free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Keeping an eye on the weather situation, and the other on a work rota, today would afford us a wee wander. Doogz being on a backshift affording us the chance to charge the batteries early doors. A wee amble, possibly not even the summit, depends how we feel
Left Paisley at 06:00 for the long haul to Arrochar
45mins later in the carpark suiting and booting, and checking the batteries in the headtorches
Sauntered off up the interminable zig-zag path, listening out for the occasional rustling in the undergrowth-
spooky Taking the odd chance to switch the torches off, and enjoy the clarity of air around us, and the bounties above. Plod,plod and plod again. Although the conditions were baltic, and a fair degree of ice underfoot, we steadily progressed- talking the usual nonsense- or more precisely listening to it- awrite Doogz
We reached the dam and and thought the path option to wimpy, so just set off up towards Cruach nam Miseag.Last time I wandered up here, I headed straight for the belach to head up towards the Spearhead, but today Doogz had this rational head on and suggested a hang right and top out on CnM for some pics- good thinking
Some darker shots before sunrise :
IMGP1791 by
BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
We continued on up over the small tops just stopping to take photos' and enjoy the feast of colours and cloud shapes constantly changing above.
IMGP1810 by
BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
The sky was awash with a variety of features to grab the attention, cloud formations constantly changing. It was hard- at times, to know where to look.
IMGP1845 by
BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
We reached the top and just laughed and clicked the cameras constantly
Worth the small effort of the detour.
IMGP1855 by
BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
Onwards and upwards. Conditions underfoot now waranted the deployment of ironmongery
So off the bags with the axes, and out the bags with the crampons. Safety at all times, don't want to bother the lads down in Prestwick- ties in later
.
The sky was magic to watch, full of colouful energy. At one point we thought it would be clouded over
, but fortunately not.
IMGP1870 by
BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
We reached the point under the Spearhead, there were footprints to the left and right. We spoke about route choice, and decided to go for adventure and scale the Chimney
It was packed with consolidated snow and made for some fine fun.
IMGP1901 by
BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
We spent ages around here sponging in the views, and our small refreshment break. A grand day to be out and about. Yes, some may find Narnain -boring, but on a day like today they would be few and far between
IMGP1906 by
BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
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BoydBlair, on Flickr
Time to head off for doogz to get to work on time, reluctantly
An absolute pleasure today.Our descent route changed, we opted for the by-pass of the Spearhead. This was pretty bouldery- with evidence sphincteral insufficiency caused by holes of a serious depth. There were some deep enough to stand in with just your head poking out
Real leg and hip snappers. We thought it may have been easier to use our ascent route- in hindsight
IMGP1936 by
BoydBlair, on Flickr
Big sky :
IMGP1939 by
BoydBlair, on Flickr
Much further down we heard the distictive sound of a helicopters engine and rotas- hope it is not us it is looking for
It circled for a time, then deposited a crew member atop Cruach nam Miseag.
IMGP1943 by
BoydBlair, on Flickr
IMGP1941 by
BoydBlair, on Flickr.
I had to unpack my camera from my bag for these, but Doogz has better shots than these quick ones I took.
Funny how walk are similar. The last time I was here at sunrise the morning ended with a helicopter over The Cobbler.
It is obvious, from my reports, I am not one for the ulilisation of florid language- I don't feel the need when the pics explain it better than I can with words. So sorry about the amout of pics, but......................