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The third time is the charm, as 'they' say. It is our third time in Scotland, our second time hillwalking and we finally bagged a Munro. Thanks to Walkhighlands and the advice of some of you far more experienced and 'hill-wise', we selected Ben Wyvis. This was fortuitous. The weather reports were somewhat dodgey, but we didn't come all this way to go shopping, so we headed for the hill. We were kitted out for any possible weather event and unlike the two hill-running guys in shirt sleeves, with no packs, who were just leaving the car park as we arrived, we weren't travelling very light.
With the number of you who have already written about this splendid walk, I won't go into any detail about the route. As we climbed the well developed trail, the wind got stronger, and the clouds moved in, soon, we could no longer see the first summit for An Cabar.
My complete lack of fitness preparation in combination with the deteriorating weather was completely gutting me by the time we were halfway up the stone steps. I had real doubts about whether I would make it to the top. At this point the hillrunning duo passed me on their way down and provided a well-timed, visual 'kick-in-the-posterior'. Onward and upward we went.
By the time we got to An Cabar and got our contribution to the cairn perfectly placed, I was about to pack it in. There was nothing to see, the clouds were getting thicker and it was now drizzling. Thankfully, like a good canuck, I didn't leave home without my gloves and my toque. Along with my waterproof coat and plants, and my scarf, I was quite snug. Just as I was deciding that it wasn't safe to be up on top in the current weather, a chipper fellow in short sleeves and shorts and his tall walking buddy arrived on the scene. They were carrying on to Ben Wyvis and then planning to do Tom a Choinnich. I expressed my concern about the weather, and the response was 'you've broken its back by this point, it's only a short climb from here'. Oh, and as to my concerns about not being able to see anything, that was laid to rest too, because apparently this is the most common view from the top of a munro. 'Who knew?' The right words at the right time. Then as we headed off for the peak of Ben Wyvis we met up we a couple who confirmed that you can never rely on the local weather reports, and they provided us with very good advice on how reaching our desintation in the fog. As we say at home, when we drive in bad weather, 'keep it between the ditches', basically we were told to stay between the edges.
I was never concerned about getting lost, Zeke is too good with a map, I just needed to hear a more local person say that we weren't daft. The result was all smiles (thank you to 'Mr. Shorts' for taking the photo)
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- We can't believe we did it!
We drank our celebratory wine, ate our rapidly deteriorating sandwiches etc. and then started back down. That was interesting too. First we met up with a whole herd of people who were heading for the top. Their leader fell down as we met them, but all seemed in good spirits. Then we even met up with another couple heading up. This just goes to show that the inclement weather must really have been par for the course.
Then, with the wind howling and the rain blowing all around us, I heard a 'belching' noise coming from below us. Zeke called back to me and asked if I was making that noise
We kept hearing it over and over, always below us. I had expectations of some phantom stag or something. It was around this time that we met up with a flock of ptarmigans in their black and white plumage (5 of them-unfortunately the weather was too horrid to risk the camera to take a picture of them). They kept pace with us for several minutes, until they became bored with us and flew off. Just as their leader was taking off, he let out several of his huge 'belching noises'-what a laugh.
The walk down was much easier than up and although we arrived at the car completely drenched because by this point my trusty toque was releasing water down my neck. I feel we got full value for the experience even though there wasn't a panoramic view, it was probably more typical of all the munro climbing that has occurred over the years.
It was an epic day for us.
