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My first 'walk diary'
Ben Challum, my 65th munro. They've become something of an addiction since moving to Scotland a year or so ago. I've always loved the outdoors and it doesn't get any better than today... Fresh snowfall had transformed what could otherwise have been a boggy slog into a crisp white winter wonderland.
Gaining height the view behind towards the Tyndrum Hills was stunning...
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- The view over the shoulder of the Tyndrum Hills
There's a brief respite of relatively flat ground where you get your first view of the southern, and to a lesser extent the northern summit. The only tracks in the snow are those of the dogs; and this is where it started to get quite deep, thigh deep in many places, and the climb to the south summit was a tiring one!
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- The first sight of the south and north summits of Ben Challum
Finally, after a long slog / wade through the snow the southern top is reached with a gorgeous view to the northern summit.
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- The view to the North Summit from the south summit
And after a short but fun ridge walk the summit is reached, number 65, and a memorable one
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- Me on the summit of Ben Challum
The descent was much easier and I half fell / half slid pretty much all the way back in around an hour. The stats of the walk from 'My Tracks' by google on my HTC Phone...
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- My Tracks...
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- My Tracks, the stats...
After the walk and a refreshing hard earnt pint the light becomes to die for and it's time to indulge in my photographic passions with a real camera which slightly beats the camera phone!
Scotlands' 16th and 18th highest mountains of Ben More and Stob Binnein to the left of the image dominate the skyline above Crianlarich in Perthshire, Scotland. Cruach Ardrain lies off to the right of the picture; in the summer months all of these hills and one more behind were a single days outing for Whiskey (my chocolate labrador) and I; some 30 km including over 8,000 feet of ascent. No chance at this time of year though where the daylight hours are too short for such an adventure. Whispers of mist and cloud line the valley, and they, together with the mountain summits, turn pink with the setting sun...
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- The Crianlarich Hills at sunset in fresh snow...
