Blethering Blonde

It was a no brainer.  The weather forecast was too good not to be out on a hill.  We went through a few options but in the end it boiled down to what was closest and had a pub at the end with a TV............ there was a rugby match to watch.  Decision made when a certain establishment confirmed they were open and the TV would have the rugby on. Ben Lomond it is. It has been a while since I last summited.  We were beaten back by deep snow, artic wind chill and a cold doggy last January.  I did wonder if we were going to have similar problems on this outing.  The mountain forecast was giving a "feels like" -15C!!!!! Well that didn't deter us and we were joined by Lorraine, Jean, Karen, Archie and Lottie dug.  Route was to be the up and down the main tourist path - details on Walk Highlands.   This was mainly due to not knowing what condition Ptarmigan Ridge was in and not everyone being kitted out with crampons etc. They have much improved th...

South was the direction of choice for today's Craggy adventure to one of the first hills I ever climbed - Culter Fell. It was great to have some old friends from Outdoorsmagic, Ben and Jo, join us as well as Karen, Archie and spaniel Lottie. We were surprised to be the only cars parking up when we got there.  Suspect everyone was heading to the snowy north to join the A82 carpark!! It was a tad chillier, windier and cloudier than we expected from the forecast as we set off but we were clinging to the hope it would improve as promised.  There was still a fair bit of snow around but thankfully not too deep so the drag up Shin Fell wasn't too bad.  Unfortunately the summit of Culter Fell was clagged in and not very hospitable.  As we headed for Moss Law it eventually started to clear and the sun even attempted to come out.  We stopped for lunch at Holm Nick and looked up at the very appropriately named Gathersnow Hill with its cornice.  The original pl...