After Beinn Eighe we had 2 days of utterly horrid weather, Sarah and I went on a road trip to Gairlochy and took shelter in a pub with free Wifi and cake on day one and we ran back to Fort William on day two. So today we tried to get the better of the weather... That is that we planed a route that would expose us to as little of the wind as possible. It kind of worked.
The idea was that we would have a short day from Kinlochleven, shooting up Am Bodach. To get to the Coll nipped along the West Highland Way for a short while before heading North up a scar of a path in to the coire. after a plod through deep slushy snow. This was not ideal.
The slightly daunting and surprising thing was this pair of large grey spectres that preceded our every step. Try as we might we could not shake them away from us. It was beginning to make me feel that the Big Grey Man of MacDui might be on holiday! I turned on my heels to run from the mountain in terror! As I turned I was instantly blinded by this glowing ball of fire in the sky... With a sigh of relief I realised that the Big Grey Men that had been apparently preempting our every step were only our shadows. It has been that long since we saw our shadows we had forgotten what they looked like.
Ok well that was an exaggeration but it was sunny and we were shocked. Disappointingly the sun was short lived. As we reached the higher inner coire the wind whipped round us. As we reached the Coll, the full force of the wind bombarded us, gusting so strongly that it was all we could do to stand. I had the choice of trying to stand up, or navigating. The cloud had quickly returned to hide our ridge and summit from view.
After a few paces it was clear that it was time to turn back. We turned on our heels and fled the coll back the shelter of the coire. Mere meters below the coll we broke out of the cloud and the wind died.
Aw we walked back down our tracks and returned to Kinlochleven and coffee in the ice factor we were forced to console ourselves with the motto of Scottish winter... The Mountains will be there another day, make sure you are. Its always the right choice to turn round and run away from them.
The idea was that we would have a short day from Kinlochleven, shooting up Am Bodach. To get to the Coll nipped along the West Highland Way for a short while before heading North up a scar of a path in to the coire. after a plod through deep slushy snow. This was not ideal.
The slightly daunting and surprising thing was this pair of large grey spectres that preceded our every step. Try as we might we could not shake them away from us. It was beginning to make me feel that the Big Grey Man of MacDui might be on holiday! I turned on my heels to run from the mountain in terror! As I turned I was instantly blinded by this glowing ball of fire in the sky... With a sigh of relief I realised that the Big Grey Men that had been apparently preempting our every step were only our shadows. It has been that long since we saw our shadows we had forgotten what they looked like.
Ok well that was an exaggeration but it was sunny and we were shocked. Disappointingly the sun was short lived. As we reached the higher inner coire the wind whipped round us. As we reached the Coll, the full force of the wind bombarded us, gusting so strongly that it was all we could do to stand. I had the choice of trying to stand up, or navigating. The cloud had quickly returned to hide our ridge and summit from view.
After a few paces it was clear that it was time to turn back. We turned on our heels and fled the coll back the shelter of the coire. Mere meters below the coll we broke out of the cloud and the wind died.
Aw we walked back down our tracks and returned to Kinlochleven and coffee in the ice factor we were forced to console ourselves with the motto of Scottish winter... The Mountains will be there another day, make sure you are. Its always the right choice to turn round and run away from them.
The beach in Gairlochy
