others ones as well very soon...have some great photos as well :) Its my favorite area up there ...jealous that you will head up so soon!!
The bathing beauties....unfortunately they were so close to the car that it woudl have been too obvious to take photos....lol as I was the only car there and nearly crashed it when I saw the guys.. :lol: :lol: :lol:


Are you kidding? They probably would have loved someone taking their photo!!! Exhibitionists :lol: :lol:
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby KeithS » Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:47 am

Great stuff ML. It really is a special area. I found that although Ben Klibreck itself is nothing particularly out of the ordinary (it is good though), as the mountains around there stand alone, the views from the top were amongst the best I have ever had. It was nice to read your report, thanks
Keith
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby Mountainlove » Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:55 pm

pollyh33 wrote:
Mountainlove wrote:Hello Polly,

a week up there called for 6 reports of doing the mountains up there :D - will post the others ones as well very soon...have some great photos as well :) Its my favorite area up there ...jealous that you will head up so soon!!
The bathing beauties....unfortunately they were so close to the car that it woudl have been too obvious to take photos....lol as I was the only car there and nearly crashed it when I saw the guys.. :lol: :lol: :lol:


Are you kidding? They probably would have loved someone taking their photo!!! Exhibitionists :lol: :lol:


Lol next time I will need to try it! As I saw another guy with something what looked like boxershorts...and nothing else on...standing next to a pub, I am guessing its a 'normal dresscode' up there... :lol: :lol:

Keith Sayliss wrote:Great stuff ML. It really is a special area. I found that although Ben Klibreck itself is nothing particularly out of the ordinary (it is good though), as the mountains around there stand alone, the views from the top were amongst the best I have ever had. It was nice to read your report, thanks
Keith

I agree...its not one of the amazing mountains...but the countryside and feeling of remotness make up for it!
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby 147cjl » Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:01 pm

another great report, you had great weather. i need to get myself up there this year!
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby Mountainlove » Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:55 am

147cjl wrote:another great report, you had great weather. i need to get myself up there this year!

Thank you! I can only recommend to wait until the weather is perfect- up there you need it :D
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby iainwatson » Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:08 am

nice report ML,will come in handy as i'm gonna get up here at the end of july for 5 days so hoping to bag the northern 4 and 6 at ullapool that week,

look forward to reading the rest! :D
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby JOHNGG » Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:22 pm

Another thoroughly enjoyable report Mountainlove. I wish we had some of that glorious weather this weekend. I was up in the same part of the world on the day after your walk, on Saturday the 26th May. I had driven up from Grantown on Spey to climb one of my remaining Corbetts, Ben Loyal, which I ended up doing it from the eastern side as the boggy ground was completely dried out. It's a fantastic part of the world and the single track road up to Tongue is amazing. I haven't gotten round to posting my report on here yet as I've been in Canada but I am very happy to say that by the time I arrived the naked bathers in the loch were long gone ...
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby BoyVertiginous » Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:30 pm

Mountainlove wrote: Leaving the next morning on my way to Durness the countryside was splendid. But I nearly crashed the car when I saw 2 men inside one of the many lochs…one of which was completely naked, with a facecloth in his hand …washing like he was at home…and not next to a single track road with helpless females driving past

Yeah, sorry about that, shall try to be more discrete next time. :-P
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby Hillwalker and Her » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:33 pm

BoyVertiginous wrote:
Mountainlove wrote: Leaving the next morning on my way to Durness the countryside was splendid. But I nearly crashed the car when I saw 2 men inside one of the many lochs…one of which was completely naked, with a facecloth in his hand …washing like he was at home…and not next to a single track road with helpless females driving past

Yeah, sorry about that, shall try to be more discrete next time. :-P

Hi ML, I think you passed my wife and I on your way up. We were heading down on the path just below the ridge. Did you have a dog with you?. It was a fantastic day wasn't it. We spent a fair bit of time on the top too, because the last climb to the top was a bit tough. AND we also cooled our feet in the burn back at the car park!!! But we couldn't stay as we were driving back to Ullapool. ( I've posted a report too) :clap:
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Re: Ben Klibreck and the holiday files (1/6)

Postby Mountainlove » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:58 pm

iainwatson wrote:nice report ML,will come in handy as i'm gonna get up here at the end of july for 5 days so hoping to bag the northern 4 and 6 at ullapool that week,
look forward to reading the rest! :D

Thank you and good luck with the weather in July!!

JOHNGG wrote:Another thoroughly enjoyable report Mountainlove. I wish we had some of that glorious weather this weekend. I was up in the same part of the world on the day after your walk, on Saturday the 26th May. I had driven up from Grantown on Spey to climb one of my remaining Corbetts, Ben Loyal, which I ended up doing it from the eastern side as the boggy ground was completely dried out. It's a fantastic part of the world and the single track road up to Tongue is amazing. I haven't gotten round to posting my report on here yet as I've been in Canada but I am very happy to say that by the time I arrived the naked bathers in the loch were long gone ...

Oh Ben Loyal is a great one!! Done that one with my brother last year and I agree the single track road is so lovely - and quiet!
Lol - the naked bathers were gone...thats a shame :wink:

BoyVertiginous wrote:
Mountainlove wrote: Leaving the next morning on my way to Durness the countryside was splendid. But I nearly crashed the car when I saw 2 men inside one of the many lochs…one of which was completely naked, with a facecloth in his hand …washing like he was at home…and not next to a single track road with helpless females driving past

Yeah, sorry about that, shall try to be more discrete next time. :-P

Lol next time I need a pre-warning to get my camera ready 8) :D

Hillwalker and Her wrote:
BoyVertiginous wrote:
Mountainlove wrote: Leaving the next morning on my way to Durness the countryside was splendid. But I nearly crashed the car when I saw 2 men inside one of the many lochs…one of which was completely naked, with a facecloth in his hand …washing like he was at home…and not next to a single track road with helpless females driving past

Yeah, sorry about that, shall try to be more discrete next time. :-P

Hi ML, I think you passed my wife and I on your way up. We were heading down on the path just below the ridge. Did you have a dog with you?. It was a fantastic day wasn't it. We spent a fair bit of time on the top too, because the last climb to the top was a bit tough. AND we also cooled our feet in the burn back at the car park!!! But we couldn't stay as we were driving back to Ullapool. ( I've posted a report too) :clap:

I dont have any dog (unfortunately), but I remember a woman with 3 dogs, which I passed on the way up. Will need to have a look at your report now :D
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