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Inspiring Mountain Walks | Scottish Landscape Art - Scottish Landscape Paintings - Part 12

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Just right…

Posted by admin on February 19th, 2011
On Ben Inverveigh

On Ben Inverveigh

In the past when I had more time, I’d be happy to go out walking even if the forecast was for very low cloud and rain and general gloom. It’s interesting and quite a challenge. As my work has developed though, to take up more of my time, I’ve started to realise that the walks I go on need to be both work and play and as such I tend now to be a little more selective about the weather conditions on the days we walk.

Over the last few days it has been just the case. We’ve wanted to get out again on a fairly regular basis in order to build up our fitness again but looking ahead this week, the forecasts were pretty miserable. Bands of rain and hill snow coupled with low cloud didn’t look too promising. That said however, Wednesday seemed to offer the best chance of getting a few breaks and slightly higher cloud …although it did appear that we might get quite wet too.

We chose to walk Ben Inverveigh, the very modest little hill we’ve visited several times before. It lies close to Loch Tulla and makes for a gentle walk in an excellent location.

Frozen lochan on Ben Inverveigh

Frozen lochan on Ben Inverveigh

As it wasn’t going to be a great hike we didn’t set off too early and stopped for a quick late breakfast at the ‘Green Welly in Tyndrum. The forecast seemed about right and the cloud was very firmly settled at around 650m but with quite a number of breaks offering occasional brightness and even a brief glimpse of blue sky. The snow was a little lower than I’d expected and seemed to start at around 500m. It’s just a short drive from Tyndrum over to our starting point at the Bridge of Orchy and as we approached it we got the first view of our hill …definitely snow topped and with its upper slopes in mist ….but it was dry and so things were looking good.

The big hills of Beinn Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh were well shrouded in mist but the corrie that lies between them looked great..the steep crags on each side of it appearing out of the whiteness of snow and mist.

Our route followed the West Highland Way from Bridge of Orchy gently uphill through some forestry before emerging onto open hillside …the northeast end of Ben Inverveigh.

The WHW climbs over this shoulder before descending down to the wee road near the Inveroran Hotel. Our route though left the WHW at its highest point and followed a green track across rough ground before petering out not far below a prominent little top at just over 500m. We’d just got into the patchy snow and in the gloomy light it made everything come alive. Ben Inverveigh is just a long broad grass, heather and stone covered ridge or lump but it is superbly located with bigger hills all around and the beautiful Loch Tulla below.

Descending Ben Inverveigh

Descending Ben Inverveigh

As we went along this ridge we were surprised at the snow ..it was a good covering of 10 – 15 cm with occasional drifts and banked out hollows. There are a number of small lochans along the way and these were coated in a thin layer of ice which was then covered in snow …care was needed, especially when the cloud came down, not to inadvertently walk over …and no doubt into one of these icy little baths. The summit is at the far end of the ridge …about an hours walk, and is marked by a small cairn perched atop one of the numerous rocky outcrops. We were lucky and arrived in clear conditions and had good views around us ….it was even dry and with very light winds it made for a pleasant if short lunch spot. We retraced out steps back along the ridge and down to the WHW and then followed the track down to the Inveroran Hotel before walking the single track road back to the Bridge of Orvhy.

Loch Tulla, late afternoon

Loch Tulla, late afternoon

As we descended though, the cloud started to lift and break all around and we got wonderful views of Loch Tulla and the remnants of the Caledonian Forest all shown to their advantage in the bright late afternoon sunlight. But the best was saved till last. As we followed the road back to our starting point, Beinn an Dothaidh and Beinn Dorain became clear of mist and were illuminated by the last rays of the fast sinking sun ….quite stunning and the best view of these hills I’ve ever had.

We got back to the car just after the sun had set and after changing out of the walking gear, decided to check out the Bridge of Orchy Hotel. Perfect timing …they started serving food at six o’clock. With a warm fire, friendly service and great food it made for the perfect end to our day.

Last light, Beinn Dorain

Last light, Beinn Dorain

We had a fine day the previous Saturday at the preview to the exhibition at The Strathearn Gallery. The show, comprising paintings by myself and a wonderful selection of glassware and sculpture by Scott Irvine, looks great …even though I say it myself! I was very pleased with the way it had all gone together and Fiona, the gallery owner, had done a fantastic job at hanging and presenting all the work. We had a pretty good turn out despite forecasts for snow. So, if you haven’t had a chance t get along to see it …well, I think you’ll find it a worth while trip.

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Light relief

Posted by admin on February 11th, 2011
Fairly moor

Fairlie moor

If you’ve been reading these blogs over the last month or so you’ve probably gathered that there’s been one thing very much on my mind …the exhibition at The Strathearn Gallery.  Getting all the work finished, framed, photographed, catalogued and wrapped …has been quite a lot of work.

On Monday we went into town and hired a Transit van, and went back to the house to load all the pictures.  Of course, after several weeks of generally mild weather, Monday morning dawned very wet but cold …just 3 C here in Irvine and the forecast of snow for the Central Belt of Scotland …great!  The rain was really heavy here and we decided we could afford to wait a while to see if it would ease before loading the paintings into the van.  Thankfully it did improve and we were able to get everything on board in a relatively dry state.  The journey up to Crieff though was interesting. The rain turned to snow on the M77 and we had a mixture of rain, sleet and snow all the way.

Towards Arran from Whatside Hill

Towards Arran from Whatside Hill

By the time we reached Stirling the ground all around was white and on leaving the A9 to take the smaller road to Crieff ….well, everything was really quite white, including the road!  This particular road goes up quite high at one point and Nita found herself driving a hired Transit van containing almost a years worth of work, along a snow, slush, ice and water covered road.  At one point we went through a huge pool of water that sprayed up onto the screen and made it impossible to see.  No sooner had the wipers cleared this than a large lump of snow fell from an overhanging tree and once again covered the screen!  At this point, Nita just started laughing …well, it was rather funny.

Overlooking the Firth of Clyde

Overlooking the Firth of Clyde

We got to Crieff unscathed though and quickly had the work unloaded and into the gallery. What a relief, now it was in somebody else’s hands.  Mind you, I still fretted for a couple of days about whether the work would look any good but was most relieved to receive an email from the gallery yesterday to say it was all up and looking great …phew!  Oh, and they’d sold a piece as well …so a fine start.  I’m really looking forward to the preview tomorrow.

After all this, I really needed to take a wee break and yesterday in clear sunny calm weather I went for a smashing little walk with my friend Guy.    He’d plotted a nice route that led up onto Fairlie Moor and along its western edge over Whatside Hill before descending into and then walking through Kelburn Glen and on along the shore to Largs.  It made a great little day, catching the train to Fairlie and then returning by train in the evening from Largs.

Overlooking Great Cumbrae

Overlooking Great Cumbrae

As we were right on the edge of the North Ayrshire coast we had superb views out over the Firth of Clyde, across Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae islands to their bigger neighbours of Bute and Arran.  From this location you get an interesting view of the Arran Hills.  In the bright sunshine, the colours looked lovely and it was definitely very spring like.

Both Guy and I tend to like the bigger hills and the wilder places but this really was an excellent walk and one to be recommended to anyone living in North Ayrshire.  For me, the surprise came towards the end.  On descending into Kelburn Glen, we followed the path that led down the glen through beautiful woods and above the roar of the river as it poured over a whole series of waterfalls.  It was really quite spectacular especially with the late afternoon sunlight illuminating all the trees and rocks.


In Kelburn Glen

In Kelburn Glen

Kelburn Glen Waterfall

Kelburn Glen Waterfall


A fish supper while waiting for our train home finished off the day nicely and I’m now already thinking about the next walk.  With the exhibition opening tomorrow morning, I can now just get back to the painting and getting some more walks done.  I’ve started a new piece of work based, not on the hills, but on the view across the river and saltings outside my studio.  It’s a bit different but still Scottish landscape.  I’m quite enjoying this slight tangent and it’ll be interesting to see where it leads.

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Calling in the professionals

Posted by admin on January 28th, 2011
Summit of Tryfan, Easter 1948

Summit of Tryfan, Easter 1948

As I’ve said in the past, I’ve always enjoyed taking photographs ….an interest (like hill walking) that I got from my father.  Back before I was ever thought of, my dad used to supplement his wage (he worked in one of the big printers in London) by taking wedding photographs.  His real love though was photographing the places he visited, the gentle rural scenes he found in the post war Essex and Sussex countryside …and of course the mountains of North Wales which he visited with several of his mates in the late 40’s and early 50’s.  Of course it was all black and white then and many are the tales of his being in trouble with my gran for staining the sink and bath with photographic chemicals …the family bathroom was his dark room at that time.  He certainly came up with some really nice images and after his death a couple of years ago I found a large box in his house, full to the brim with the photos he’d taken at this time.  To be honest I just haven’t had time to look through them all, but amongst the pictures I have found is a wonderful shot he took on the Llanberis Pass in 1948.  At the time he and his mates used to ride large motorbikes and on the occasion of this photo …one of them had broken down.  The picture shows the AA man along with several of his friends, standing by the machine …and the AA man with his own bike and side car too.  Quite incredible.

Carmarthen Fa

Carmarthen Fan

But I digress …he of course encouraged me to take photos and after a couple of small ‘snapper’ cameras I bought my first SLR …the trusty old Zenith that I’ve mentioned before and the great little Weston light meter.  For a long time this all worked well and although I was never a great photographer I did on occasions take some nice pictures.  This though all started to go array when my sight got worse.  Film and developing / printing was not so cheap and when many of the photos started to contain odd fingers and thumbs then it was time to think again.  Thankfully this coincided with the appearance of the digital camera and so I moved back to a fairly simple ‘snapper’ …but this times a digital one. This has worked well for me and it is what I use when we’re out on the hill.

Recording my work though has proved slightly more problematic.  I’ve never really known what I’m doing when it comes to photographing paintings indoors and although the images have been adequate, the quality in many of them (I sure some of you have noticed) has not been all that it should have been.  This was bought home to me last year when you may remember I was asked to write an article for ‘The Nature of Scotland’  …the magazine produced by Scottish Natural Heritage.  I wrote the article and was asked to provide some images of work to go with it.  I selected about half a dozen and sent everything off…..and it was all fine.  Then the editor contacted me to say that they wanted to use one of my paintings for the wrap around cover ….wow …what an opportunity.  Around that time I’d completed a large piece (200 x 100 cm) and this seemed the ideal painting for the purpose.  I sent off the image and sat back and waited to see the resultant magazine with my painting covering it.  But the bad news came.  When the printers had enlarged the image I’d sent, they found that it wasn’t sharp!  It looked ok on a small scale but not when increased to A3.  With that I lost the opportunity of having my painting on the front of all those magazines.  Of course the article went ahead inside but I’d lost the cover …there wasn’t time to get another photo taken and they used a rather spectacular landscape photo instead.

'Overlooking Glen Coe'

'Overlooking Glen Coe'

'Breaking mists, the Pap of Glen Coe'

'Breaking mists, the Pap of Glen Coe'

So then ….it’s taken me a bit of time to learn from this ….but at last I’ve taken the plunge and called in the assistance of a professional photographer to record my work.  It was a good experience watching him work and seeing all the effort he went to, to get it right …well it’s no surprise that I couldn’t do it myself!  He photographed most of the work I had available …much of it work that will go into my exhibition at The Strathearn Gallery in Crieff.  I’m pleased with the results and it means that if I ever have another chance to have work published, or if I decide to have prints made, or sometime in the future want to produce a small book about my paintings …well, I’ll have the best quality images available…..no more disappointments!

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To Conic Hill and back

Posted by admin on January 21st, 2011
Near the summit of Conic Hill

Near the summit of Conic Hill

Well, we didn’t get up to Rannoch moor as planned last week in search of the little hill and it was such a busy week work wise that it didn’t look as if we’d get walking anywhere.  The forecast for the week though was cold, mainly dry and bright …almost perfect weather for a jaunt somewhere….and so on Monday evening we decided to down tools the next day and get out somewhere ….anywhere.  It was rather too late to call our friend Guy and see if he was up for Rannoch moor and to be honest after all the rain and the mild temperatures of the previous week and the rapid snow melt…we’d have been struggling to cross a large stream that lies across our route to Meall Tionaill.

So then, as we needed something not too taxing on our unfit legs, it seemed the perfect day to walk a bit of the West Highland Way and take in Conic Hill at the same time.  Some of the folk from Air na Creagan (our local club www.craggy.org.uk ) had been here just a few weeks before …they did a circular walk, following the WHW from just outside Drymen, to Conic Hill and then down to the pub in Balmaha, before returning to the start point by way of forestry tracks I think.  The lunchtime pint and bite to eat was very tempting but in the end we decided to simply walk to the top of Conic Hill and then return the same way.

