Autumn Days Out
Over the past few weeks I have been enjoying climbing, scrambling and walking in Scotland and the Lake District.
I have visited Kirrie Hill with Gordon and Greg sports climbing. This crag is an excellent choice at this time of year as it is very sheltered and catches the sun.
With Colin, Chris and Paul I visited the Lake District. We had a good couple of days scrambling in Sourmilk Ghyll and bouldering at St.Bees. The great advantage of visiting the Lake District at this time of year is that it is very quiet. We were the only climbers at St.Bees.
Beinn na Lap
Yesterday saw Ivor, Nettle and I up early to catch the train from Crianlarich to the Corrour Halt on the West Highland line. We were on a fairly tight schedule to walk up Beinn na Lap and be back down for the 12:30 train, so climbed the hill by the easiest line and returned by the same route.
The tracks from the station to the Loch Ossian Youth Hostel and the base of Beinn na Lap have been improved fairly recently and make for easy going. The path up the South face of the hill was dry following the recent good weather, but could be very boggy after rain.
Unfortunately, there was cloud above 800m, so we didn’t get the excellent views from the summit. However, we were up and down in time to beat the heavy rain and to get coffee and a scone at the station before catching the train home.
Beinn Narnain and A’Chrois
I was out today in the Arrochar Alps with a Falkirk Community Trust High Tops Team of Billy, Claire and Imran. Starting from Succoth in fog we climbed up Beinn Narnain and through the cloud in to sunshine and a beautiful cloud inversion, which lasted most of the day.
After the steep ascent of Beinn Narnain we headed out over Creag Tharsuinn and up to the top of A’Chrois. We descended the South ridge of A’Chrois, which is rough and pathless in places before returning to Succoth.
Once above the clouds we were in glorious sunshine all day with only the odd light breeze. Suncream, sunhats, shades and plenty of liquid was the order of the day.