Beinn Climbed

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Bagged another two Munros on Saturday. We had hoped to do three, but a late start combined with poor visibility limited us to Beinn Narnain (Hill of the notches) and Beinn Ime (Hill of butter). Morag was upset when I asked her if she loved me and if I could spend a Saturday with the blokes, but she seems to have had a good time with Leigh in Glasgow so it all worked out just fine.

We didn't start climbing until half past twelve. Luckily it stays light out until after 9:00, or else we would have had difficulty getting down to the cars before dark. As you can see from the map above, we left one car at Arrochar (who would have thought that six grown men could fit into a Ford Fiesta!) and collected the other one at Inveruglas. The ascent of Beinn Narnain met with little difficulty. We met a lady along the way who had lost her dog in the mist, but we didn't find the poor creature. Embarrassingly, we were passed on the final leg of the trail up by a nearly naked man running up the mountain, who seems to have run the remaining 800 feet up and back down before we had climbed 400 feet. By this time, the mist had engulfed us. It was only with the help of the GPS and our maps that we managed to find the ridge leading to Beinn Ime.

The taller mountain (1011 metres, compared to 926), a few of us had some difficulty climbing it. Thankfully, my trekking poles greatly helped to carry my extra stone or two up the hill. The descent was actually more of a challenge, as we had to navigate the northeast face down through some fairly steep crags. Once was pasted the crags, the mountainside turned to marsh. I really need a pair of gortex or waterproof boots. Luckily, wool socks are not as bad as cotton once your feet get soaked. The marshy hillside then gave way to a proper bog in the stunning glen near Lag Uaine, eliminated any remaining dry patch on our clothing. I sank in to my knee at one point, and it was impossible to determine where the ground actually was through the grass and water. At last we reached a road, where we all rung out our socks and started the final hike to Unveruglas.

It was 9:00 when we reached Douglas' car, so we decided to get some chow. The nearest place open was a church-restaurant conversion, the Ben Lomond in Tarbet, with medieval decor. We all enjoyed a cold drink, and warm meal - haggis, for the most part-, and some good cheer. Chris dropped me off in Linlithgow at 1:30.

I love the great outdoors.