Loch Lomond from the slopes of Conic Hill

Loch Lomond from the slopes of Conic Hill

The one thing the forecast also said was that there would be black ice affecting the roads in Scotland that morning and so as it wasn’t going to be a big day, we decided to leave Irvine quite late …as it turned out, not much before nine o’clock ….and although the roads were fine, when we got out of the car in the small car park at Drymen ….we were skating around!  So much so that we put the small instep crampons on ….and they stayed in place for almost the whole walk.   It was a beautiful morning though and the walk out of Drymen to the point where you meet the WHW was great….wonderful views out over the surrounding countryside …to the south, flattish land, to the north, Conic Hill and the first of the bigger hills of the southern Highlands.  In one of the fields were several huge flocks of geese.  They were close enough for me to see them with the monocular and it was quite a sight …and sound.

The WHW follows forestry tracks for a couple of kilometres and even at 11 am there were many big patches of ice that needed care even with the spiders on.  Once beyond the edge of the forest though, the sun had softened the ground the path picks its way over grassy hillside making its way towards Conic Hill.  The southern end of Loch Lomond looked great in the bright morning light and the winter colours were vivid and bright at times.

Now then, I know it’s stating the obvious, but even on relatively straight forward walks like this ….it does pay to check you map once in a while!  Not that we got lost or anything …that really would have been a great indignity seeing as we were following the WHW virtually the whole day!  But…..as we approach the hill, we thought we might as well just cut up the side and head straight to what we thought was the top.  This is what we did, clambering up steep grassy slopes with increasingly big views until we reached a small cairn.  To the west a short distance was another top..with a short steep little descent between us and it.  We had, I have to admit, been taking our time and now it was already1.45pm and we still needed to take a short lunch break.  The wander over to the other top would have taken too long as I was concerned we’d run out of daylight before getting back out of the forestry and the ice.  So ….after a short while taking in the scene and feeling a bit of a ‘plonker’ for not checking the map to see where the actual top of the hill was …we headed back down.  Lunch was taken in an idyllic spot half way back down the hill and then it was a case of legging it somewhat.  It’s amazing quite how fast the light starts to fade at this time of year and as by this time there were some big dark shower clouds approaching, it got gloomy even earlier than expected.  But the loch did look superb in this late afternoon light  and I needn’t have worried about the ice …most of it had melted during the day.

Fading light over Loch Lomond from the WHW

Fading light over Loch Lomond from the WHW

It certainly wasn’t the biggest walk we’ve ever undertaken or the most adventurous, but on a quiet January day it made for a very quite and peaceful little walk …one that most certainly got the legs working again.  Oh well, perhaps it’ll be Rannoch moor and Meall Tionaill next week.

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A small hill….in a very big landscape

Posted by admin on January 14th, 2011
The wild landscape at the edge of Rannoch Moor

The wild landscape at the edge of Rannoch Moor

Quite a few years ago I started thinking about walking Meall a’ Bhuiridh ….the big hill on the edge of Blackmount, and Rannoch Moor that is home to the Glencoe ski centre.  The easiest way would simply have been to walk up following the line of the ski lift, but well, it didn’t seem very adventurous!  There had to be a better way up the hill and one that would avoid much of the paraphernalia attached to the ski slopes.  After looking at the map I decided to climb the hill by its south east ridge and then just descend down the ski slopes.  It seemed a good compromise and would make for an interesting day.

A little hill in a very big landscape

A little hill in a very big landscape

We did the walk on a dry and quite fine summer day.  The cloud was high and so although there was no sun to be had, we were at least assured of some good views….or at least Anita was.  She was not only guiding me but also our friend Norma who is also visually impaired.  We left the car at the ski centre car park and then headed back along the West Highland Way for several kilometres until we reached Ba Cottage …not far short of Ba Bridge.  From here it’s a steady pull uphill to reach the end of the SE ridge of Meall a’ Bhuiridh ….and we got here just in time for an early lunch.  It makes for a wonderful picnic spot as you are well off any paths and have views all around…..and it was here that Nita first set eye on Meall Tionaill.  This is a small hill (582m) set in the heart of Blackmount and surrounded by much bigger neighbours.  Nita was quite taken with this lonely little hill and before we set off again I think she was already planning to go to it one day.  From our lunchtime spot the broad ridge climbed steeply at first grass covered and then increasingly boulder strewn slopes.  But turning around for a breather every few minutes we got increasingly big views…it was quite spectacular.

