QUIET ON BEN NEVIS

No.5 Gully & Carn Dearg Buttress

After a very wild and wet day yesterday it was nice to be out in dry conditions with just a light breeze. I took a wander up Ledge Route on Ben Nevis. The North Face car park only had one car in at at 10am and the top car park was deserted so I was looking forward to a day of solitude.

The highest cloudbase all day

The low cloudbase gradually lifetd to around 900m by mid day and this was to be the best time of day as later on it dropped to well below 600m. I heard the first stag roaring as I started up the scrambling on Ledge Route. A lovely sound and quite atmospheric in the mist, the sound marking a definite start to the Autumn season I always feel.

A Familiar landmark on Ledge Route-for how long?

Despite the low cloud and lack of views it is never dull on Ledge Route, the grade 1 scrambling always interesting and spectacular. I was trying out my new Olympus 'Tough' camera today. Quite impressive for a compact camera and as the name suggests it's weatherproof and shock proof though if you dropped it along Ledge Route chances of it being in working order would be slim I'd guess.

Leontodon Autumnalis (Autumn Hawkbit) at over 1100m!

Even the wild and cooler weather we've had recently hasn't killed off all the flora and it was great seeing Starry and Mossy saxifrages and Hawkbit above 1100m on the ridge.

The most sensational bit, even in cloud

There were a few souls walking up and down the Pony Track as I trotted back down from the top. There was a damp misty feeling in the gloom. The heatwave and blue skies down south certainly a marked contrast to the weather we've been enjoying recently. Looking a bit brighter toward the east nest couple of days. So my next adventure is over in The Cairngorms next week with a big group on a big tour of The Highlands.