Over The Hill

The Cobbler never fails to be a popular choice, and today was no exception, as 18 of us gathered in the car park at Succoth on what was to prove to be a truly dreich day. (Note: Dreich - A combination of dull, overcast, drizzly, cold, misty and miserable weather. At least 4 of the adjectives must apply before the weather is truly dreich.) - and it was, truly dreich! And to cap it all, I walked right into a bloody big road sign as we left the car park which left me with blood pouring down my face and having to walk around all day with a plaster/bandage on my head; needless to say, I found myself on the receiving end of every sharp witted remark for the rest of the day.

We detoured slightly from the usual start up the zigzags, and reverted to the old route up the line of the hydro (rack and pinion) rail track, just for old times sake, before cutting back along the lower level forest track to pick up the final, and longer haul up the second section of the zigzags, and onwards on the relatively easy track to the Narnain Boulders. Crossing the river, and heading towards the coires below the north peak, the mist and cloud hung low over the whole hillside obscuring everything around us; no views, and so no photographs to be had today, the camera staying firmly in my pocket.

A couple of short scrambles saw us over the 700m height, from where a steep climb on the rocky path soon had us on the bealach between the summit, and the northern top; the later to which we made our ascent, some of us opting for the slight more adventurous route over the slabs and up yet another short, but very vertical scramble, where, our own "Little Miss Moffat" could certainly have done with a spiders web upon which to cling to on those parts where a long reach is a definite advantage! This was not a day for hanging around, and so a quick departure was made from the north top, back to the bealach, where, despite the rain and wind, we set to making ourselves as comfortable as possible for a well earned lunch break.

Lunch over, we made the final ascent towards the summit, and for Ian, at least, a chance to hone his mountaineering skills and complete the climb by "threading the eye of the needle" to reach the top of the exposed summit stack.

Climbing and scrambling over for the day, we descended the northern ridge on the stone path leading to the head of Coire a'Bhalachain for our return via the Narnain Boulders and those never ending zigzags back to Succoth car park.

Forget about the weather, The Cobbler is a great mountain, and is great fun to climb - A brilliant day, thanks Jim.