On Tuesday I had a day off and ran into town via Allt a' Mhuilinn and the CIC hut. I stopped to do a watercolour sketch of the valley and the cliffs of the north face of the Ben. It was quite cold so I didn't have long before my hands became to numb to paint. After that I traversed around on the path to the Half Way Lochan and then went up beyond the Red Burn to the zigzags . I was tempted to go to the top of the Ben but I wasn't well equipped and I  had things to do in town . The views below the cloud base were amazing as ever . I'm so lucky to live in such a breathtaking area , even a simple trip to town can take in demanding and dramatic mountain routes! Unfortunately my poor old knees were complaining on the descent on the tourist path so needless to say afterwards I jogged home through the forest.