The viewless ridge

[luckyguy68]

Another fine walk let doon by our incliment weather . The MWIS forecast was tantalising me with the all to familiar indicator this Summer of four seasons in one hour stuff. Nevertheless, this was my only opporchancity of a walk that week and a wee bit of rain, thunder, lightening and hail was'nt going to be holding me back.
I mad good time on arriving at the revamped Lawers carpark at 9am. I was up here in March and the JCB's were still clearing the new site. What a difference. On hindsight i should have taken a few fotos of the new carpark as im sure many readers will remember only the old one. I sat in the car contemplating the turn back as the rain came on and was the type that you felt you were going through one o those dodgy carwashes . Anyway, a wee bit of patience and some coffee and the rain went off. I would be lying if i said the blue skies opened up but shockaroonie, that was the last i saw of the rain for the day. . The downside to the day was in the title "viewless!!"

The ascent to Meall nan Tarmachan was uneventful and i was thinking of what a bogfest it may have been if the paths were not so well constructed. I had to do a quick recheck of my bearings once at the summit as i was pretty sure i had'nt reached the top. An old fashioned look around me reassured me there wasnt anything above me and i was off to walk the ridge. The WH route guide maybe did'nt instill me with confidence as it indicated that "if conditions are good and you can cope with a little scrambling, a complete traverse of the rocky, winding Tarmachan ridge - stretching away to the southwest - is not to be missed". Believe me the ridge was missed Not that i took a wrong turn, just nae views I kept on questioning myself why am i not walking in fair weather, and making the most of the scenery. Guess it beats the alternative of not get out at all. I had expected the scramble down from Meall Garbh to be a bit trickier than it actually was. I was getting a good grip aided by the seat of ma troosers at some stages.

I headed down at the bealach and kept getting my poles stuck in the bog. I lost the basket of one of them as i was ages trying to dig the pole out at one point The walk back to the carpark was a mixture of avoiding the puddles and slidey bits. I got speaking to a stonemason in the carpark once back. He has the job of erecting the stonework in the new garden area of the park. He told me he travels from Edinburgh but can only work in dry weather. Expect the poor man to be on the job for quite a wee while to come.
Definately need to get back and do this one on a clear day

[skuk007]

Oh dear, doing this one soon so hope it brightens up before then.

You might want to think about changing your username if you get many more walks with these views