Ben Vorlich & wet feet

Have been doing lots of exercise the past week. A couple of weeks ago I got up early to go to the uni sports centre to sign up at 8am (I never go in that early!) to get a place on the uni yoga classes I wanted – even then there was a queue, but guess what? No students in it! This week I clocked up 3 yoga classes, 2 games of squash, ‘salsacise’ and a swimming lesson (I’ve decided that it’s about time I learnt to do the front crawl so that if I ever get to use my diving qualification and get into trouble I’ll be able to make a quick getaway from any sharks (I am kidding myself))! They also do belly dancing classes which I have yet to try.

Salsacise is less of a dance lesson and more of an aerobics class with a few salsa steps–I am embarrassed at my lack of co-ordination (you have to watch yourself in the mirror which is rather off-putting)! It reminded me of dance classes when I was a wee girl (Miss Janice’s ballet & tap!) when I found it hard to remember all the steps – no change there!

After all that exercise I thought I'd be fit enough for a major hill walk. On Saturday I went up Ben Vorlich, a ‘munro’ (a mountain between 2500ft and 3000ft), with the walking group. I got up early to start the walk from Ardlui (top end of Loch Lomond) by 10am and drove up with Shona & Malcolm who are from Stirling and nearby Alloa, unlike most of the members who are from Glasgow. Michael didn’t fancy it and I don’t think he would’ve enjoyed it.

Four people, including the walk leader, who were coming by train from Glasgow, got stuck behind a landslide on the track but amazingly they were only 1.5 hours late. So 9 of us started the walk anyway with a last minute fill-in walk leader, Dave.

Above: A bit of a sun on the ascent - Janet, Shona, Malcolm and Dougie blowing his nose!

It started to rain as we set off so I had my snowboarding trousers on, which were too well insulated for most of the walk, and as a result I boiled in the bag all the way up the mountain until we reached the snow line when I actually did need them. With 2 layers of clothing underneath they were a bit tight (nothing to do with all that chocolate I eat) so were restricting my movement - this meant I knackered myself out and then my knee started to hurt on the ascent. It wasn’t the most enjoyable walk I’ve done!

It was hard going- steep, boggy, very wet and despite all the stinky polish I put on my boots they were letting in water (I feel a song coming on…). Well they are 17 years old, so I think I got my money’s worth! We had every type of weather you can imagine over the course of the walk- sun, rain, hail, sleet, snow, and strong winds! Just a typical Scottish day!

Once we got higher up the slope the view had disappeared behind mist and clouds – apparently from the summit of Ben Vorlich, which I didn’t reach, there was no view at all cos the weather had deteriorated so much.

Above: Looking up into the mist on our way back down the hill with no name.

We ate lunch sheltering from the wind and snow behind a large rock – I had bought an insulating mat for £2.50 from Tiso to sit on and it really worked – didn’t get a cold, wet bum. But unfortunately my wet feet started to get really cold now we’d stopped, as did my hands.

Four of us turned back at the summit of the first hill (name unknown) slightly short of Ben Vorlich’s summit because it was freezing with very strong winds. The hailstones were sandblasting our faces and the tag on my jacket zipper was flicking me painfully in the face – I could barely stay upright I was getting blown so much. It hasn't put me off but I think I'd prefer to do the munros in milder weather and maybe do some low level walks in winter!
I got back down the hill around 3.30pm after a 5 hour walk and went to the hotel bar for a pot of tea and a rest. The ones who’d gone right to the top didn’t get back till 5pm (meaning my dry clothes and shoes were locked in Malcolm’s car till then…). What amused me was Janet lighting up a cigarette on the way down the mountain – very healthy! The people I had come with then wanted to eat at the pub and didn’t finish till after 7pm (Malcolm is the slowest eater in Scotland) meaning I finally got home around 9pm to finally eat my veggie curry that Michael had kindly made me. It tasted so good!

Above: Hardy sheep and the snow-covered first summit (we had lunch somewhere up there in the snow)!

On the way home Shona drove (Malcolm is a driving instructor and has dual control car)- she hasn’t driven since she passed her test 10 years ago and so it was a bit of a scary ride home in the dark and rain on the winding country roads back to Stirling! (Not as scary as being driven by 80-something year old Soula in France, mind you). We spent a lot of time shouting ‘dip your lights, dip your lights’ and ‘mind the kerb!’ Actually the scariest part was going round the roundabouts in Stirling! She is from Islay and they don’t have roundabouts or traffic lights there, apparently!