It's been a long time in coming. Last time we were up a proper hill (sorry Hill of Stake and Blaeloch Hill) was back in early December when Inverclyde had a brief "Level 2" status period. The intervening months have taken their toll on me mentally and physically - I've lost all my hill fitness and gained two stones in weight. Allison injured her shoulder on our last walk and sadly has been having ongoing problems with that - today was the first time she has put on a rucksack in more than 4 months.

We had been - like many other folk on here- vaguely looking forward to April 26th for some hill-liberation and the unexpected (to me at any rate, having become inured to every day being like the one before) announcement that we could go out places from today was a surprise. Allison was quite clear - she wanted nice easy Munros with paths, none of our more recent Marilyn death traps thank you very much. With a good weather forecast we guessed the roads and hills would be crammed. With a hint of nostalgia, we chose Narnain and Ime - which had been our first Munros together, back in another space/time dimension when viruses didn't prevent you from living your life. That had been a memorable outing as we had managed to get lost (several times) although clag had a good deal to do with that. We'd been up the hills subsequently, having come in from the east over A Chrois and returning over Ben Vane - ah these were the days when we had some fitness...

Getting up early was a shock to the system - recently I've been languishing in bed til 8 or 9, and I thought we should make a start no later than 7. Beautiful sunny, crisp morning, the roads busy through Dumbarton, but ok up the A82. It felt weird to be driving for so long... We passed the already almost full car park at Succoth - no way am I paying £9 to park my car - and drove along the road just under a km to an alternative and free parking spot. How was the day going to go? Would we be able to manage some sustained elevation after all these months out of the saddle?

We walked past the little path that heads directly up Narnain and had to turn around - good start! The dry weather meant the ground wasn't bad underfoot and we took it steadily on the ascent. I don't remember the path being as clear as this from 2012 - indeed there are lots of path improvements all around these hills. It was lovely to be in amongst mountains again, with proper views. A light haze sa over Ben Arthur, the odd patch of snow in a gully here and there where the sun's rays haven't penetrated. A wee scramble up to the summit, Allison being careful of her injured arm. And no-one else at the top - quite surprised (although a hill runner did silently appear and then disappear).

6E6D52C5-3209-40A3-A718-85A0188B2D6F_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

EB7C6006-05C1-40F4-91DD-4CCDE9453369_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

723E875F-4AEB-4E23-BEFE-4A604D2E633E_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

4FAB35BD-F631-46C6-AD23-DBFF0BD570E8_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

C749616B-0CD2-4C74-AE52-A7CBF73868C7_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

This was how we looked in the same spot in Sept 2012...
P1010045 by Al, on Flickr

We wandered down towards the bealach with Ime, wondering how we could have gone so badly wrong the first time we were here. Stopping for an early lunch at the lowest point we watched several groups of people head up or descend from Ime. It looked a long way up from where we were sitting. However, the new path made the ascent very smooth. We sat for a bit at the summit, chatting to some folk already there and watching the odd raven flying past. A covering of residual snow coated the north face of the corrie ahead of us.

CB6A4E3F-872E-436F-B5E9-1DA7B6A16B23_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

B3DBF475-1A03-4E82-975E-27BC0C19673E_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

As we made our way slowly down, the question was - do we do Ben Arthur as well? It seemed a shame not to - especially as we would walk past the path up and it was only another 270m ascent. I thought about the calories being burned and maybe being able - in the coming weeks - to get into some of the hill-gear that no longer fits me. We arrived at the top, with no-one else around - another surprise. I'd swithered whether or not to go up to the summit rock - it was fairly windy and I was feeling a little unsure of scrambles, but Allison was away ahead of me, crawling through Argyll's Eyeglass. Given that she has little use of her left arm at present, I was slightly anxious about the moves she'd have to make getting onto the top rock and followed behind. Of course she was fine. There was a climber or guide with ropes on the other side of the summit block, so that we could hear him but not see him...after we'd been up and down we saw him on the top assisting a lady up on a rope. One downside of us summiting this is that we'll now feel obliged to get on with a third round of Corbetts although Allison was of the opinion that there were plenty of other targets to achieve before that (like finishing off the Grahams for the second round I muttered, but I don't think she heard me...).

D55DD16A-CD0A-4530-8270-BD4DD8AA8380_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

B13EA556-AC68-4073-8399-BCCB08E3D29D_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

We headed down the way we'd come up and walked back along the track towards the zigzags. it was getting on for 4pm by this time and we passed a number of folk heading up for a walk or whatever. By the time we were at the bottom section of the zigzags we could both feel the effects of the unaccustomed effort in our legs, although not that bad to be honest. Whether that will be the same story tomorrow remains to be seen.

CFCF1340-6CC1-4E42-A0AC-AF53E7BC0466_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr