About Me

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Hello! My name is Keith Gault and I've been tramping the hills of the UK and further afield for over 40 years now. This blog records some recent hill days undertaken either on my own, with friends, or with clients under my guided hillwalking Company: Hillways (www.hillways.co.uk). I hope you enjoy my diary; please feel free to comment on any of the walks. I will respond to any direct questions.

Saturday 30 May 2015

Ben Vorlich



Ben Lomond & Loch Lomond From the Summit

Once in a while, near-perfect weather, great company and a nice wee hill combine to give a truly memorable day which lives long in the memory.  But until such a day comes along, Aileen, Pete & Audrey helped ease the wait by agreeing that Ben Vorlich in the Arrochar Alps would be a most agreeable way of spending  a spring Saturday!


Ben Vane from Coiregrogain

They’ve completed work on the new electricity sub-station in Coiregrogain so the short walk up the metalled road from Inveruglas is a little quieter these days.  Despite all the electricity paraphernalia, it is still a pretty part of the planet and the steep slopes of the surrounding hills add much to the scenic grandeur of the glen.

One kilometer from the Sloy dam, a small cairn marks the otherwise indistinct start to an occasionally wet path that climbs the steep grassy hillside.  Up we headed, in warm sunshine with the view improving rapidly with each footstep.  And then, as we crested the summit ridge, views exploded in all directions and the hard work was over.  So were the warm conditions (for a while, at least) as a cool breeze took the edge off the temperature.  The summit cairn (200m north of the trig point) was particularly drafty: Ben Vorlich (943m; hill of the bay). 


The Arrochar Alps

We did manage to find a sheltered spot for lunch though and I was treated to the best coronation chicken morning roll I’ve ever tasted.  Consequently, Audrey has kindly agreed to provide my lunch and accompany me on all future hills!  Well, I think that’s what she said…


A Distant Ben Vorlich from the Bonnie, Bonnie Banks

We descended, almost reluctantly, from our airy perch and the warmth returned once we out of the wind.  The sun kept shining and was still there for the après hill refreshment stop where some us drank soft drinks and coffee and some of us drank Sauvignon Blanc…..

A most agreeable day, and not such a long wait after all!



Check out my plans for the summer at:  http://www.hillways.co.uk/   

Sunday 24 May 2015

The Laggan Hills



Coire Ardair

The long hard week we had planned for our Newtonmore trip turned out to be a long hard week adjusting the itinerary because of the copious amounts of snow still lying on the Scottish mountains!  Although the more easterly peaks had relatively few patches of spring snow, those hills further west were plastered with the white stuff and summer hillwalking was not remotely possible!

Creag Pitridh, Geal Charn & Beinn a’ Chlachair


Beinn a’ Chlachair

There’s only one obvious access point for these 3 Munros that lie over 5Km S of the A86 mid-way between Newtonmore and Spean Bridge.  Leaving the car at the lay-by close to Moy Lodge, we headed up the track that traverses around the S flank of Binnein Shuas to Lochan na h-Earba.  The track then becomes an excellent stalker’s path and climbs to the skyline placing you conveniently at the centre of the group. 


Creag Pitridh & Geal Charn

Turning NW just before the skyline bealach, we picked off the easiest of the day’s hills - the small rounded cone of Creag Pitridh (924m; Petrie’s rock).  An easy start!  Returning to the stalker’s path, a slightly longer (but not much) detour placed us on the flat rocky summit of Geal Charn (1049m; white hill).  Here, we encountered our first snow patches of the week!


Geal Charn

Returning once more to the stalker’s path and back to the skyline bealach, a steep, if short, climb gave access to the long broad shoulder of our 3rd Munro.  Now the cloud came down and we saw little but a monochrome world of snow and rocks as we picked our way to the eventual summit of Beinn a’ Chlachair (1087m; stonemason’s hill).


Beinn a’ Chlachair

Descending E, we traversed around the rim of Coire Mor a’ Chlachair before descending directly N to intercept the inward stalker’s path and returning to the car in a little over 8hrs.  Whilst we encountered only a moderate amount of snow today, we could look across to Ben Alder and see plenty of it on that high massif.  It was obvious we would have to come back another time for the Alder group.

