Metres ascent: 1883
Time taken: 12.1 hours including 2.1 hours stops
No of Challengers seen: 1 (Robert Ridgewell - at Glenfinnan House Hotel - he started at Lochailort this morning and walked along the road to his next hotel bed)
No of Day Walkers seen: 0
No of times waterproofs on and off: 1 million (the sole reason for my tardiness)
About 9 km of today's total was along the main road to Glenfinnan, then up an empty track to Callop and a newly constructed 'motorway' (a hydro scheme) beyond Callop.
The remaining 13 km was over rough ground. It was slow going. The waterproofs situation got beyond a joke. I left them on to dry in the sun, stashed them, and seemingly within seconds it was raining again.
Again and again...
A long lunch at Glenfinnan revived me. A short chat with Robert before he retired to his room (does he eat lunch?) was followed by two old ladies joining my table. Surprisingly, we discussed the Challenge, and the Four Peaks Challenge (yes, they were rather dismissive of the 'much easier' Three Peaks Challenge, though an extra 24 hours is allowed to compensate for the inclusion of the highest peak in Ireland). This was my only skirmish with humanity all day - there was nobody else on the hills, which were mainly clear of cloud today, though the low cloud base, not to mention the showers, did hamper any efforts at photography.
It was a fine route that went more or less exactly to plan, though I did have an interesting time descending from the final summit, Sgorr Craobh a' Chaorainn. I wasn't expecting a rock climb!
Tomorrow's plan is a demanding day only possible in Perfect Weather and with an excess of energy. I don't think the latter will be tested, as the former looks extremely unlikely. The gale outside has eased, but the rain is (at 9.30pm) lashing down as vociferously as ever.
The photo is of tonight's campsite - between showers - with tomorrow's first hill in the background.
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2 comments:
I'm following your progress with interest Martin -- from my cosy living room with its view over the Market Square in Buxton.
Hope the weather treats you kindly for the rest of your trip. Not too kindly though -- a week or so of balmy breezes and rain-free skies would make things far too easy :-)
Thanks, Paul
We hope to visit your cosy living room in Buxton.
It's now 13 June, and I can report that there was only one day on the Challenge where no waterproof was needed, though the conditions were generally benign.
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