Well slightly warmer weather and strong winds and scoured the slopes and melted the snow this morning. Will and I decided to head up Bynack More. Its about 22km round trip, but most of it is on 4x4 track so its a relatively easy day.
As we walked through Glenmore Forest it felt like a spring day not a winters day. Well we made our way towards the mountain chatting shop and planning an Intro to Winter Walking course for next year (anyone interested) we came across a Ski mountaineer with the largest bag that either of us have seen for a long time.
As we walked through Glenmore Forest it felt like a spring day not a winters day. Well we made our way towards the mountain chatting shop and planning an Intro to Winter Walking course for next year (anyone interested) we came across a Ski mountaineer with the largest bag that either of us have seen for a long time.
Honestly this was taken in January!
The steep summit slopes of Bynack More rose above us before we met anyone else. There as we tried to hide from the biting winds we met a couple of ladies who were heading towards the summit. Unfortunately as we watched they struggled on the snow slopes. It looked as if the wind was getting the better of them. The line they were following, although the obvious line, was the very crest of the ridge of Bynack More. Thus they took the fully brunt of the wind and after a doze of meters hight gain they turned round and retreated.
They looked quite shaken up as they chatted to us about the difficulty of the task ahead of us. one suggested that if she had been wearing her crampons she might have been able to continue. We thanked them for their advice, said that we would have a look a the snow when we got to it and picked our line up the ridge. We stayed in the lee of the hill and although the wind was still strong it was not impossible to walk through.
We made the summit without the need to spike up, intact I'm sure crampons would have been detrimental to walking on the frozen summit gravel. After a quick bite to eat on the summit we decided to pop over to Bynack Beg before heading back to Glenmore Lodge.
Even though it lacked much snow it was a truly shattering day out. The wind has a draining effect on your body. Will decided that he was going to head back towards South Wales and give himself longer for the drive and to recover at the other end. So after a few good days we said our farewell and agreed to meet again later in the season.
They looked quite shaken up as they chatted to us about the difficulty of the task ahead of us. one suggested that if she had been wearing her crampons she might have been able to continue. We thanked them for their advice, said that we would have a look a the snow when we got to it and picked our line up the ridge. We stayed in the lee of the hill and although the wind was still strong it was not impossible to walk through.
We made the summit without the need to spike up, intact I'm sure crampons would have been detrimental to walking on the frozen summit gravel. After a quick bite to eat on the summit we decided to pop over to Bynack Beg before heading back to Glenmore Lodge.
Even though it lacked much snow it was a truly shattering day out. The wind has a draining effect on your body. Will decided that he was going to head back towards South Wales and give himself longer for the drive and to recover at the other end. So after a few good days we said our farewell and agreed to meet again later in the season.
The view up Strath Nethy. Where has all the snow gone?