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having been away from the hills for 3 weeks due to a chest injury and the prospect of the WH meet up the week after myself and thomas chose the Glenshee 6 as our walk for the 5th,i had been feeling pretty hill fit for the start of the year and thought this would be an ideal walk to get me back into the swing of things in preparation for the meet up,although i had no idea how much fitness i had lost in only 2 weeks.
we set off at 5:30am from the south side of glasgow arriving at the northern car park around 8:20am where we chained up our bikes and drove back to the start point of our walk.........no,make that 'epic trek',not really taking note of how steep the hill was that we drove up after leaving the bikes.
We set off around 8:30,myself full of excitement at being out on the hills for the first time in 3 weeks and we made good time with our usual quick pace,from reading about the walk i knew the hardest part was going to be reaching the first summit and after that there wasnt too much descent and then ascent from one to the other.
The weather was fairly good with very little wind although the cloud was in and it didnt take us long to catch a group of 4 walkers that had set off before us
we passed them just before summit and upon meeting them had realised that it was two guys we had previously met on the cobbler in december,we stopped for a quick photo and a chat at Creag Leacach then headed off into the cloud aiming for Glas Maol
we again reached a good pace,eager to bag the second summit and caught sight of another group in front of us just as were nearing the summit of Glas Maol
Again after a quick stop we set off for Cairn of Claise and as we neared the summit the weather gods took pity and the sky started to clear with the sun beginning to shine through which was a welcome sight
however,this is the point that i realised that my hill fitness was beginning to desert me,with thomas storming up to the summit ahead and myself begginning to feel the burn in my legs
i eventually reached the summit which was my well deserved excuse for a prolonged stop to try and let my legs rest before taking on the second leg of our journey
From the summit we were having a slight problem making out which bump in the beautiful landscape was Tolmount so after taking a map check we set of knowing that it was aroun a 50 minute walk to it,so off we went,myself gladly welcoming the descent on my weary legs and enjoying the stunning landscape as the views opened up
Again as we started the ascent onto Tolmount my legs started telling me that the rest of the day was going to be hard going and as i reached summit i was overjoyed to stop for lunch and get another break,hoping that somehow the break would make the rest of the day more 'comfortable' for me
After a fairly short descent we began to head back up toward Tom Buidhe,the 5th summit of what was,for me at least, a tough going day.My legs by this point were telling me to lie down,'no more please' but with the thought that once we reached Tom Buidhe i only had one more summit to go i plodded on and reached the summit,still in good time
With renewed vigour we set off after a quick summit snap was taken and i have to say this last leg of the journey was not as bad....maybe knowing it was the final ascent helped my legs,which were now feeling very,very tired.Upon reaching Carn an Tuirc i was over the moon that i had managed to last to this point,feeling chuffed to bits that the bulk of the walk was over.after our summit snaps
we 'bum' sledged most of the way down the hill and it then hit me like a ton of bricks as i posed the question
'is that the road we need to cycle up that has just come into view?'
'aye,thats right' replied thomas
i cant put down what my reaction was and the thought of the cycling up the hill tainted the walk out for me but we reached the bikes,saddled up and set about the task of reaching the ski centre knowing that it was downhill from there to the van.needless to say i managed about 30ft on the bike before i was forced by my legs to get off and walk,with the only thought in my head being 'i need to lie down,for a long time before i can even consider going up this road'
i eventually struggled my way to the ski centre where i caught up with Thomas and we free-wheeled all the way back the the start of our day.
even though i was done in by the third hill it gave me immense satisfaction to have completed the walk and the drive home was actually not too bad.
all in all a fantastic day back out in the hills and a great warm up walk for the WH meet up this weekend,which i'm really looking forward to,see you all there