After what seemed an age, the angle of the slope eased and we emerged out onto the rocky top of the hill at just over 1100 m.  There were surprisingly few people up at the top but high above us was someone flying around with a paraglider.  At first neither Norma or I could see it despite much pointing and giving of directions by Anita, but almost as if the pilot realised our problem he or she flew directly over head and then just hung there in the air …a bit like a Kestrel without all the flapping!  It was amazing.  After several minutes it turned and headed off towards Buachaille Etive Mor.  We descended down the ski slopes which at least to start with, made for very easy walking.  The lower section though was steep and on an increasingly eroded path by or almost below the ski lift …and seemed to take an age to get back down to the car …I seem to remember we were back there by around 7pm.

Meall Tionaill surrounded by its larger neighbours

Meall Tionaill surrounded by its larger neighbours

The reason for recalling this walk is that despite our saying most years that we’d have to go and find Meall Tionaill, we’ve never got around to it.  A few days ago though, I received an email from our friend Guy saying that he was planning to go and find this wee hill one day soon ….and he asked if we’d like to join him.  Sounds as good a time as any and as Nita and I have just had a month of flu and cold bugs, our first walk back on the hills for over a month should be a relatively easy one …and this sounds just the thing.  So then, not quite sure when we’ll try and go, but hopefully it’ll be one day in the next couple of weeks.  There’ll be a full report as and when.  The only photo I actually have of this little hill is ….well, rather vague ….Anita had to find it for me and mark it with an arrow!  As I say, it’s a little hill in a very big landscape.

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‘In Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran’

Posted by admin on January 8th, 2011
'In Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran', Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 30 x 30 cm (Ref 158)

'In Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran'

‘In Glen Rosa, Isle of Arran’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2010, 30 x 30 cm (Ref 158)

It snowed again here yesterday evening and they’re forecasting a little more later this afternoon. Everything certainly looks very beautiful again and when I was down on the harbour side earlier this morning, the snow covered mountains over on the Isle of Arran were standing out quite clearly ….viewed through my monocular that is! It made me realise quite how fast 2010 seems to have gone by …it is only just under a year since Nita and I spent a very memorable day walking in Glen Rosa, spending time to sit and sketch and photograph the stunning Arran peaks covered in snow.

I did a number of small drawings that day and from these I developed several paintings. This piece, although quite small (30 x 30cm) was probably the most successful and it has just reminded me that on the day we were there, we decided we needed to return and walk Beinn a’ Chliabhain from Glen Rosa via Coire Beag. It certainly looked a nice route – better than following the rather worn and more traditional path up the side of the Garbh Allt.

Anyway, this is one of the paintings that will be displayed at The Strathearn Gallery as part of my solo exhibition ‘On the hill – impressions of the Scottish upland landscape’. The exhibition will run from February 12th – March 12th 2011. Full details nearer the time.

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Snap!

Posted by admin on December 2nd, 2010
West from Cul Mor, Assynt

West from Cul Mor, Assynt

I’ve loved taking photographs ever since buying my first camera, (a little Ilford instamatic) through a special offer on the back of a cereal box, back in 1969.  It wasn’t the finest of cameras but at the age of ten it seemed pretty good to me.  I bought it just before we went on holiday to Eire and I came back with 12 (albeit rather fuzzy) photos of the Dingle peninsular.  What is more, they were the only photographs of the holiday  ….my father had failed to load his 35 mm film properly and came back to find an unexposed roll of film in his camera!

That little camera certainly got me into snapping photos whenever we went anywhere and before long I moved up market a little and got myself a very solid Zenith SLR. This camera was certainly not a sexy beast, (I think it was made out of plate steel) and I  lugged it around along with a great little Weston light meter, for many years.   By the time I was at Falmouth School of Art in the early 1980’s it was a bit of a joke to many of my friends who had spent much of their grants on new hi tech cameras.  In the Easter break in 1981 a small group of us spent three weeks up on North Uist enjoying the wild beaches, the loch strewn land and the isolated hills of Beinn Mhor and Hecla.  One of the group forgot to take a spare battery for his camera …and it ran out on the first week  …no place to buy a replacement of course.  Another friend, Paul, dropped his camera and being made out of plastic, the top cracked.  And so it was yours truly  (feeling rather smug) with my battered old iron clad manual Zenith who came away with the photos.

From Am Bodach, the Mamores

From Am Bodach, the Mamores

The Zenith, (now almost 35 years old,) still works although I put it into retirement at least ten years ago) and I’ve now moved into the digital age!!  As my sight deteriorated I found I was taking more and more bad photographs.  Using film and finding that 22 out of the roll of 24 were either tilting the sea out, had a thumb in the corner, or were simply just dreadful …well, it was getting expensive….hence my getting a digital camera. Now I can tilt the skyline as much as I want, take hundreds of dreadful pictures and get all five digits in front of the lens …and it doesn’t cost me anything …and if you snap enough you tend to get a couple of reasonable pictures most days.

