A sunny weekend spent outside

After a physically and quite emotionally draining weekend conquering my 22nd Munro, I was ready for a quieter weekend.

Fresh air was certainly required though, and it came in abundance.

The 15th of February brought the 45th Tiso Carnethy 5 Hill Race, the biggest hill race in Scotland and an event that has been on my doorstep for years without me fully appreciating its scale. In recent years my parents have assisted in marshaling the event, under the guidance of former competitor and lead marshal Alun.

I wanted to try and get involved this year, and found myself standing at the gate at the base of Carnethy Hill, where the participants run through after their start and on the way to Scald Law, and on their final descent to the finish. Alun had advised me it was a good spot to spectate, and he was not wrong.

First up was the juniors race, and I was in awe of these wee boys and girls toughing it out on a typically wild Scottish day. Saturday morning had started very wet indeed, after snow on Valentine's Day (and a wee power cut for us in Stow!). It wasn't the day to be standing out in the freezing cold, let alone running up and down five of the Pentland's finest. Thankfully by 2pm the sun had come out and the rain had let off. It was freezing though.

 

Flag by the gate

Then it was time for the main event to begin. In the distance I could hear the bagpipes playing at the start line, and all of a sudden they were off. It was quite a sight to see the masses of runners coming towards us, the bright colours of their lycra getting closer and closer.

 

 

 

 

Once through the gate, the 500 runners continued on the path before heading up Scald Law. It must have been absolutely brutal, but from a gates-eye-view it was impressive to see the lycra train snaking its way up the Pentland's highest peak.

(I was actually trying to take a photo of the cute Border Terrier here)

I was humbled and impressed by these amazing athletes. What was also very impressive was the camaraderie on display and the warm welcome I experienced - as a complete stranger - to this event. I ended up staying by the gate for the next couple of hours, very much enjoying the banter shared amongst spectators, photographers, former competitors and marshals.

It didn't seem long at all until the first runners appeared over the top of Carnethy hill. Orlando Edwards and Finlay Wild looked to be battling it out for the lead, with Orlando ahead when he reached the gate, and all the way to the finish. His time was 51 minutes - apparently a slower time than usual given the conditions - which I found astonishing.

After that a steady stream of runners came hurtling down Carnethy, and I found it quite nerve-wracking watching them speed down this steep descent. There were a few tumbles but most just let the momentum take them.

 

Once the sun had gone down behind us, it felt extremely chilly indeed, and I realised I was frozen. I took a wee walk halfway up Carnethy, trying to warm up a bit.

I was asked numerous times if I was a runner and for much of Saturday I wished that I was. Not that I fancied competing in such a mad event, but because it seemed like a friendly and welcoming world to be a part of. I will stick to walking but I left the Pentlands feeling that my horizons had been broadened, and I'd had an insight into the world of hill running.

Meanwhile my mum had been over on West Kip, building snowmen:

(I can't find who took this photo to credit them, but it appears on the Carnethy Hill Race page: http://www.carnethy.com/index.html#February)

It was a brilliant day spent in the sunshine and very fresh air of the Pentlands.

There's links to some fantastic photos on that Carnethy page (http://www.carnethy.com/index.html#February) and I very much enjoyed reading the blog linked to on that page, from one of the runners (http://athousandwindsthatblow.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/carnethy-5-2014.html)

I was delighted to also get a wee walk in the next day, a local walk round the hills of Stow with Dave and friend Gibson. We extended a walk we did when we first moved here, and made sure to include the rope swing we found back in October.

It was a crisp clear sunny Sunday spent in the hills of the Borders - braw.

 

 

 

So no more Munros for a good few weeks, but I'll need to keep my (lagging) fitness up for another 6 Munros before April 10th, and also for some walking in County Wicklow at the end of March...more about that soon.

I realised on the way up Stob a'Choire Odhair that I'd gone from walking 15 miles a week to commuting 15 hours a week, and that lifestyle change has had a big impact on my fitness. The weather has given me a good excuse for lack of activity recently, but as the days start drawing out I hope the weather will start to improve and I'll get some miles under my belt....watch this space.

twenty two down, 260 to go!

'We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.' (John Muir)

As I lay in the bath last Sunday evening, I breathed a long sigh of relief. Just a few hours earlier I'd felt so far from home, so far from comfort - and my comfort zone.

Munro number 22 proved to be a very tricky experience indeed. It was yet another day that I learnt lessons. It was yet another humbling adventure in Scotland's mountains.

It was all Alun's idea. Very willing to put my faith in his hill choice, weather research and route planning, my first big challenge of the day was getting up before 6am. I've mentioned this before (I like moaning about it) but getting up even earlier at the weekend than I do during the week is tough. There was a big part of me that was tempted to chicken out - it was likely we'd be in for wild weather, I'd had a long tiring week at work, and I just couldn't really be bothered.

However that would have been far too easy, and if I had chickened out I'd have missed out on a brilliant day. I'd have missed out on an exciting challenge, and I'd be sitting here a week later even more unconfident about my strength and abilities. I feel like I've been a lot tougher on myself since the turn of the year. I never seem to meet my own high standards, and it is exhausting to come up short all the time.

Only by venturing out to the hills do I put myself in a situation where my silly high standards go out the window and I can just be...myself. I hate the struggle, but surely the struggle is the best way - the only way - to test your limits and to achieve.

Munro number 22 was surely the hardest Munro to date.

