Over The Hill

Looking at the final walk in the walks programme for 2013, I wondered if Lawrie had had the same thoughts as I did when he submitted the Glen Striddle Horseshoe for the 28th of December. Let's got for something reasonably easy and not too taxing after all the excesses of Christmas; so what better than Beinn Dubh and Mid Hill, after all isn't that where I take my dogs for a nice summer stroll and meet all those visitors to Luss sitting on the hillside admiring the views or reading a book - good choice Lawrie!

And so it was, as we left Luss I was bemoaning the MWIS weather forecast which warned of strong winds with heavy and prolonged precipitation and a severe wind chill factor - rubbish, we were soon taking off layers as we tackled the lower slopes of Beinn Dubh and admiring the views back over Loch Lomond, just perfect. Others must have felt as we did, as it was a busy hillside, with a couple of groups ahead of us, and at least one, fairly large group some distance behind us - just perfect. Well for at least the first hour and ten minutes it was!

Quote "Changeable is the best way to describe the weather in Scotland - and it can change at an alarming speed." - MCoS Unquote. And so it did - as we looked ahead we could see this sheet of rain just scudding over the hillside towards us. We dropped everything and went diving into the rucksacks to grab the waterproofs, donning them just in time; and with the rain came a strengthening wind. which seemed to increase with each step we took as we continued on upwards towards the summit cairn.

Over the final 250 metres of ascent the rain gradually changed to icy sleet, a little snow and back to icy sleet, and all the time, driven horizontally by an ever increasing wind force. As our group approached the summit, those who had been ahead of us were scurrying back downhill, not even pausing for the usual pleasantries of good-day or whatever.

No such quick retreat for us however, as we departed the summit and continued onwards towards Coire na h-Eanachan and Mid Hill. It was our intention to stop above the coire for a lunch break, but by the time we arrived at the coire rim, the wind and sleet were such that what we actually decided was to divert from our chosen route and head south, off the ridge line and drop steeply down into the upper reaches of Glen Striddle which would put us in the lee of the wind, and, hopefully, escape the stronger winds we anticipated we would meet on Mid Hill.

Thankfully, the plan worked, and we were soon in much calmer conditions and even stopping to observe two fairly large herds of deer quite oblivious to the weather as they climbed the slopes on the opposite side of the glen. We dropped down the slopes to about the 400 metre level before contouring around the hillside to pick up the path from Mid Hill for what should have been a fairly straightforward descent into Glen Luss and the track back along the glen to Luss. However, the day was to present us with one more challenge before we were done.

Unfortunately as we descended the hillside towards Glenmollochan, Joyce took an awkward slip, and the moment she did, knew that it was quite serious, and felt that she had fractured her ankle.

Luss, and our cars, was still 4 kilometres away, but, fortunately, we would be able to get a car along the glen road to Glenmollochan, which was only 400 metres further down the hillside. And so, Michael set off for Luss to fetch his car, while Joyce was placed on an improvised stretcher courtesy of a strong polythene survival bag and, as gently as possible, man-handled down the 400 metres to the roadside at Glenmollochan, from where she was taken to the VoL Hospital where her original diagnosis was confirmed. She had indeed fractured her ankle.

So, a challenging walk to end the year which offers a timely reminder that we should be prepared for any eventuality when out on the hills, in this case these were:

Be Prepared for Sudden Changes in the Weather - When the weather worsened we all had the appropriate clothing to ensure we stayed dry and warm.

Be Prepared to Make Changes to the Planned Route - When the weather became too bad to continue on the planned route we made the decision to descend by an alternative route.

Accidents can Happen at Anytime and Anywhere - As a group we were able to cope with a casualty who required assistance in getting safely off the hillside and onwards to professional medical care.

Quite an eventful walk - Thanks Lawrie!

Hope your feeling better Joyce - and Happy New Year to everyone - See you all next year.

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