Stinging Rain on Schiehallion

[Rob Roy]

After over two years since we were last in Scotland we were determined to make the most of our half term break but the weather had other ideas, the Birks of Aberfeldy the most we could achieve until the 29 May.

Having found the last available parking space five of us set out from the Braes of Foss car park in reasonable weather but very soon the wind was blowing hard from the north. Five soon became four after one of our party returned to the car to sleep off a migrane! A Grouse spotted off to our right impossible to tell whether Red or Black as it silhouetted against the now very cloudy sky.

The view back to the car park & further north

Then there were three with another returning to the car to escape the increasing intensity of the wind just before the rocks probably wise at it turned out.

The view south

Donning more layers with rain beginning to fall we began to cross the rocks. Almost every step was an effort with the force of the wind blowing us off our feet on more than one occasion. The false summit deflating us, we summoned up more energy from somewhere to carry on finally reaching the summit. At the summit we had our photo taken by a fellow who is on his second round of Munros "respect".

At the summit

Our photographer and his companion choosing to set up a storm shelter but we weren't for hanging around starting to get cold we set off back down into the teeth of a gale. Horizontal rain stinging our faces and my legs, not a wise choice to wear shorts, numb with the cold. The low cloud also making wayfinding difficult we made measured progress back across the now slippery rocks our navigation aided by a couple of brief breaks in the cloud. The beauty of the quartz now evident though with the rain washing it clean to resemble the remaining snow. It was a relief to reach the path again and make our way back to the car. A warm cup of tea and a hot bath soon helped us forget the cold and wet. Undeterred we soon began to plan the next trip. Anyone for Ben Lawers?