We made our way north to Bridge of Orchy, then onto the Victoria Bridge car park just past Inveroran. We were the first car to arrive, around 8.30am. Before we set off at 9am, the weather did a little and a lot of everything. Rain, sun, snow, wind. It all came and went, and came and went.

These two photos, taken from the car park, were taken within a few minutes of each other:

 

This was Beinn Toaig (apparently a popular paragliding spot!), the hill Alun had planned we'd descend over after our intended Munro, Stob a' Choire Odhair.

We made our way towards Victoria Lodge, enjoying a few moments of sunshine and deer-spotting.

It was absolutely wonderful to be back on the West Highland Way - albeit very briefly! Ahead of me I could see this sign:

Photo from March 2013!

However, we weren't heading out towards Rannoch Moor - we turned left before Victoria Bridge, heading in the direction of Glen Etive.

I absolutely loved this sign, and had to take a photo!

The path now was straightforward, although quite wet. The weather kept sweeping in in waves of good and bad as we made our way alongside the Abhainn Shira.

Alun's photo of Clashgour hut

After reaching the Clashgour hut, we took a right turn and made our way up the path towards Stob a'Choire Odhair. Again it was a decent path, although very wet underfoot.

 The path was so straight - it almost reminded me of Dere Street!

We paused a few times before reaching the beginning of the proper ascent. It looked pretty steep, and clearly there would be more and more snow as we got further up. I felt nervous, and braced myself for some hard work!

Alun did the majority of the trail-blazing, especially as the snow got deeper - the photo above was very early on, and one of the last photos I was able to take before it just got too cold and wild.

I had a wee shot of leading but it is amazing how energy-sapping it is. After ten steps or so, I felt exhausted.

This photo was the last time we saw blue sky!

As the snow got deeper, obviously conditions became really challenging. The wind picked up, the snow came sideways, stinging my face. I was feeling okay initially but it didn't take long until I felt physically and mentally exhausted. I actually didn't think I'd be able to get to the summit. Not knowing where the summit was meant I had no idea how long we'd have to battle on. Visibility became practically non-existent, and these were the penultimate photos I managed to take, looking back towards where we'd come from:

 

If it wasn't for Alun's good humour and patience, I'd have given up long ago. Well, of course I wouldn't have been anywhere near this hill in February if it wasn't for him - I think I'm grateful :)

Despite the wild winds and snow as we inched our way closer to the summit, Alun asked if I wanted to try his spare crampons, which he'd adjusted to fit my boots in the car before we set off. Unfortunately when I did a Winter Skills course last January in the Cairngorms, the snow wasn't suitable for crampons, so I'd never worn them before. I thought I'd take the chance whilst I could, and thankfully Alun managed to attach them to my boots whilst gloveless in freezing winds.

It was good to give them a go, and I felt a wee bit more confident as we carried on. Alun had taken the bearing for the summit before setting off, and we followed the compass from there.

When we finally reached the summit of Stob a'Choire Odhair, I had no perception of where we were. Everything was white, I couldn't distinguish between sky and hill. The summit was just another snowy place to be!

We tried to shelter but it was just so windy. Alun's wee gadget measured 40mph winds at the summit, with a wind chill factor of minus 12. Brrrr!! I think I felt scared more than anything; it was just so cold, and so wild, and too much to take in.

I'm also very grateful to Alun for managing to get a summit photo for me, as it seemed like it would be an impossible task.

Munro number 22 - Stob a'Choire Odhair - conquered!

Now I just wanted to get the hell off this hill! Again Alun navigated us back towards the direction we came, abandoning the plan to descend over Beinn Toaig as the conditions were just so wild.

On the way down the zip on the right leg of my waterproof trousers broke and burst open. Alun tied them shut with two laces around my leg, but I was so frustrated at my kit malfunction. My jacket proved not to be waterproof (actually I already knew this but for some reason I keep persevering!) and I was soaked through. And cold! My cheap walking poles had let me down on the way to the summit, and I felt so annoyed. Everything kit-related seemed to go wrong - although of course these were very minor issues in the grand scheme of things. Being out in the hills on a day like this was not for the faint-hearted - which made me wonder what I was doing there?!

I felt so negative on the descent. So annoyed at myself. It was almost as though I'd forgotten that we'd just bagged a Munro, I kept focusing on all the negative things that had happened.

Thankfully my spirits were lifted by a beautiful golden labrador bounding her way up the hill, with her owners. She was a lovely dog, fearless and loving the snow! They were the only other people we saw on the hill that day, and they made it back to their car shortly after us, so we're not sure whether they made it to the summit. Conditions seemed to be getting worse by that stage, windier and wilder.

We retraced our footsteps back to the car, getting back about 2.30pm. I had cheered up slightly by then, although was soaked to the skin and frozen. It took a while to warm up again, and really only a shower and a bath when home did the job!

It was nice to get back to the Borders for around 5.30pm, and have some recovery time. This meant I wasn't too sore in the following days, and I think I would've been after my quads taking a pounding in the snow!

An extremely challenging day out. I'd certainly say that this was the hardest Munro to date - although short in terms of distance covered (around 8 miles) - the conditions were brutal and the toughest I'd experienced. It is all too easy for me to find negatives about this day, rather than give myself credit for the achievement.

I don't want to go back into the snow until I have better kit. Although if I'm going to get to 28 Munros before the 10th of April, I better get some proper kit pronto!

Big thanks to Alun for all his help and patience last Sunday - there's simply no way I'd have made it alone.



In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. (John Muir)