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Feeling pretty miserable in miserable conditions...
As the rest of UK baked in some of the hottest May conditions in years, I decided to go to the one region where winter was still hanging on!! Beinn Loinne lies just to the east of some fabulous Munro walking territory and was still on my list of Corbetts to tick off...
Apparently the views from the top are pretty good - not today though.... As always in Scotland if you wait for the good weather you probably wouldn't get much done, so I headed off on the bike with road spray making sure I was soaked from the off:) The old road to the isles is pretty decent for biking up and I was soon gaining height to the point where I would ditch the bike and head off on foot. The first part of the walk from the road to the higher ground and shoulder was a bit boggy and perhaps best done in cold, frozen conditions or after a dry spell. The rain was battering down and the wind howling round my ears. I was feeling pretty low in general and TBH the weather and hike wasn't helping my mood... Usually I always enjoy the outdoors what ever the weather but not today! I was soon in the cloud and the wind was getting stronger as was the rain. A bit of navigation and I was quick to turn my back on the summit and get back down across the bog. I was glad I had the bike to reduce the time suffering on the hill and I spend back down the old road , now not caring about the rain as I was soaked through along time ago...
To say I was glad to be back in the car with the heaters on was an under statement. The radio en route home was full of the hottest May Day in years down south - it brought a smile to my face....
P.S. NB from later in the year - shortly after this trip the weather in Scotland turned and we had about 3 months of rainless, blue skies - super summer weather... more than made up for this one
(written with tongue in cheek, secretly still glad to have get out even in the miserable weather
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