AONACH BEAG AND AONACH MOR, PLUS 1 MORE

Paul and I were out on the Grey Corries and Aonach's today. Paul had chosen the best day this week for his guided walk, by chance! We headed up Glen Nevis and onto Sgurr Choinnich Mor which was cloudy but the tops cleared for Aonach Beag and Aonach Mor in fine weather after some early cloud. There is quite a lot of height drop at this point and some interesting steep ground onto Aonach Beag. The stags were roaring away most of the day today, our only company on the hills with not a single soul to be seen through out the day. The Autumn colours are starting to look beautiful in the afternoon sun. I think this was the first time I have ever headed down  from Aonach Mor to the gondola in summer! Great way to do the Aonach's making a through route from the Upper Glen Nevis capark and descending to the Nevis Range carpark. Good to have a kind non-walker driver who is willing to pick you up at the otther end of course, though there is a perfectly good bus service.

LADHAR BHEINN, KNOYDART

Another fantastic day in Knoydart with wall to wall blue skies and warm sun. Once again we were blessed  with superb visibility in the cool Northerly airflow. We headed up onto the long ridge walk of Ladhar Bheinn, the most spectacular of the big Knoydart hills. Full of character with big North corries, narrow twisting ridges and those unforgettable sea and loch views. Another beautiful sunset at Inverie with the obligatory pint and meal at the Old Forge Inn before a full moonlight walk back to the very comfortable Knoydart Lodge.

KNOYDART

Off to Knoydart for the weekend. We took the ferry from Mallaig to Inverie. A fantastic sunny day and very clear by mid day. We had a short stroll up the hill and looks great weather for the next couple of days.

GOING UNDERGROUND

George and I went south to Wanlockhead today with the intention of heading up one of the hills in The Southern Uplands. Having escaped the rain in Glasgow the rain became even heavier so we opted for a tour down the lead mines near the village. The things you have to do to get away from the persistent rain. Excellent clear weather is forecast though over the weekend which will be  welcome relief has we are up in Knoydart on Saturday and  Sunday. No pics today!

EVEN WETTER BEN NEVIS

Another wet and soggy day on Ben Nevis today. Forecast for the weather a couple of days ago was to be fine and dry, but quite the opposite today. Lisa, Becky, Sarah and I did get a few glimpses of 'atmosheric' cloud formations before the rain finally set in by afternoon.

WET

Back to rain again today on the west coast. Wet and soggy morning, drying out in the late afternoon on The Ben. Lots of 3 peak challengers going on at all hours of the day. The hill will be lit up like a Christmas tree tonight with the amount of 3 peaker's we saw at 6pm.

WINTER'S COMING!

A cold snap today with NW winds and low temperatures on Ben Nevis. Ian and I had a group from Weir Engineering up on The Ben, raising money for Cancer Research UK. There was a few snow flurries on the plateau, lower down there were a few bright spells through out the day. Much quieter up on the hill today and the midges look like they have finally gone, so Winter not far away!

We are already taking bookings for winter skills and winter courses with 10 days booked in December already.

LAKE DISTRICT, ML ASSESSING

Just back from a very wet and windy Lake District. I've been assessing on a Mountain Leader course for Addventure . John and I were assessing 7 potential ML's on their 3 day expedition section of the syllabus. The conditions were 'testing' with constant rain, heavy at times and high winds. Poor visibility for virtually  the  whole three days,  especially on the night navigation on Friday/Saturday. On the  final morning the sun finally appeared  for the steep ground and rope work section. Well done to all the guys. Pictures to come soon.

SGURR GHIUBHSACHAIN

Another wild and windy day in the West Highlands. David and I headed west again for some better weather conditions. The beautifuly shaped Sgurr Ghiubhsachain rising above the eastern shore of Loch Shiel was our hill today. We had the hill to ourselves again with not a soul on the mountain, the summit was clear and the winds not has bad as forcasted. There is some excellent scrambling or you can easily avoid all of it if your so inclined. We did get some rain on the descent but we dried off at The Glenfinnan House Hotel in front of a roaring log fire and a pint.

GARBH-BHEINN

The high winds forecast today forced David's planned walk over The Ring of Steall to be shelved. Instead the plan B was put into action and we headed over to Ardgour and Garbh-Bheinn. This is the finest peak on the Ardgour peninsula with some fine scrambling terrain to choose from, though we played safe and just headed up an easier route to the summit. The winds were only 40mph max so it was quite pleasant, just enough to keep you concentrating on where you put your feet (and hands). There were some good bright spells too, best of all we saw no one all day.

TRAVEL LODGE ON BEN NEVIS

It was another very warm and clear skies day in Lochaber. Today Susan and I took a group from Travel Lodge motels up onto The Ben. They had raised over £5000 for Cancer UK. It was hot and thirsty work today, very summer like. The group seemed to have cleared every other person off the trig point to get some advertising in.

RING OF STEALL

A beautiful day with cloudless skies, light breeze and very warm. Anil and I went round the classic ridge walk of The Ring of Steall in The Mamores. Last year Anil was out with me on the CMD arete, in rain, low cloud and high winds, what a difference for him today. He had a big grin all the way around the five summits that encircle Steall waterfall. Two more days of the same weather to come, enjoy it!