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Hi, this is my first ever walk report so bear with me and ill do the best i can to make it half interesting. if you dont read to the end then you will miss the bit about the aliens and the wooly mammoth attack
ok now i have your attention let us begin..............................
I havnt done as much hillwalking in my life as i would have liked but im changing that now, and im lucky to have some like minded friends that are keen to get out on the hills and see some of our great scenery, so it was my friend Tommy(Tomyboy73) that suggested we tackled Ben Narnain, this would be my first munro and the 2/3rd time he had climbed it. So we decided that sunday 6/2/11 would be when we would go, after checking weather etc the day before we planned to meet in paisley, and in an act of enviromentaly friendlyism, traveled in one car to Arrochar, to the famous car park that has 28 pay and display signs but also has the invisible pay and display machine. Now before i write anymore there are a couple of details d like to point out, im 34, have recently given up smoking 4 weeks ago so by my own admission im not in the best state of fitness that i should be, Tommy on the other hand is like a nibble mountain goat compared to me but im only saying that because i felt i was holding him back at times and he clearly had the fitness i desired(thanks for your patience bud). So after munching on a packet of wine gums we suited and booted and headed across the road to the forest path with my own chant of "man i love an adventure" still ringing in my ears.....
Of course i had done a bit of reading through the week, checking the walk reports on here etc to see what i was in for but i still managed a laugh when 12 yards along the path we headed right off it and up into sum under growth, the reason i laughed was because the word path had been used several times to describe this orc like trampling through the undergrowth that we were now walking up and i guess i wasnt expecting it to be quite so rugged and full on right from the off but hey ho of we go, pretty soon though i realised that i was going to have to take it easier than i thought, breathing instantly became hard and the tingly burn of the lactic acid started to tickle my leg muscles so the apologies to Tommy started early on but with great grace and patience he didnt seem a bit bothered, plus we both knew that fitness was obviously going to show on the walk so with short bursts we made it up by the old concrete blocks that
were part of the old hydro/electric project, walking this way let u see the tide come in down at the shores of loch Long and with lots of low cloud we savoured this as maybe being our only view for the day. But it was onwards and upwards, the ascent really is unrelenting when you aren't used to it and as we reached the plaque of the Arrochar mountain rescue we stopped for a longer break to catch a breath, we were rewarded with a break in the clouds and the view behind us started changing before our eyes as the clouds started to break a little.
Now we were ready for the first bit of easy scrambling, so far the weather had been kind, no rain, no wind just a bit cloudy so the rocks wernt bad at all to negotiate and we started to make a bit better progress, Tommy kept the lead picking out our route and pointing out interesting rock formations and telling me of the caves that were near to where we were climbing, pushing on and gaining altitude we startd to come across snow and wih the snow came a lovely suprise, after walking for so long without the hint of any wildlife we stumbled across mr and mrs ptarmigan out for there own sunday constitutional.
they let us get pretty close but then decided to show us how, even with 2 inch of legs ,to really walk up mountains. They were gone in a shot and we were left in the er.....snow trail. We pushed on for another bit before agreeing that a bit of food and a hot cuppa was in order. This is the part where a friend of ours (Jimmy O) gains legendary status, for it was Jimmy that had given Tommy the kettle!!!!!!! from a little bag Tommy pulls this spikey metal object, puts it on top of the bottle of gas and in a let there be light kinda moment ignites the beast, in an instant a crackin flame and heat sprung to life, and with mini kettle filled and cups ready i then played my Brucie bonus hand..... a pint of milk and a brace of the wifes home made muffins put a smile on our faces that is usualy reserved for the perusing of certain websites that we would rather look at alone.........like this one
Munched up, refuelled and rested it was now time to mov on and finish the climb, we quickly reached a boggy flat section and we managed to catch a view of the path that takes you to the cobbler and Ime but we kept our eyes upwards and a quick scramble again we were up and over another summit of sorts but T explained this was just leading us to the final bit of the climb, the snow was now still thick on the ground and it made sum of the walking here slow, especialy as half my leg woul dissapear into it at times.
The last part of the climb came into view and we both looked at each other and agreed that this is why we wanted to come walking, why we wanted to push ourselves, push our nerves and why ultimately hillwalking in these conditions makes a football match look trivial in comparison
we could hear voices up ahead and we caught sight of 3 climbers more than half way up so off we went after them, we tracked there foot prints and followed there path up the last section, taking care as there was still a lot of snow we carried on upwards, throughout the walk Tommy had been telling me about the steep valley of rock that would lead us to the top and as we approached we noticed that the walkers that had gone bofore us had avoided this section but im so glad we didnt, being the last scramble of the climb and with the conditions as they were this was so rewarding as we carefully picked our way up between the narrow rock outcrop, it was a suprise as the ground leveled and the top of the hill flattened off, from further down i expected the top to be a rocky and narrow pinnacle but was amazed at the wide flat summit, through the gloom of the clouds we approached the summit cairn and came across the walkers we heard earlier and a perfect little snowman
and me and Tommy
The weather had as i said been very kind to us all day, we were rewarded with a glimmer of sunshine on the summit but it was short lived and as the sun light was swallowed by the gloom the wind got up and the snow started and gave us our cue to get tae. so we followed the snow covered path the best we could and headed down the back of the hill and headed for the path to the cobbler, this was a pain in the arse if i can be blunt, very wet, very snowy and very slippy, the legs were burning again for us both and we couldnt really get a good pace going because of the shody conditions underfoot, you dont want to risk an injury on the hills any time but nothing to me seems as silly as injuring urself coming off a hill so gingerly we made our way down, the lower we got, the more the snow turned rainy and for the first time we had the jackets zipped up and the rain covers on the bags. Pretty soon we were on the path at the base of the cobbler and we headed back to the car park, i dont know how many people were out walking that day but i was amazed at the people that overtook us on the way back, and it always amazes me the pace people can walk at because we werent hanging around but were making way for couples and groups all the way back, nearing the end of the walk we both vented our anger at that bloody zig zag path that you have to walk to get back to the car, its so unrewarding, anyway we couldnt wait to get our bums on a seat and the last of the wine gums. Such a rewarding walk that required a lot of effort but withall the different elements made it one of the best walks ive ever done,the great company also helped.
p.s sorry if you read all the way down to find out about the aliens and the mammoths but i was only kidding about them