An education on the cobbler
Route: The Cobbler, Arrochar
Corbetts: The Cobbler
Date walked: 15/03/2013
Distance: 11km
Having only recently started walking again after many years off and after only a couple of walks I decided that something a little bit more challenging may be order of the day.
Having decided that I wanted to climb the Cobbler, I called an old friend and asked his advice. Fortunately he had been up the hill only a few days previously and reckoned with a bit of advice and guidance I would find it more challenging to go up between the two peaks and return down behind the hill.
The weather was less than perfect with lots of low cloud and a fair bit of snow on the north/west side of the hill. The initial approach to the Cobbler was a great walk but due to the cloud the scenery was out of sight all day.
As we reached the fork in the path and took a left, I reached for the set of instructions/ directions my friend had emailed me and continued up the path. As the path steepened and the ice and snow thickened I began to realize what my friend had meant as "challenging" I'm sure under summer conditions this walk is relatively tame , however in winter, on this route I found it very engaging and exciting. I found my senses hightened probably triggered by my self preservation mechanism and whilst I never once felt in real danger, I was very aware that a mistake could have put me in a very dangerous situation.
As we reached the Cairn at the top between the two peaks we met a group of walkers who had obviously come up for a walking holiday. They asked about the route we had just came up, to which I explained was "heavy going" . This advice was ignored and the group proceeded to go down the steep path. I was later told by another walker that they gave up and returned down the hill the same route they came up.
This experience has left me with a desire for more winter walking and has also encouraged me to find a suitable course on winter walking.
Having decided that I wanted to climb the Cobbler, I called an old friend and asked his advice. Fortunately he had been up the hill only a few days previously and reckoned with a bit of advice and guidance I would find it more challenging to go up between the two peaks and return down behind the hill.
The weather was less than perfect with lots of low cloud and a fair bit of snow on the north/west side of the hill. The initial approach to the Cobbler was a great walk but due to the cloud the scenery was out of sight all day.
As we reached the fork in the path and took a left, I reached for the set of instructions/ directions my friend had emailed me and continued up the path. As the path steepened and the ice and snow thickened I began to realize what my friend had meant as "challenging" I'm sure under summer conditions this walk is relatively tame , however in winter, on this route I found it very engaging and exciting. I found my senses hightened probably triggered by my self preservation mechanism and whilst I never once felt in real danger, I was very aware that a mistake could have put me in a very dangerous situation.
As we reached the Cairn at the top between the two peaks we met a group of walkers who had obviously come up for a walking holiday. They asked about the route we had just came up, to which I explained was "heavy going" . This advice was ignored and the group proceeded to go down the steep path. I was later told by another walker that they gave up and returned down the hill the same route they came up.
This experience has left me with a desire for more winter walking and has also encouraged me to find a suitable course on winter walking.
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Beginners Luck on Ben A'an
Date walked: 28/02/2013Comments: 11
Views: 4333
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ceegee
- Location: glasgow
- Place: Glen Coe
- Munros: 14
- Corbetts: 4
- Fionas: 1
- Sub 2000: 2
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- Trips: 2
- Distance: 11 km
- Corbetts: 1
- Joined: Feb 28, 2013
- Last visited: Nov 16, 2015
- Total posts: 67 | Search posts