Stob Coire Sgriodain & Chno Dearg


Sron na Garbh-bheinne

Today, we opted for a more straightforward day and Matt went off to play catch-up on another Munro as Jenn & Jon headed W to tackle 2 of the Loch Treig hills.


Stob Coire Sgriodain

Parking at Fersit, the leafy surroundings of the hamlet were soon replaced by the peat bog and heather slopes that guard the N flanks of the 2 hills.  A steep climb up the nose of Sron na Garbh-bheinne gives access to the gently undulating ridge that leads fairly easily to the rock-studded summit of Stob Coire Sgriodain (979m; peak of the corrie of the scree).  


Loch Treig

Fortunately, the clouds kept away long enough to allow us the spectacular view down to Loch Treig, immediately below us.


Chno Dearg

A straightforward traverse, with no significant ups or downs, connects the 2 Munros and an easy climb up grassy slopes leads to the stony, flat summit of Chno Dearg (1046m; red hill).  This was in cloud, and a compass bearing was necessary to get the initial descent line right.  But we were soon back in clear air and were able to take a direct line down assorted snowfields that afforded rapid progress before the wet grassy slopes led us back to Fersit.

Carn Liath, Stob Poite Coire Ardair & Creag Meagaidh


The Creag Meagaidh Hills

We left the round of Creag Meagaidh for the best weather of the week, or so we thought!  Alas, it was not to be and cloud, snow and rain all had a go at us as we made our way around Coire Ardair.  Oh, and did I mention the cold wind…?


Aberarder

Starting from Aberarder, the new path led us past the old farm and up into the birch woods.  Here, we left the main path and climbed NE up the heather slopes of Na Cnapanan and on to our 1st peak of the day: Carn Liath (1006m; grey hill).


Cairn Liath

It’s usually an easy and enjoyable walk along the wide grassy ridge on to the next Munro, but today a cold and gusty headwind made for tough going.  Eventually though, a combination of narrowing ridgeline and old rusting fence-posts led us to the diminutive summit cairn atop Stob Poite Coire Ardair (1053m; peak of the pot of the high corrie).  This summit’s greatest feature is the close view it gives across to  the vertical cliffs of Coire Ardair and we were fortunate to get just such a view today.


Creag Meagaidh

A short, steep descent leads to The Window, the conspicuous U-shaped bealach that separates this peak from Creag Meagaidh itself. 


The Window

Climbing up the other side, we entered the cloud and crossed the snow-line at about 1000m and our world changed!  There then followed an hour’s micro-navigation in white-out conditions as we crossed the snow-covered plateau, gained the summit cairn and re-crossed the plateau to locate our return ridge. Creag Meagaidh (1130m; bogland rock).


The White-Out

The subsidiary top of Puist Coire Ardair leads to the onward ridge and the eventual descent back to Aberarder.  The cloud was in no hurry to leave us, neither were the wind and rain.  But Jon did manage to spot a dotterel which brightened things up.  A bit.

Drumochter East - A’Bhuidheanach Bheag & Carn na Caim


Drumochter

As the others departed for home, Jon and I took advantage of our 2 cars and managed an end-to-end traverse of the eastern Drumochter hills.  Cold and showery it may have remained (snow showers at that), but it stayed largely cloud-free as we traversed S-N heading up from the Pass and on to the flat grassy summit of  A’Bhuidheanach Bheag (936m; little yellow place).  As usual, red grouse, mountain hare, dunlin and dotterel added welcome interest.


A’Bhuidheanach Bheag

Then it was on across the windswept plateau and along the track to the final Munro of the week: Carn na Caim (941m; hill of the curve).  We returned, as usual, down the track from the disused quarry and back to the 2nd car. 


Drumochter

Despite the difficulties, it was a great week and everyone went home happy.  But warm spring sunshine, where art thou…?



 Check out my plans for the summer at:  http://www.hillways.co.uk/