On the edge of Rannoch Moor

On the edge of Rannoch Moor

Anyway, the reason for rambling on about photographs and cameras is that we’re holding a small Christmas Affordable Art Fair at the Harbour Arts  Centre in Irvine on Sunday 5th December and Sunday 19th December.  Around about a dozen of the artists and makers at the Courtyard Studios will be taking part with a wide range of paintings, drawings, prints, jewellery and cards on sale.  I’ve decided to show a dozen photographs taken on the Scottish hills during the last 10 or so years.  Most of them are my own but I’ve also included a couple that my partner Anita took….with her permission of course!  It’ll be interesting to see what reaction I get with them.

The Cobbler

The Cobbler

So, the event runs from 12 noon until 4 pm on 5th & 19th December.  The Courtyard Studios are only two doors away from the Harbour Arts Centre on Harbour Street in Irvine.  I’ll have my studio open as well so if you want to see some paintings too, then just drop by.  There should be other studios open at the Courtyard too.  I look forward to meeting anyone who can get along.

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A day on Beinn Chuirn …..but not on good form

Posted by admin on November 27th, 2010
View from the coire Ben Chuirn

View from the coire Ben Chuirn

It’s amazing, I’ve been walking in the hills since the age of ten ….introduced to the mountains by my father shortly after we moved to Wales from Essex in 1969.   I loved these wild places so much that when my sight went bad back in the early 90’s I was still determined to continue these walks despite the practical difficulties.  I’m certainly not an outdoor expert, (I still have much to learn) but I am I guess fairly experienced when it comes to walking in the hills. This said however, every once in a while I have a day when I really struggle, where quite simply I lose my nerve somewhat.  Yesterday was just such an occasion.

What should have been another fantastic day, turned into a difficult and quite stressful one for me.  The forecast for the Loch Lomond National Park area had improved rapidly over the previous 24 hours and although there was much snow falling over in the east of the country, on the west coast it was dry, bright and cold.  We planned to drive up to Tyndrum and walk into Cononish glen as far as the farm of Cononish.  Here the track splits, one continuing up the glen to end below Ben Lui, the other heading up hill to the entrance of the small gold mine at the base of Beinn Chuirn…..the hill we were hoping to walk.

Beinn Chuirn

Beinn Chuirn

There was a dusting of snow on the ground at Tyndrum but most of the hills around had little or no snow on them.  As the path entered the Cononish glen though, we got our first view of Ben Lui …and it was well covered with snow.  It looked superb and all of its 1100m.  Its neighbour, Beinn Chuirn (880m) was though, virtually clear of the white stuff.  It all looked rather strange.  Beinn Chuirn has an impressive coire below its summit and we hoped we would be able to walk up into this and then out onto its rim and around that to the summit cairn.  This looked fairly steep but as we approached the hill above Cononish, Anita and our friend Guy both said it looked OK.

At this point though we left the track and headed across the rough ground aiming for the coire …and things became pretty difficult.  Although there was no snow, the ground was completely frozen in most places, there were numerous areas of solid ice hidden in the grass and heather, some areas were frosted, some in bright sun, some in deep shadow and of course there were numerous rocks.

From the coire, Ben Chuirn

From the coire, Ben Chuirn

Now then, I’ve walked on ground like this plenty of times before and although it’s difficult I’ve not had a problem.  Yesterday however, for whatever reason, I just found it very challenging. I moved exceedingly slowly despite putting on the spiders to help give me extra grip on the icy ground.  Nita and Guy were as always, very patient and guided me excellently, but with the prospect of the ground getting much steeper I really wasn’t looking forward to the ascent.  At this time of year the days are almost at their shortest and I knew I had to get back to the big track in the glen before it got dark.  I looked at the slow pace I was going and realised there was no way that I would be able to get up to the top and back down in time.

We decided instead to carry on into the coire but simply try to get to a point where we could see our route to the top ….then at least we’d know for a future trip.  Well then, we did manage this and the coire was dramatic and the views back out, very impressive …but I was really struggling on this patchwork of surfaces.  After a lunch break we retreated back down into the glen and arrived back at the car as it was getting dusk.  Nita and Guy had enjoyed their day…..I on the other hand, felt rather glum.  I honestly don’t know why I found it so difficult yesterday.  Perhaps though it’s that on this occasion I thought just a little bit too much about what I was doing.

