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It's hard to believe that in the first half of January, Scottish mountains were almost snow bare. In my decade of hillwalking here I have never seen such a view this time of the year. There was always some whiteness about, even if only on the higher ground. Sadly, our first Munro walk in 2017 didn't look like crampons-ice axe kind of adventure
Still, we simply couldn't resist hauling our heavy post-Xmass bums up to high level, and good, old brother Wyvis, our local mountain, was a logical choice. We used to call it "just as well" hill, one to visit if we couldn't be bother to pick anything more ambitious
We had experienced BW in all kind of conditions, from a scorching summer day to a proper wintry adventure... And usually, in January it looks like this:
But this year, the bigger Wyvis brother looked more like that:
Our route was the standard up-and-down from Garve. I'm planning to visit all outlying tops of this Munro some day, but it will be on a nice, long summer day and we will climb from Loch Glass side. So far, it was business as usual, up An Cabar:
I don't think there's much point in detailed description of the route, the path is more than obvious and well made. We met quite a few people ascending/descending the Munro, as it was Saturday and we were not the only ones working off Christmas calories.
Panther ready for the workout:
Just one wee reflection about fellow hillwalkers. As we were descending from An Cabar, I counted half a dozen of people going up this steep path in light trainers. OK, maybe conditions were good, next to no snow and the day was dry, but still, soft trainers in winter on a Munro? Again, one of the easiest Munros, I must admit, but it's still one line I would not cross. Maybe I'm paranoid after my nasty knee-splitting fall (I was wearing proper winter boots and it didn't save me).
I was actually testing my new Karimor boots, stiff ones for winter climbs. As usual, I had to buy men's as they fit me better. They turned out to be a good purchase, comfortable. And for only £60, which was a bargain. Hopefully they last a few winter seasons.
Boot testing on a path?
Let's be honest, most folks regard Ben Wyvis as boring. I don't. There is something majestic about it's heavy, bulky shape. Weird, the first time I saw it, I thought about... a coffin lid
Today, as we trudged up the well worn path, we were treated to a delightful cloud inversion, with mountains on the horizon slowly emerging from the sea of mist...
Yes, the good, old brother Wyvis had a special gift for his regular visitors and we stopped every 10 minutes or so, to take more photos and enjoy the spectacle
A few snaps of Fannichs in the sea of mist:
A wider angle, Beinn Dearg group to the right:
Beinn Dearg family and AnTeallach:
An Teallach, zoom:
Strathconnon Corbetts:
The cloud was thinning, but we enjoyed the inversion spectacle for most of the steep ascent. I'm not usually keen on windfarms, but today even the turbines looked interesting, surrounded by the cloud. Pictures below slightly post processed
To the east, there was cloud inversion as well, or what I'd describe as a "mist duvet" over low ground and the sea:
Almost there, on the path up An Cabar:
The western pano:
View south:
Little Wyvis:
We stopped on An Cabar to dress up as it was quite blowy on the summit plateau. We noticed that cloud was coming in towards the very summit of Ben Wyvis, so Kevin snapped photo after photo, as long as we could still see the views. Nothing extraordinary about Wyvis panos, but today, with the inversion, the landscape looked amazing:
All the hard work was now done, and only the pleasant 2km walk along the wide ridge to the summit left to do:
Cloud thinning:
It didn't take us long to reach the highest point, where we stopped for our well deserved hot tea
Lucy bagged her 34th Munro as it was her first visit to our local hill
As we sat on the summit drinking tea, the cloud started thickening around us, but we didn't care now. We have seen the best of the views already
We were back down in 5 hours and that including all the lengthy photo sessions
Wyvis is really a half-day hill and technically, one can add the wee brother if bagging Corbetts as well. I would suggest leaving Little Wyvis for a proper winter day - it tastes better white!
So it goes to show that even a boring slog up a well known hill can be a great adventure and in this case, what a treat we had with the cloud inversion! Thank you, brother Wyvis, for a superb start to the new year. Season 2017 officially... open!
PS. It has snowed heavily over Northern Scotland over the last couple of days, so the bare views are gone, at least for a few days, the hills are white again and I bet we won't stay home the coming weekend!
