Sunday 27 April 2014

Summit of beinn an lochain, no 32, my first hill when I were but a lass unfit and shit scared, this afternoon it's amazing!  A big thank you to Stuart and Steven from Troon for moving my pack so I could travel light.  2 corbetts today :)
Lorraine knocked off Corbett no 30 yesterday, Meall an Fhudair, another milestone :).  Today it's an early start from Glen Fyne and hopefully Beam Fhidhleir and Beinn an Lochain will be knocked off before the day is out.

Lorraine is pushing hard to keep on schedule for her 100 mile cycle to the Borders where she is going to have some support (and local knowledge) from Gordon Smith.

Rob


Tuesday 22 April 2014

Week 2 has had a bit of everything. I have been joined by Russell suitably after partying at Carol and Ross's wedding which sounds like a hellluva party, it took Russell 3 days to get over the calfs!!! Congratulations, you guys.
We have walked big grassy slopes through glencoe, glen etive, Glen creran, glen orchy finnishing with the 5 corbetts just north of Tyndrum, 17 corbetts in total. I got lost in a forest whilst Russell rode a road bike and mountain bike together up a woodland track. We had my surprise first birthday celebration on a mountainside in the wind and the mist and the 2nd with some pink bubbly courtesy of Tony and ciorsti in Oban. Cheers guys.
Wind and sunshine have been the dominant conditions. A lot of wind!
Russell survived a day of feeling like he was going to die, still managing to climb 2 corbetts, too much sun or the glen water?
Rob arrived to join us in Tyndrum, to sort out me and my food packs, he was running around with bikes and food drops and making sure we were fed and watered.
I have now realised my initial plan was too ambitious and have cut some days out before joining the boat in ardrossan. Planning to do them afterwards.
Now on my own again cycling towards ben ledi , pissing down today, currently drying out at the kingshouse in balquidder, giving me a few minutes to write this wee update. Thanks to russell for keeping me motivated on them big hills and to Rob for all the running around.
I climbed beinn bhuiridh yesterday, a wee mountain bike trip to cononish shortened the day, no 24 but found my camera phone was not working. Hopefully it shall kick back in as Russell has now set a precedent with all the facebook pics.
Please keep reading, spreading the word and donating.
Tarrathenoo
Lorraine



Sunday 13 April 2014


5 days into my walk and I am on schedule with 7 summits climbed. I started at Choirecoille, Spean Bridge eased into the walk by climbing Sgurr Innse and Cruach Innse making my way down by Lairig Leacach bothy and onto Meanach where I planned to stay the night but decided it would be a much better plan to cross the River Of Nevis that evening to camp at Luibelt  as it was already drizzling. Sure enough the next morning the river was a torrent. Good Plan! Previous experience working with The Venture Trust in this area had taught me that one.
 The following morning was wet, windy and misty and Glas Bheinn was a hard won second summit. My new waterproofs had not arrived when I left home and I found out that my old kit was no longer up to the job, I arrived at Loch Chiarain bothy like a drowned rat and spent the rest of the afternoon reheating and drying out clothes.
I decided to leave Cain Leum Ulleim till the next day and as I was so wet already it was not a problem to wade across the Chiarain River and make my way across Beinn a Bhric to the summit. This is me on the summit cairn.
From here I started the long walk down to Kinlochleven via the Blackwater Reservoir where I met Martin, walking the Stevenson Way which follows the route of Kidnapped. I had thought about doing this a few years ago and it was good to listen to how passionate he was about the story.
From Kinlochleven the next morning I headed up the West Highland Way and cut off for the summit of Garbh Bheinn. I was getting used to wet and windy weather by now but this morning it felt steep too. My wee legs were still getting used to so much climbing.
En route down I met Pete Duggan who was out for a run. His local knowledge came in useful for the long climb later in the day up Mam na Guillain.
This was my hardest day to date, two mountains both from sea level both in really strong winds. I could not help looking over at the Mamores and thinking I could probably have climbed 6 of them in the same time.
Yesterday the weather forecast was for 70mph gusts and it was with some trepidation I headed up the West Highland Way. I decided to see what the top of the Devil's Staircase was like before heading up Beinn a Chrulaiste or 'hangover hill' as it is fondly known by the Dhossers of the Creag Dhont Club. . Since I could still stand up I decided to go for it, creeping up the western slopes getting a help from the wee breeze. I was on the summit and off the other side before i knew it,(summit pic above) meeting Rob at the Kingshouse Hotel before being whisked off for a birthday treat night in a hotel which is where I am now having a romantic time, changing kit around, hand washing clothes, catching up on blogs, planning next food drops.......
Back to the kingshouse this morning for the next chapter, into Glen Etive and beyond............

Tuesday 8 April 2014

At last Lorraine's journey is underway, here she is on top of Cruach Innse (857m) at 12.30 yesterday.  She would love to know if you are following her blog so please leave a post, to do so you need to register with g-mail but that only takes 30 seconds and is free.
Rob

Monday 7 April 2014

saying goodbyes and wearing a skirt

It may be a while before I get to wear girly things again and see all my little friends.  Big bye, byes to Thora, Martha, Daisy, Edith, Kerry and Zoe - Don't get too big too soon : )

Manny's Corbett round

I first heard of Manny after i decided I wanted to do a continual journey of all the Corbetts. Manny RAN them all in 2009.I went to see him talk and was part inspired and partly thought he was completely nuts. It was great.  I met up with him a couple of weeks ago and we spent a good few hours pouring over my maps and looking at routes. My route will be completely different from Manny's, I am not fit enough to cover the miles the way he did and I have been completely put off using a mountain bike (worth a read to find out why!). What an inspirng and funny book, definitely reccommend it. Thanks Manny for the advice, hope to see you along the way.....

Friday 4 April 2014

5 days to go..........

a training day on the applex peninsula with Rob

food food everywhere

It is now only 5 days to go until I start walking and I cannot wait. The last few days have been spent buying sorting and packing food. I WANNA GET OUT THERE!!!
I want to say a big thankyou to Rob (my long suffering partner) who has been fixing websites, collecting kit, helping me map plan, making sure i am where I am supposed to be, feeding me up and is going to be doing a lot of support out on the ground too....
It is such a relief to have my sailing plans sorted now. It did mean changing my route plan to fit in with the dates of the boat then running around looking for a skipper. I can now relax as I have been put in touch with a wonderful man called Graham who is really keen to be involved and is looking forward to it as much as I am.

The final preparations are now beginning, now does everything fit in my pack...............................??