Dusk, Ben Lui from Cononish

Dusk, Ben Lui from Cononish

Walking hills and mountains when you have such a limited amount of sight, really is quite difficult.  It takes a huge amount of concentration, great guides (which I’m lucky to have in Nita and Guy), and at times a little bit of bottle.  Either that or you just need to be completely mad!  I think most of the times I’m out in these wonderful wild places; it’s a little bit of all of these.   Sometimes though, like yesterday, reality cuts in and I find it quite scary!   Next time though I’ll get it right again… with a bit of luck.

Photos by Anita Groves

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Sunday on Ben Ledi

Posted by admin on November 19th, 2010
Early morning mists, Ben Ledi

Early morning mists, Ben Ledi

Well we’re at long last starting to get back out on the hills a little more regularly and last Sunday we took advantage of another fine day to head for the popular hill Ben Ledi.   It is situated just to the north west of Callander and stands right on the edge of the highlands …giving amazing views from it’s summit, to the bigger hills to the east, west and north, as well as out over the flatter countryside of the central belt to the south.   It’s also a relatively short distance from Glasgow and so, like Ben Lomond, it is a very popular place to walk.

As such we decided to try and get a fairly early start and arrived at the base of the hill about a quarter to nine.  It had been a beautiful drive up passing along the southern edge of the Highlands through Balloch, Drymen and Aberfoyle to Callander.  Anita spotted snow on Ben Lomond as we passed Balloch at the southern end of Loch Lomond and then said she could see another hill with a good covering of snow on, further to the east …where we were heading.  There certainly looked to be a little more snow than we’d been expecting but as the cloud levels were quite high and the sun was starting to break through, it looked like it was going to be a good day.

There was already a couple of cars parked at the start point and by the time we’d got the boots on and gear ready another couple had arrived along with two mini buses!   The path is a large well made one, a lot of work having to be done to combat the erosion caused by so many boots.  It climbs steeply up through dense mature conifers before breaking out onto the open hillside.  You get fine views right from this point and as we looked back across the glen a thick band of very low cloud drifted below us.  The path follows and then crosses a small stream heading for the broad shoulder of the hill and it was at this level that we reached the first snow.  It’s also on gaining this point that you can see west to the many lochs and hills of the Trossachs.

The summit of Ben Ledi

The summit of Ben Ledi

The path follows the broad grassy ridge gradually up before reaching a final steep section with a good drop developing on its eastern side.  The snow by this stage was a mixture of older and quite icy stuff with a coating of a few centimetres of fresh snow on top …it was lovely.  We decided to stop, have a sandwich, admire the view and put on the spiders …it looked like it might be a bit slippery on the steeper section so seeing as we had them we might as well use them.   As we sat here the occupants of the mini buses (a party of young people with their teachers) all arrived, had instructions about moving carefully in the snow, and then all moved off again.  We gave them a few minutes head start and followed.  It really was beautiful with the sun picking out many of the bigger hills around.  Stuc a’ Chroin to the east of us looked particularly dramatic against quite dark skies behind it and as we reached the summit the big hills around Ben Lawers and Glen Lyon showed up well.

It was the ridge leading away from the summit that really caught the eye though, covered in snow and lit by the sun, it looked stunning as it curved away.  We watched the school party head off along it and a chap from another small party came over and kindly pointed out that you could see all the way to the mountains on the Isle of Arran ….well, he and Anita could …but it was nice to know and I could certainly imagine what they were seeing.  We set off along the broad ridge enjoying the wonderful surroundings before it descended steeply and we were below the snow line.  The route back descends down quite steep slopes before meeting a large track that contours back around under the hill, before entering the forest once again.  We were back to the car by just after three in the afternoon and it had made a great little day.

North from the summit of Ben Ledi

North from the summit of Ben Ledi

Mind you, can’t always get it right.  We’d planned to head out again today but after seeing a forecast that said thick low cloud, we decided to give it a miss ….I have a lot of work on at the moment.  Of course, we got up this morning and there’s blue sky and it all looks great……. ****!

