2006-01-11

ok... I've got the time... I've got the will.... I haven't got the money.

But that did not stop me on former adventures either ;-)

I'm going to book the tickets this week. 

2006-01-13

Just booked my flights with Ryanair ;-)

Friday the 27th of January 2006 I will start my trip and it the plan is to be hiking untill the 3rd of Febuary... that doesn't give me a lot of time, but enough for a nice wee hike through the Scottish Highlands.

I thougth about hiking through the Letterewe Wilderness west of Inverness... but the transfer to and from the hike would need almost a whole day. I might go hiking west of Corrour Station again. Easy transfer from Glasgow and a really nice spot to be hiking as well. Rosi from the Forum gave me a good idea:

Start from Fort William up Glen Nevis over Meannanach and Staoineag Bothy to Loch Treig and from there over Corrour Station either east along Loch Ossian to Dalwhinie or south and west over Rannoch Station to Kingshouse Hotel.

Both are interesting trips... let's see ;-) 

27.01.06
So this is it! i'm sitting in the train to fort william and the land is changing outside of it. slowly but surely the Scotland I love is coming closer. I start to remember the station names... places, landscapes start to look familiar... memories from old trips come to my mind.
I've been to Scotland ever year now since I finished working in Aberdeen in 2001. Somehow I just cannot let go of this beautiful but harsh country... although being in Glasgow does help ;-) I could never picture myself living there, let alone raising children in a city like that.
I will arrive around 4:30pm in Fort William and will try to make enough way east through Glen Nevis to be able to pitch up my tent without getting in trouble.
This is my first solo-trip in a long time, and I must admit that I feel a bit uneasy about it. Afterall, the Highlands are not to be underestimated. A cab drive in Glasgow who has been at the army a long time told me that the weather is unpredictable (I already knew that) and that you can get devestating blizards out of nowhere.

It's five o'clock now. I took the cab until the upper falls parking space which cost me about 9£ but was worth it. I'd have never gotton this far before nightfall and the road just stretches endlessly. Ready for action I decided to walk another hour or two and said to myself 'BRING IT ON!' ... when it hapened! Barely one minute of walking and it came out of nowhere hitting me like a truck on the highway: the perfect campsite!
I just couldn't resist. I will start tomorrow morning then.
The sky is clear and I already have -3 degrees C, so I guess my huge loaf of cheese won't melt away during the night.

28.01.06
It has been -5 degrees C tonight and I had a hard time fallng asleep because of the cold. around 3am it started raining and the teperatur rose up to +1. I set off around 10am with a totally wet tent and very suspicious towards towards the weather. It took me around 20minutes to get up the gorge which was slippery but not much of a problem with propper footwear. Up there you have a good view at the waterfalls and there are plenty of good places to pitch up a tent. Would I have known that I would have done the gorge yesterday evening.
Amazing how many people there are going for a weekend hike or climbing.
I arrived at Meannanach bothy shortly past 2pm. It looks as good as I had remembered it from my last trip in 2004. I guess I will spend tomorrow here, just going for a small trip up a nearby hill. The path was pretty good and easy to follow, although I must say that it is undeniable that I am in Scotland. Lots and lots of mud-poos ans swamps... and I can proudly say that I hardly missed any of them ;-)
Nevertheless I am pretty wasted now and I have definitly been in better shape (mental note: more sports; less pizza when I come home again).
As usual there is no firewood at the bothy and even less to find around it. I'm thankful for my Ullfrotte underwear now! Just ashame that I missed to take along the handl of my pot and candles. Guess I have to rewrite my gear check-list at home... it just said 'cooking equipment'.
Just took the time to enjoy the scenery around outside the bothy with a good sip of whisky and a self rolled cigarette... what a treat!
Temperature inside the bothy already droped dowb to 0 degrees C and my sleeping bag doesn't look too happy to see me.. either he didn't like the moisture last night or he's read for another wash. Maybe both.
Now let's see what I can make of some sphagettie and a rather suspiceous looking sauce...

29.01 -30.01.06
I spent the last two days with reading in front of the bothy and seriously enjoying the scenery and the weather. No clouds at all... unbelievable. The nights were crispy cold. -7 degrees inside the bothy. Might have been even older outside because the ground lookd white with frost every morning and the little stream behind the bothy was frozen with a 2-3cm thick cover of ice.
I made a nice wee trip up on Beinn nan Each just behind the bothy which took me about hlf an hour to reach but rewarded me with a great views around! Definitely worth it in good weather.
Last night I got a little company by a we mouse who rn around my sleping bag in search for leftovers. After the first shock (non of us expected the other on to be there) we did come along quite nicely although she didn't prove be much of a talker... well, neither am I.
Just a shame that I immediately had to slip into my sleeping bag once the sun disappeared behind the hills. Amazing how fast the temperature can drop...

31.01.06
The day started just like the other two before... clear sky and a warm. Though around 1 pm a thick wall of clouds came rushing over the hills an covered the whole valley only half an hour later. Quite stunning and I must admit that I have never seen anything like it before. But it was gone just as quick as it had come.
Not wanting to wait for another one I packed my stuff, cleaned up a bit and headed towards Staoineag Bothy which I reached only one hour later. I would have normally taken me a bit longer, but due to the low temperatures the last couple of days the ground (and especially all the boggy parts and little streams) were safely frozen... but so were the stepping stones in frot of Staoineag Bothy which nearly sent me head first into th water. I remembered having had a simlar experience in 2004 when I was there with Sebastian. I'll be heading out for Corrour Station tomorrow for the 12:50 train to Glasgow.

01.02.06
In order to catch the 12:50 train to Glasgow I left at 9am, which proved to be which prooved to be way too early. It only took me two hours to reach Corrour Station... though it would have taken me about an hour longer if the ground wold not have been fozen. Especially the last bit before the station is one big swamp.
 So this is it... my hiking holiday in Scotland 2006. Certainly more holiday than hiking, but stil a great time ;-)
I wonder when I will come to Scotland the next time... Certainly not in the winter anymore. Though this time of the year prooved to have some adventages for hiking, it is just a bit too cold and my normal summer equipment definitly reached its limits (clothing, sleeping bag, ...). I'd rathe recommend waiting another 2-3 months and choosing springtime (end of march - beginning of april) as the preferred hiking season for the Highlands.