The Glencoe Climb

All week the forecasts had been terrible, and at least once including the words "storms" "torrential" and "rain". However, we set off on Friday evening hoping for a soaking at the very least. To our surprise, the Radio Scotland weather forecast was improving by the hour on the road north, and when we finally heard the mountain forecast at around 7.00 o'clock, it even mentioned sunny intervals! We stopped for fish & chips in Callander and reached Glencoe as the light was fading. It was a pleasant warm evening with no wind. Ideal midge weather I thought. Unfortunately I was right. They swarmed in huge clouds around our heads as we quickly pitched the tents and headed at a rapid pace for the shelter of the Clachaig Inn.

We looked out in the morning to clear blue skies and more midges. I cooked breakfast from the safety of the tent while the other two braved the clouds of bloodsucking creatures buzzing around. We didn't hang about to look at the stunning scenery around us but quickly packed up and headed for the start of our walk.

Parking at the popular car-park near the head of Glencoe, just as the first busloads of tourists were arriving, we headed up the hillside. It took us a little longer to attain the ridge than we had expected, but we reached it eventually and caught our breaths before starting the difficult bit. The first top was easy enough but lying to the south of the ridge is a feature called The Chancellor, with a sharp ridge out to its narrow summit. Reuben couldn't resist the temptation and we waited behind to take the photos. You can maybe just spot him in the linked photo.

The climb along the ridge was more challenging than I remembered, but it could have been because we seemed to take the most difficult route at every opportunity! It was usually as we got to the most tricky move on top of one of The Pinnacles that we noticed the path along the side, but I guess we had to earn our sponsor money! We chose our photos carefully, to find the most dramatic pose. The day turned out to be tiring but enjoyable and the fantastic weather contributed to the experience, with views out to the Atlantic. The cloud even briefly lifted off Ben Nevis for an hour or so. However the warm weather and lack of wind meant that the midges even followed us onto the hill and we had to eat lunch on the move to avoid being eaten ourselves, something I've only ever experienced once before on the top of a Munro.

The descent back down was very tiring. The zig-zag path I remember from years ago had gone under the thousands of feet trekking down the hillside and was now a loose and unstable scree gulley. Being able to see the pub all the way down didn't help, but we persevered and stopped for a quick drink before the journey home.

The final total of sponsor money is still to be counted but it amounts to several hundred pounds. You can still contribute to our efforts however. Please send in your cheques to the address below and let us know if you would like to join us should we do another walk next year.

Grant Bulloch

The Kisoro Trust
91 Restalrig Avenue, Edinburgh, EH7 6PN, UK
Recognised Scottish Charity No. SC 029384

Email address: info@Kisoro.org