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A Perfect day for spiders

Posted by admin on November 8th, 2010
Above Loch Long

Above Loch Long

Firstly, my apologies for the late arrival of this blog ….last weeks blog in fact.   Suffice to say it’s been another busy week and a visit to Blairmore Gallery on Thursday, a visit from Susie of The Gallery on the Corner, on Friday and working late most evenings meant that doing the blog went clean out of my mind! Oh well better late than never.

I don’t know what it was like else where but here in Irvine it was a pretty miserable week weather wise.  We had a lot of gloomy wet days and so we put off thoughts of another visit into the hills.  However, the forecast for the weekend was much better and so we decided to get out on Sunday.

The Cobbler

The Cobbler

For the last eighteen months, when we’d got out walking we’d been heading for some of the smaller hills and I realised that I hadn’t actually climbed a Munro for quite a long time.  I had a sudden hankering for reaching that magic 914 metres but with the clocks having just changed and it now being November it means short days ….not good when you can’t see too much and are very slow.  We decided therefore to head for Ben Ime, in the Arrochar Alps.  For me, it has the advantage of being reached by good well made paths (so quite fast even with a fuzzy eye) and the final ascent is nearly all on easy grass slopes with just one short steep more rocky section near the top.  Ideally though we’d need to make an early start in order to give me the maximum amount of daylight to do the walk and so we planned to set out from Irvine by 06.30 …this meaning we’d be walking by just before eight o’clock.  As it turned out though, we started an hour later.   Saturday had been very wet but by the evening everything was starting to freeze and we thought that the roads first thing the next morning might be a bit icy …hence leaving the hour later to give things a chance to warm up a little.

View from the lower slopes of Ben Ime

View from the lower slopes of Ben Ime

We reached the car park on shores of Loch Long and were walking by 08.50 and everything looked great.  We had almost clear skies, there was frost on the grass and there was mist drifting over the loch.   The route climbs quite steeply up through a young conifer plantation but still giving plenty of views out over the loch and the village of Arrochar  to Ben Lomond beyond ….and as we climbed we quickly gained enough height to get into the sun …it was lovely.   At last you are high enough to see into the glen leading to The Cobbler …and it’s quite a sight with its very distinctive and dramatic outline.  On your right the hillside climbs steeply to Beinn Narnain and higher up the slopes were quite white, although we weren’t sure if this was thick frost or a thin coating of snow ….or a bit of both as it turned out!  We followed the path up to the col between the north peak of The Cobbler and Beinn Narnain and from this point you get to see Ben Ime, at just over 1000 m, the dominant hill in this area.  The forecast had said that a weather front would come in from the west bringing increasingly strong winds and snow on the hills by the evening and even now the blue skies of the early morning had gone and cloud was moving in …it was very cold too with the ground increasingly frozen.

Near the summit of Ben Ime, a break in the cloud

Near the summit of Ben Ime, a break in the cloud

The good path ends here and the walk across to Ben Ime is normally on boggy muddy ground …but it wasn’t too bad being frozen and we were soon puffing up the what seemed endless grass slopes …and into the cloud …the weather really was deteriorating quite fast and it even started to snow  lightly for a few minutes.  We reached the top and everything was misty and white and with the wind blowing it wasn’t a place to sit and eat a sandwich but it was time to sit and put on the spiders!  For anyone who hasn’t come across these wonderful little instep crampons …(for some reason known as spiders) well, they are a pair of small plastic plates in which are mounted eight pointed metal studs.  The whole thing fits under the instep of your boot and is held there firmly by a strap.  Now, they’re not meant to do the job of real crampons but in conditions like this, frozen ground with patches of water ice and a very thin layer of frost and snow ….they’re perfect.  They give so much extra grip and allow you to walk with more confidence and safety.  This really was a perfect day for spiders and we descended relatively quickly.  As it happened, we had some great if rather brief views near the summit …the cloud suddenly broke and it made all the effort of getting up there worthwhile …Wow.

My frosted guide!

My frosted guide!

With the weather now definitely on the decline and a thick overcast layer of cloud above, the light was getting gloomy very early and so I had to move as fast as possible to get off the hill before all the light faded.  This is where the hours of practice over the last ten years have paid off.  When I need to move fast Nita walks just in front of me telling me all the obstacles, steps and gaps ….in this way even in the descending gloom we moved safely and quite fast.  It started snowing lightly when we reached the top of the long final descent to the road and we were back down to the car by just after a quarter past four and with just a little bit of light to spare.  What a day. Time to eat the sandwiches and drink the coffee we’d carried all the way up and down but had not had time to enjoy on the hill.  We like to use the day to it’s full!

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