Johnny Walker Mountain Leading

So, back to the U.K. tomorrow, and back to work on our hills.

But what an excellent week over here in the Brenta Dolomites with friends.

We had an absolutely roasting hot day, a very wet day, a scary thunderstorm day, an amazingly beautiful day, an easy descent day, and finally a cool via ferrata day on a shady gorge.

And all the time wonderful mountain views, lush limestone meadows, wildflowers, great laughs and hearty hut food....and one or two Radlers.

I love the Brenta.... 😍

Our last day out this week with Max, Reuben and Ollie was meant to be an ascent of Gearr Aonach via the brilliant Zigzags scramble, and then a round of Coire Lochan, over Stob Coire nan Lochan.
But it was waaayyy to hot and humid!
We really enjoyed the scramble, but decided to cut the day short and dip our toes in the cool burn instead, before descending to the incredibly busy Three Sisters car park.
A very enjoyable and productive three days, and great to see two young fellas absorbing all the information and experiences.

Tomorrow is packing, then off to the Dolomites on Saturday for a week, hut-to-hut walking 🙂

Not a lot of pics today, but we did experience a very, very rare phenomenon.
We managed to spend a day learning climbing basics, (and climbing a few very enjoyable slightly harder routes for the more experienced) at Polldubh crags.....
AND THERE WERE NO MIDGES!
At the end of June.
The gentle warm breeze blew, and the sun shone.
It was idyllic.
So much so, I have little pictorial evidence 😉🙂

What a grand, big and satisfying day out today with Max, his son Reuben, and pal Ollie.
We capitalised on the cooler conditions with an early start, and went up the Ledge Route onto Ben Nevis, summiting just after 12 noon. Then we picked our way down the awkward boulder field to the start of the Carn Mor Dearg Arête, which we took 100% on the crest.
Finally, we descended using Mike Pescod's Abacus Mountaineering recommendation of a better, dryer route to avoid the eroded boggy path, and to prevent adding to it.
All of this, as well as using the early clag to do some navigation practice too.
A very full day.
I suspect we will sleep well tonight! 🙂👍

For our last day of this trip we decided to leave the horrendous rain in the North West and head to Glen Tromie in the Eastern Cairngorm area.
The forecast suggested that the strong SW wind would lessen as the day progressed, but I sure struggled cycling into it, despite Orion trying to give me a draft on his Ebike.
We then took to the very heathery and overgrown slopes of Meallach Mhor as the heavens opened, and Orion stepped on an adder at one point!
It was proper Scottish summer - soaked on the outside, broiled on the inside 🙄😥
But it dried up as we summited, and the warm front brought even warmer air that felt like a hairdryer up there. Weird.
We got a good view of the Gaick Corbetts that I had 'enjoyed' in the snow with Caroline Larkman earlier this year 😉
The descent was through some of the deepest and consistently covered heather slopes I have ever walked, testament to good deer management, complete with lots of rowan, birch and pine saplings.
The ride back was easier with the tail wind, and I almost dried out.
A great week, lots of challenge, lots of satisfaction.

A proper wet day's cycling into Flowerdale, and getting to the summit of the iconic Baosbheinn with Orion.
It's a really, really rough track, bordering on proper mountain biking, and there was a fair bit of pushing done on the way up.
And as for the ground conditions on the approach, otter's pockets come to mind. Then we had the 40mph gusts of wind on the ridge to really keep us on our toes.
It's not all beer n' skittles as my pal Paul Bonson always says!
Still grand when you get some dry clothes on though. 🙂

Not a lot of photos from our walk up Beinn Damh from the Torridon hotel today as it was gusting enough to blow one of us over, as well as hosing it down most of the day.
Very Scottish conditions unfortunately, and one better enjoyed over a cuppa and a slice of cake once we got back and dried off.
Still, I did get some pics of the beautiful forest start and finish 🙂

I am lucky in this work that I get to visit some very special places quite often, and the superlative mountain that is An Teallach is one of these.
Today was my 14th ascent and traverse of the Corrag Bhiudhe pinnacles, and we had a much better day than forecast. I do love it when the forecasters get it wrong in our favour!
Okay, the cloud held on for the majority of our morning, but we still managed to get some of the famous views as we summited the final peak.
Orion and his daughter Katherine thoroughly enjoyed the day, and even had a peek into the abyss atop Lord Berkeley's Seat, a truly exposed position, requiring sure-footedness and a head for heights.

A very pleasant first day back on the hills after my two weeks away.
Beinn Airigh Charr from Poolewe, using the bikes for the first 7k on the good quality track.
Then it was a surprisingly good condition old stalker's path up into the coire, before a steep pull up on scree to the summit.
But then, wow! What views! Everything from the Outer Hebrides, the Summer Isles, Fisherfield, Torridon and a fair bit more. And the weather was warm enough to just sit there on the top and soak it all in.
The forecast isn't looking too good for the rest of the week, but we're certainly made hay whilst this sun shone 👍🙂

My last mountain post for a couple of weeks, as I am off to Austria for my holidays, (and will be concentrating on my two-wheel steed rather than walking or climbing for once).
But what a glorious day it was. The wind was a little warmer than yesterday, and the sun shone continuously. The shade of the trees was welcome on the ascent, and doubly so on the descent. The bluebells were so pretty.
The shy retiring Corbett of Beinn Stacath was our goal from Inverlochlarig, having had to turn back earlier in the year due to swollen burns which were difficult to cross safely.
Our route has a bridge shown on the OS map, but it is long gone, so armed with the knowledge of our previous visit, we made short work of the ascent.
The summit isn't the most inspiring, despite it's trig point, (and the abandoned fencing wire adds to its mundane feel), but the views were great, and we spent a good while debating exactly what we could see, a favourite summit pass time.
Thanks to Orion for pressing me to go out today, and I am looking forward to our Torridon trip when I return.