Arriving in the car park at Loch Long early doors it was a tad claggy but the forecast said it would come good later on in day. So we set off up the path, through the forest, leaving the village of Arrochar behind.
The mist was still clinging to the day and the first part of the ascent was pretty steep and pretty rocky which suits me to a tee.
It wasn't long before we left the rocks and grass and ventured into a new land of snow and ice. Its always exciting to be in and amongst the snow on a mountain because it sharpens your mind and suddenly there are many more things to be taken into consideration, things that could potentially save your life.
Today the main problem that we encountered was the lack of visibility. Cornices, ledges and snow fields are tricky enough when you can see what you're dealing with but without that then its a whole other ball game.
We took our time and kept checking our bearings to make sure we were on the right path. Maps and compass's are virtually redundant when you cant establish any geographical features around you to plot yourself but through a series of deduction and common sense we finally made our way to the top.
It was here we encountered Callum, a young lad from Glasgow who like ourselves, hadnt anticipated such a white out and asked if he could walk with us up and over the mountain and down the other side. So now we were 3.
We finally made it to the top with Callum (our new wee friend from Glasgow) taking our picture, thanks Callum.
Time to get off the mountain and by all accounts the descent was much gentler than the ascent and that was music to my ears. Owing to the time and the energy used in getting to the summit we decided that perhaps we'd give Beinn Ime a miss, it would still be there another day.
So off to find the path down. Where was it? Right? Left? The map showed it straight ahead but the mist and fog made it impossible to determine what exactly was straight ahead. Before long and after consulting with the compass we had a few attempts at locating the path we heard voices and the voices seemed to be getting closer which meant possibly they could be ascending on the path and if that was the case we could use their footprints to descend.
Luckily that was the case and before long we were heading downwards on a lovely gentle sweeping path. Down through the snow line, into bog city and just as we reached the end of the path the sun came out and my prediction of having my sunglasses on at least during part of the day came true........surprisingly.
An eventful day but an incredible achieving. Pushing ourselves and our limits and skating that fine line between utter fear and absolute enjoyment.......thrilling stuff !
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