The Cruachan Horseshoe

I had heard several accounts from friends and Romans describing Ben Cruachan and Stob Diamh as a great day out. The entire route taking in several other peaks totalled 1900m in ascent and I thorougly looked forward to pushing myself physically. David C and I headed up and were on the hill for the respectble time of 0845 on a Sunday morning. No mucking about with warm-up's here, it was an unrelenting climb from the roadside and while I was glad I was quite hill-fit, David struggled initially. However, once we made our way up to the reservoir, we began to enjoy the fantastic vista and the peace which goes with it. We started up Meall Cuanail and I decided not to tell David we'd have to go down 70m after topping out on MC at 918m - higher than some Munro's. The descent off MC was tricky but once at the col, we began the final climb up Ben Cruachan's boulder slopes, which really took it out of us - check David's face in that photo - ho ho! We had lunch at the summit and with the clag right in, we felt like we were truly on the top of the world - I suppose at 3758 ft, we were the highest bodes South of the Mamores. We began the descent towards Drochaid Glas and it was very bouldery on the way down. I implored David to check the drops into the wild corries but he wasn't impressed i.e. he asked who coughed or at least that's what I thought he said. We carried on towards Stob Diamh and the views were stunning although looking back, we still couldn't see the summit of our 1st objective. Once at Stob Diamh, we began to relax and enjoyed the walk back down though by the time we got back to the initial steep path down to the car, we were almost running on empty. I turned round and saw David salivating, arms out saying "Fish supper, pickled onions, lard" on more than one occasion resembling something out of Night of the Living Dead. Back at the car, we changed footwear and congratulated each other on a good day's walking and a fine physical effort. I phoned Emma and said "Food, I want Fray Bentos...lots of food". It is only after a day on the hill that one can truly appreciate the finer tastes in life i.e. batter and lard.

Carn Ghluasaid

Or pee lucozade? On our way up to Lewis, we drove through Glen Shiel and stayed at the Cluanie Inn. However, in order to earn our reward of copious ale and grub, we decided to tackle this Munro. This was to be Emma's 10th Munro and as such, she was slightly apprehensive about it and the prospect of being labelled a bagger! The view across Loch Cluanie was fab and the stalker's path was excellent, allowing for rapid height to be gained, although a starting point of 250m may have helped. Before the zig zags up the hill, we had almost trodden on 2 toads and had a go at capturing them. Much mirth was had. Toad-trapping? Better than toot-trapping. The path was brilliant all the way to the summit plateau although by this time, the good weather had given away to rain and falling temperatures. Up until this point, Emma hadn't moaned once and was enjoying herself. Was she now a fair-weather bagger or had she really hurt her back? Cry wolf, Emma....Anyhoo, a summit photo (could be anywhere really) and it was back down the hill which was quick and no doubt the prospect of booze accelerated Emma's descent. It always does, n'est-ce pas? Once back at the car, it was midgey hell and we made a quick retreat to the Cluanie for some fantastic grub and lovely drink. The meal consisted of two great Aberdeen Angus burgers with Monterey Jack cheese, fries and a lovely side salad. Alcohol consisted of Red Cuillin (wonderful), Tempranillo wine and a wee rare whisky from the proprietor. A lovely day out once again and well done Emma on the double figure mark!