Hill Strolling

Dry days- 126
Days of rain- 114

I had big plans for this weekend- the Doc was in New York, so I had 4 days to play. I had made an itinery for these 4 days which would tick 15 Munros, sleeping in the back of the Big Car and drinking beer.

Yesterday I dropped the Doc and friends at Manc Aerodrome at 6am, them popped back to pack stuff before heading North. I arrived at Glen Shee before 2pm. Buoyed up by a Tesco Cheese and Onion pasty thing (Sorry Rick) I stomped up The Cairnwell, then Carn a'Gheoidh and finally Carn Aosda. The weather was nice, I felt good and I was back at the car in 2 hours and 40 minutes. I drove towards Braemar until I spotted a nice layby, and stopped. I read 20 pages of Anna Karenina, drank 4 cans of Stella and ate a bowl of chilli I made yesterday. After this I bedded down in the boot having set the alarm for 5am.

5am came to the sound of rain. I looked out the window and decided to get another hour's sleep.

6am arrived- it was drying up, still some drizzle and mist but better. I ate some Weetabix then drove round to Inverey. After putting the Stella casns in the recycling I got going at 7am on the 8km cycle up Glen Ey. Now, I am no cyclist and my ass aches as I type. There was another guy and his dog that set off before me, although he seemed pretty quick.

It was pretty clear initially, and it took me an hour to get to the Altanour ruin. I dumped the bike and started walking. I was planning to follow the McNeish route, but as thunder was forecast later on I decided to reverse the route, so if I had to bail the remaining hills were accessible without repeating the cycle.

The stomp up Carn Bhac was hard- shin deep heather, bog and midges. I also ended up going over the summit of Cam Creagach, which needlessly added 300m of ascent. It took 90 minutes to get to Carn Bhac from the ruin, but it all looked calm at this point.

Next up was a bog march. Very tiring, sucking bog for 5km. And then it started to rain- gently at first so I put on my waterproof jacket. I took a direct line (read: miserable slog) straight up to the Beinn Iutharn Mhor ridge. At the point the heavens opened and with 60 seconds my trousers were soaked. I sprinted to the cairn where I took some shelter and put my waterproof trousers on then ate some lunch.

The guy I had seen leaving Inverey appeared at this point, going clockwise. It transpired he does mountain marathons, explains a lot. I headed down to traverse around to Carn an Righ but as I got to Mam nan Carn the torrential rain turned to hail, then rain, then hail. This I wasn't too bothered about despite being like a drowned rat. What was more of an issue was the repeated bolts of lightning hitting Cam Creagach summit. Rolls of thunder were all around and I turned tail and headed down. It was 6km back to the bike, then an ass murdering 8km back to the Big Car and the rain didn't let up for a second. The cycle back was through standing water, biut I was so wet by then it didn't matter. The cycle back was much easier than the approach, and the whole trip had taken 6 1/4 hours.

At the car I dismantled the bike and shoved it in the car, then stripped and changed. MWIS said that there would be high gales for tomorrow with difficulty walking on the hills. As it was still early, I decided to bail. I managed to get home on the remaining diesel, getting 500 miles from one tank.

So here I am drinking Stella and about to cook up the last of the chilli- may have chips this time. Then it's shower and bed.