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It`s always good to read folks reports on their wild camping exploits & the hills they do away under canvas , like most on here i think it`s read with a wee bit of envy - i`d love to have more free time - to be able to just to take off , maybe i need to prioritise more ?
Anyway i decided to (try
) and do Beinn Tulaichean & Cruach Ardrain , then wild camp overnight & continue in the morning over to Ben More and Stob Binnein.
A plan was hatched , i saw the route elsewhere on the web - 2200 m & 18km a tall order for me , but with an overnight camp at height i thought , aye give it a bash.
Luckily i was off for all the Easter w/end , MWIS had advised of good weather , but then the forecast for Saturday changed to a poorer outlook , no probs though i won`t melt !!!
So all was set for Good Friday as i had a lunch time finish at work in sight . Wrong. I got away at 330pm ,drat & double drat ! , home , a quick coffee , changed , packed & off with Oskar in tow.
But i had a detour.........i`d discovered only the previous night that my tent was missing
I went to get it from the shed & saw a vacant space where it should be , turned out my son had "borrowed" it last year to do T-in-the-park & hadn`t returned it -this i`d forgotten/overlooked. Fone calls over - said tent wasn`t at his house ,seemingly it may have not made it back from last years`T
. It was only an old Eurohike dome tent & i`d certainly had my moneys worth out of it over the years , but i now had a problem-no tent. So i decided to get a new one after work , but my brother foned & said i could borrow his , great
so a wee detour via Bannockburn to collect the tent , then off to Inverlochlarig.
By the time i arrived here & got underway it was the wrong side of 5pm b******* .
Time was now a problem , but i`d worry about that later - the sun was shinning away gloriously & a wee breeze helped cool things down. I took the route suggested here & thoroughly enjoyed the climb & the views opening with height , meeting & chatting with a group of 3 on their way down -the only people i saw.
Upwards & onwards i was feeling the pull , i`d not done a munro since 5/3 & the indulgancies of a recent holiday in NYC weren`t helping (i`ve put back on 7lbs - lost 2st last year).
Time now came into play. After Beinn Tulaichean the light was fading .
West towards Beinn a` Chroin / An Caisteal ??
I could see clearly over to Stob Binnein & Ben More , & realised i wouldn`t be going anywhere near them tonight
mmmmhhhh........thems far away !!!!!
Oskar on Beinn Tulaichean
I decided to cut my losses & camp a short distance before Cruach Ardrain.
I was very hungry , time to get the tent up & fire up my gas burner for tea , cumberland sausages - which by now would have defrosted & a tin of heinz beans great .
This was when things went wrong , terminally wrong
I unpacked my brother Eddies tent - which was new & apparently hadn`t been used - ever.
Lo and behold no tent pegs
none.
I donned my head torch in an effort to "shed light on the situation " - check , check , yes NO tent pegs
To calm me down i fired up the gas burner & made tea as we both needed to eat , despite being totally sick with no tent pegs i really enjoyed the sausages , as did Oskar.
What to do next ???? Fone for a helicopter ?? (there was no signal ) Walk off the hill ?? I had a hand torch as well as my head torch & spare batteries , but that would have been calling it a day .
Well i decided to rough it , I had an emergency rescue bag in my rucksack , so i unwrapped it put my sleeping bag inside & climbed in
I was pleased with this & had a celebratory can of cider as a post dinner drink , it was just before 11pm & quite clear a starry night - all was well i was nice & cosy in my bright orange cocoon.
This worked really well.................untill Lionel Ritchie - " All Night Long " & the rain Gods came out on the night shift
I could have wept.
So Oskar joined me inside the emergency bag , it`s roomy enough for a full grown standard schnauzer & a "fully grown" man. Cosy.
I hope as you read this part you are laughing , i really do.If someone had told me this story i`d be bent over double.
It was my own fault , i didn`t check the tent i`d borrowed, i should have checked my own in advance not just the night before i was due to go away. I`m sure some of you on here have forgotten more vital items & for any newish type members (a wee bit like me 13 months + now ) you must be prepared for anything.
Theres no 24 hr stores open at 3000ft for the little things you`ve left at home.
So after a fairly rough night i got up at 530am , i`d considered walking off , but decided to continue & summit Cruach Ardrain .
Oskar on Cruach Ardrain
But Ben More and Stob Binnein were most definately cancelled for another day , i`ll probably redo them from Inverlochlarig just like 2 dalmations did on Good Friday -but hopefully in the sun shine
I quite enjoyed going onto Cruach Ardrain , it lifted my spirits after being a bit low & was easier as i`d left my rucksack on the trail below. There were no views from the summitt as the fotos of Oskar show , but i didn`t feel robbed by that , it was an achievement in the circumstances. On the way down i veered down towards Inverlochlarig Glen rather than go back over Beinn Tulaichean , it was
very wet , but it was ALL downhill
& brought us onto the track/road out.
The glen was pretty much closed in with very low cloud , no views at all.
Glen Inverlochlarig on the way out.
I wouldn`t have wanted to climb Ben More & Stob Binnein in these conditions , so if the tent situation hadn`t happened i`d probably have walked out anyway.
A wee stop in Callander for a fresh coffee then home for a wee sleep.
So looking back today Sunday- yesterdays weather ( Saturday ) improved greatly later in the day after a very dire morning.
Hopefully it`s Bridge of Orchy area on Easter Monday.
