Route reconnaisance

Ann and myself headed up to Glencoe for a few days to celebrate our birthdays with a bit of climbing, drinking, eating and lazing around (not necessarily in that order).  The big thaw has really taken a grip on the highlands and on pulling up and checking the route conditions on Beinn Udlaidh, there was not a single ice route left.  The wind was so strong, that the waterfalls were in fact blowing back up over the top of the mountain.  This was a weather pattern that was to stick with us for the whole weekend.

The rest of Friday, we spent on the road down to Oban to see how the cycle path was developing.  What I saw of this section of the trip was looking good - large parts of it a purpose made cycle path running alongside the waters edge - a few sneak previews for you..... with the obligatory castle thrown in for good measure !!!

Sunday turned out to be the worst day of the lot, and after the drenching we got on Saturday, we really didn't fancy another soaking, so had a lazy day having a drive around.  Another possible detour off the main highway, is to take the Corran ferry over to Ardgour and take the quiet road from there up to Fort William.  This really is a quiet road - in fact we only saw one other car the whole way !!!,  So subject to ferry times, this could be a possibility.

I'm really getting excited about this section on the tour along the western coast line.

As for Saturday - we headed up onto summit buttress on Stob Corie Nan Lochan - yeah, we did get wet, it rained for much of the day, but it in no way dampened our enthusiasm - it's what Scottish winter mountaineering is all about !!!!!