WHAT NOT TO WEAR

Up on Ben Nevis again today, with yet another muddled weather forecast. We had rain in the morning and low cloud but by early afternoon it cleared up and we had a view from the summit. Keith & I had a big group of 12 raising money for Cancer Research. Still a lot of folk on the hill, some wearing the usual 'light weight' approach

WIND? WOT WIND?

The constant weather fronts continue to plague the West coast but the forecast of 40-60mph winds on the tops was widely wrong today. We had only a few light showers and only 20mph Westerlies on the summit of Ben Nevis today. It was very busy and an almost constant train of folk up and down the hill. Another section of footpath repair work beyond the red burn is complete. The guys have done really well this summer on the path construction work.

CMD ARETE, IN THE SUN!

A fine day today after a wet & windy day yesterday. Nice to see the sun, blue skies and no rain for a change. A great day for the CMD arete on Ben Nevis. We had glorious views all day. Wednesday looks like another very wet and windy time again.

BEN NEVIS

Back to the Ben today and for the first day for a while it stayed dry and bright through out. Weather is still unsettled and looks a very wet & windy affair on Sunday.

THE COBBLER

weather today was more sun than showers and we enjoyed good views down Loch Long from our walk up the Cobbler. My group had their final walk of a great wee trip covering various days out around the Highlands.

THE TIDE IS HIGH

It was quite a wet day on Skye today. Whilst most of Britain basked in hot sun and blue skies, Carol, Sue, Rob & I trudged from Kilmarie to Sligachan on Skye in puddles, streams running down the path and exciting river crossings. The tops did clear at times for some good views and we savoured a nice 29 year old Talisker malt at the Slig at the end.

RYVOAN PASS

It was not a particularly summer day in the Cairngorms today. My group of 7 walked over from Broomhill train station on the Speyside train line to Loch Morlich. Midges were out too!

SPEYSIDE

A nice walk over a section of the Speyside Way today. My group of 7 walked from Tomintoul to the whisky distillary at Glenlivet. The walk goes over the lovely wee hill of Carn Daimh at 570m.

SKYE, SUN AND SHOWERS

It was a change of scenery and terrain today as my group of 12 had a wonderful walk from Elgol to Camasunary then back over to Kilmarnie. This is a cracking low level walk with superb views of the Cuillin all the way along the cliffs and bays. We had some nice sunny spells in between the showers. It was a nice breezy day too so no midges most of the way. The Scottish Highlands, as our USA friends found out, isn't really suitable for poncho style attire!

NETHY BRIDGE TO LOCH MORLICH

Another pleasant day in the East. Today we walked over the Ryvoan Pass from Nethy Bridge to Glen More. We caught the Strath Spey Steam train to start the walk, getting off at Broomhill which was the station used in the 'Monarch of the Glen' TV series. The Billberries and Raspberries are abundant at the moment.

CAIRNGORMS

Over in the East this week with a big group of 12. We did a section of the Speyside Way from Tomintoul to the Glenlivet whisky distillery. It was very pleasent with nice warm sunshine and everyone glowing inside at the finish.

SOGGY BEN

It was disappointingly drizzly and cloudy on Ben Nevis today, Joan, Sandra & Alan didn't get any views until late in the day when the sun finally poked through the clouds. Much quieter on the hill today. Weather still in a showery phase well into next week.

ENGAGING MOMENTS ON THE BEN

It was quite a nice morning on Ben Nevis, forecasts were quite wrong as it was supposed to be raining all day! So Melisa, Charlie, Daniel, Alan, Oli and Chris had great views and sunshine all the way to the top of the zig-zags. The winds weren't has bad as expected either. Big surprise for Charlie on the summit, she received a proposal & engagement ring from Daniel! The tiers rolled as the rain started, awwwww. Congratulations & best wishes to them.

THE PLACE TO BE

After a couple of brief showers in the morning, it turned out another beautiful afternoon. For Stob Ban & Mullach nan Coirean in the Mamores that is. All other high peaks were topped with cloud at 800m. It was the cumulus cloud that made the day today, beautiful formations. I went up the North ridge of Stob Ban, this is a cracking wee ridge, higher up it narrows and a little scrambling, great in winter. It was a quite warm afternoon and a nice breeze,no midges all day.

SIZE ISN'T EVERYTHING

It was another day of showers but there was a dry, even sunny spell in the middle of the day. I caught the train to Corrour and went up Creag Ghuanach which lies in a lovely spot at the head of Loch Treig. At only 621m it was clear of the morning cloud. It's the prominent hill you can see from the train and I always looked at the steep and craggy Easstern aspect. I had a go at the Eastern side which looked from below like a good scramble, at closer acquittance it turned out to be greasy steep slabs of schist mixed with waist high bracken. Great views of Upper Glen Nevis from the summit so I headed home that way. It's been years since I last walked the whole length of the glen, I remembered why it's been so long, it's wet and boggy! After the quiet and remoteness of 12km you come to Steal falls and gone are the natural smell of the mountains as I was bombarded with perfume and deodorant as everyone and their dog seemed to be walking up the gorge today. No one was in the spirit to give a lift home at the road and it then poured down, in the end I walked the tarmac all the way to The Fort, oh well if your going to walk the length of Glen Nevis may as well do it properly.