ClydebankJag Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 Does anyone here get out walking at the weekends? Have been trying to get out walking every few weeks but it's hard going when it pishes down most weekends and anything off the beaten path turns to mush... Still building up my fitness, and ankles, for bigger hills so doing a mixture of longer flatter walks and some low hills ..got the bus to Drymen a few weeks ago and walked back along the WHW to Milngavie. Beautiful sunny day and really quiet on route. Magic. ...spent the other Sunday doing Conic in the morning, lunch at the Carbeth Inn and Auchineden and the Whangie in the afternoon. Bit drizzly but really enjoyed it. ....tomorrow is a flattish walk through Glen Loin and Coiregrograin at Arrochar. 10.5 miles on military tracks and paths with views along Loch Long Details from Walk Highlands Looking to build up to Munros over the next few months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dug1e Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 I was a munro bagger back in the day but I gave it up due to work/marriage. bought a dog and now I am back out doing just the same as you. coming of the whangie the other week I almost stood on an adder, the first I have ever seen in the wild. lucky the dog never spotted it. IT is a great way to stay fit and enjoy the superb scenery we have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collins Out! Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Started using walking poles this year. Make it a lot more enjoyable and really take a lot of strain off the knees going up and down-hill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrantB Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 I'm partial to a bit of hillwalking. Did Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers on one of the hottest days of the year in May, we'd have done An Stuc as well but the heat near killed us (hard to believe it was in the same country given the weather we've had lately) Got caught in a blizzard near to the summit of Ben Chonzie in April. I'd be up on the hills every day if pesky things like work didn't get in the way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collins Out! Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 I'm partial to a bit of hillwalking. Did Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers on one of the hottest days of the year in May, we'd have done An Stuc as well but the heat near killed us (hard to believe it was in the same country given the weather we've had lately) Got caught in a blizzard near to the summit of Ben Chonzie in April. I'd be up on the hills every day if pesky things like work didn't get in the way... I was up on the Knoydart munros during that really hot week in May. We did Luinne Bheinn and Meall Buidhe from Inverie in what must have been close to 90 degrees with not a bit of wind even up on the tops. Hellish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewarty Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Yeah, I enjoy going hillwalking, although I've been a bit lazy this "summer". I must have bagged around 60 munros in total. Glen Coe is my favourite place to walk. Stunning. We've been meaning to do the Aonach Eagach for a while but keep bricking it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrantB Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 I was up on the Knoydart munros during that really hot week in May. We did Luinne Bheinn and Meall Buidhe from Inverie in what must have been close to 90 degrees with not a bit of wind even up on the tops. Hellish. It sounds like paradise but if we hadn't brought copious quantities of water, it could have been dangerous. Would love to get up to Knoydart some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dug1e Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 (edited) I love Glencoe as well but being a Campbell I always feel I need to sneak about lol. My favourite area for walking is Torridon. the scenery there is just breathtaking. as Collins out and Grant B said you have to be careful on the hills. I got a dose of sunstroke on liatach. met a wolves fan that weekend who got divorced because of hill walking. all his spare time was spent up here. edit coz I cannot spell Edited July 17, 2012 by Dug1e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Devil's Point Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 (edited) Looking to build up to Munros over the next few months It doesn't sound like you have much more building up to do from a fitness point of view. In fact I'd say a lot of Munros are easier than smaller hills and it sounds like you'd have no problem with some of the easier Munros already. GrantB mentions Ben Chonzie which is a good example of one which wouldn't be much physically harder than walking from Drymen to Milngavie (particularly if done from the Glen Lednock side where you can just follow a track most of the way). Obviously its much more important to be able to navigate and make safe decisions on the more serious hills though. I finished the Munros seven years ago and am now exploring Corbetts (hills over 2500ft) and Grahams (hills over 2000ft) as well as repeating Munros. Nearly all the Munros now have good paths which I personally find makes a huge difference to the effort required. I did an obscure Graham in the borders yesterday and it was brutal wading through knee length grass, peat hags etc all the way. I'd agree walking poles are a huge help, particularly on rough ground. I was really lucky in having lots of years as a student to wander about munro bagging, but nowadays find the hardest thing about it is that it is so time consuming (often the driving as much as the walking if you want to go further afield). I think hillwalking can get addictive and its quite easy to get obsessive about it (particularly if you fall into the trap of trying to finish a particular list of hills!). I've heard other stories about people getting divorced because of this! I'm always interested in people's views about favourite places and the Knoydart walk sounds great. I did those from Barrisdale Bothy years ago so haven't tried the Inverie approach yet. That is another problem with it - life is just too short to explore all the possibilities and even if you complete a list you want to do a lot of them again in different ways. The more you do, the more you want to do basically. I can never decide my favourite Munro although I think it would be one of Bla Bheinn (Skye), Beinn Alligin (Torridon), Bidean nam Bian (Glencoe) or Ben Alder (for sheer remoteness). There may well be ones I'd like better although if it was misty when I did them I would find it hard to say! Edited July 18, 2012 by The Devil's Point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicofan Posted July 23, 2012 Report Share Posted July 23, 2012 I like hill walking however I prefer to take a set of golf clubs with me and whack a wee white ball around for about 3.5 hours..most enjoyable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanieD Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Used to do a bit of walking (my old dad was the proper climber in our family - he once turned up at Kilbowie for a Clydebank v. Thistle game straight from The Cobbler complete with ice axe - policeman asked if he had a flask in his back-pack and ignored the ice-axe!). For what it is worth I agree with the idea of starting on the relatively easier hills. Ben Chonzie from Invergeldie has been mentioned above and I would agree, also Schehallion (sp?) is a great hill to walk up from the Braes of Foss (in effect you drive almost 1/3 of the way up ). Other well trodden hills are worth it too so Ben Lomond - The Cobbler and the other Arrochar Alps - Goat Fell (and all the hills on Arran) are all worth a trip. Some of the best hills need not necessarily be Munros either - in my opinion - eg Dumgoyne on a short winter's afternoon can be a delight. I'm a bit too unfit/old to venture onto the hills nowadays but hopefully might get back into the swing of things some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClydebankJag Posted July 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Lots of good advice here guys, thank you. Done Dumgoyne last night, it was steep as hell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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