Ben Chuirn 29/08/20
We arrived in one’s and two’s at Dalrigh in our socially distanced cars and squeezed ourselves into the already crammed carpark, the good weather and a holiday weekend proving too hard for many to resist the lure of the hills.
As we watched an attractive ‘paratrooper’ heading off, after deciding perhaps reluctantly that our way was not for her, we inadvertently fell in behind the Tyndrum gold panners with their buckets and sieves, who shouted back to us ‘It’s this way, follow us, we know the way!’
We set off along the track, the sun was shining between high clouds, the river sparkled, and the conversation flowed all the way to the farm with our destination gaining in size and height.
A craggy gash in the steep hillside loomed directly in front, uncertainty wavered in the air, doubts of mountain fitness kicked in…. once fluids and nourishment were consumed, we started climbing up each at her own pace till eventually we reached the summit with clear views across to Ben Lui, Ben Oss and Beinn Dubhchraig. Over the other side Loch Awe, the Ben Cruachan range and many others only guessed at as they lay on our unmapped world.
We settled ourselves into a sheltered spot near the summit cairn, out of the wind for our lunch and a spot of sunbathing. As the sun retreated behind the clouds, we headed back downwards with only a slight variation to the promised up and down ‘exactly’ the same way. We spread out over the hillside each picking our own route through the long grass, spongy mosses, and peat bogs to regroup back on the track below.
A casual comment created thoughts and probably mental images on what makes a ‘well equipped mountaineer’ filled our heads as we turned smiling to face Ben More and Stob Binnein, and the track towards the end of an excellent day.
Mary
As we watched an attractive ‘paratrooper’ heading off, after deciding perhaps reluctantly that our way was not for her, we inadvertently fell in behind the Tyndrum gold panners with their buckets and sieves, who shouted back to us ‘It’s this way, follow us, we know the way!’
We set off along the track, the sun was shining between high clouds, the river sparkled, and the conversation flowed all the way to the farm with our destination gaining in size and height.
A craggy gash in the steep hillside loomed directly in front, uncertainty wavered in the air, doubts of mountain fitness kicked in…. once fluids and nourishment were consumed, we started climbing up each at her own pace till eventually we reached the summit with clear views across to Ben Lui, Ben Oss and Beinn Dubhchraig. Over the other side Loch Awe, the Ben Cruachan range and many others only guessed at as they lay on our unmapped world.
We settled ourselves into a sheltered spot near the summit cairn, out of the wind for our lunch and a spot of sunbathing. As the sun retreated behind the clouds, we headed back downwards with only a slight variation to the promised up and down ‘exactly’ the same way. We spread out over the hillside each picking our own route through the long grass, spongy mosses, and peat bogs to regroup back on the track below.
A casual comment created thoughts and probably mental images on what makes a ‘well equipped mountaineer’ filled our heads as we turned smiling to face Ben More and Stob Binnein, and the track towards the end of an excellent day.
Mary