Over The Hill

The programmed walk for today was The Pap of Glencoe, with Alan as our walk leader. And this was a typical "Alan" walk; a MWIS weather forecast for the Western Highlands that promised "upland gales, low cloud base, heavy rain, and possible thunderstorms"; uncertainty as we went from Plan A - just carry on regardless of the weather - to - Plan B - a more local and low level walk - and back again to Plan A - Well, we are "Extreme Ramblers" Aren't we?! Only problem was, Alan wasn't even here; he had decided to take-off to sunnier climes where he could relax and enjoy a few G&Ts, leaving we mortals to sort ourselves out for a walk that he had programmed - thanks Alan!

And so, in keeping with the weather forecast, it was full waterproofs on before we even left the forestry car park and made out way along the short section of forest track towards the open hillside.. At this point, although it was raining, visibility was quite good, and we could clearly see the rounded dome of the Pap rising above the forest and hillside ahead. A good path took us north east from the forest boundary before crossing a small wooden bridge and contouring the hillside south east towards the Allt a' Mhuilinn.

A well defined, but much narrower, rocky path climbs steeply above the Allt a'Mhuilinn before it veers away from the line of the gorge and continues to climb the open hillside ahead. It was all too easy to keep ones head down against the wind and rain and to blindly push on up the line of the path. However, on this section, it is certainly worthwhile remembering to stop and take a look behind you, as the views back over Loch Leven and towards Ballachulish are quite beautiful, even under the wet and cloudy conditions such as we were experiencing.

At around the 430m height, the path takes a sharp left turn and swings back and steeply above itself as it now heads directly towards the bealach and the very obvious domed summit of the Pap which, until now, has been hidden from view by the steep hillsides. The narrow, rocky path now deteriorates into a series of broken rocks and patches of peat bogs, easily enough to cross, but deep enough to get a wet boot or leg if you are unlucky enough to misjudge your footing.

On reaching the bealach we were suddenly reminded of the weather forecast we had so casually tossed aside - the wind hit us with a vengeance. Forecast terms such as "difficulty in walking" and "making mobility difficult" flashed through our minds as we came to a halt behind a small knoll and took stock of the situation. At a height of 620m we only had another 120m of ascent ahead of us, albeit up a steep, rock covered slope. Studying the rock ahead, Lawrie pointed out what looked like a good route, rising towards the eastern edge of the summit, which we reckoned would offer us a bit of shelter from the wind, currently hitting us from a south westerly direction.

We popped out from our sheltered spot and within a few steps I thought, this is not going to work, as the wind just stopped us in our tracks, it was one step forward, stop, brace yourself and hope not to be blown backwards. However, as we gained the rocks, sure enough they offered quite a bit of shelter, and much to our surprise we covered the 120m of ascent rather quicker, and easier than we had thought possible.

But, nothing is ever that easy, as once on the summit we were completely unprotected and once again we were at the full mercy of the wind and it was with some difficulty that we huddled around the summit cairn for the obligatory photo call. It was at this point that Plan A was scrapped, as Alan's route called for us descending via the north east ridge aiming for a point about 1 kilometer west of Caolasnacon where we would pick up a hillside track to take us westwards back towards the forest. That wasn't going to happen today, and so it was onto Plan C - just reverse our route and get back down out of the wind and rain.

Decision made, we beat a hasty retreat back down towards the bealach and the knoll where we once again sought shelter, this time to take our first, and very welcome, break for some lunch. It certainly was not a day for long lunches, and so we were soon on the move once again. As we made our return, the weather deteriorated further, and it was a very wet and wind-beaten group that arrived back at the forestry car park at the end of a short, but very challenging walk.

Later, as we had the customary watering stop, this time at BeinGlas, I received a text from Alan enquiring how the day had gone - my reply was short, and not suitable for this open forum!

Thanks all for another exciting day in the hills - and I look forward to this one appearing in next years programme when Alan can take us down the north east ridge, preferably on a beautiful sunny day.