Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis from The Mooring's Hotel

This weekend has been glorious weather. Yesterday I went for a run from the Ben Nevis Centre intending to go up to the Half Way Lochan then across to the Allt a Mhuilinn and up to the C.I.C hut .In the event  it was so nice that I continued up Ben Nevis . There was thick snow underfoot but it was  very warm in the sun . Three quarters of the way up the zig zags Helen phoned saying that she was heading up to the C.I.C. hut to meet me, so I went back.down. It was fun descending through the snow ; so much nicer than the bone jarring rocky path in the summer.
 As soon as I turned the corner beyond the lochan into the deep shadow cast by the North Face the temperature plummeted. At this time of year there is often a steep snow bank covering the path. Not having  brought  my ice axe I bypassed this by descending  and crossing the stream  to the east side of the glen.The stream was very cold! I met Helen and we ran back to the ski centre together.

Today I went for a low level run to Gairlochy , along the Caledonian Canal to  Banavie along the road to Torlundy then back home through the forest. We stopped at the Mooring's Hotel which is one of my favourite sketching haunts. I never tire of painting Ben Nevis from there.

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.