The Scottish winter has been pretty tough so far but at last a break in the weather caused Mike and I to meet up with Ian on the west coast. For various reasons revolving round orthopaedic surgery, I had not been far north of Glasgow since early 2013, so I was rather looking forward to this trip.
We had a much easier drive than Ian who was travelling over from the north east.Our route over Rannoch Moor and...
...through Glen Coe was thankfully clear of snow. Mike took these photos as I was keeping my eye on the road.
The mountains were looking in great condition.
I took up sea kayaking because I was finding mountaineering increasingly difficult due to painful dislocations of my knees. I had last been high in these hills in early 2001 when I climbed one of the gullies high in the summit cliffs at the head of the corrie in the middle of this photo.
Unfortunately my knee dislocated twice during the climb of SC Gully and so it became my last winter climb. It had also been one of my first winter climbs in 1973. I have missed getting into the winter hills. I spent last winter...
...learning how to climb stairs...
...after my second knee operation.
Anyway it was too late to go out on the water so after we met Ian, we decided to nip up a little hill...
...called
Ardsheal Hill. It is only 263m high but I was really quite pleased to get up (and down) it.
Being on the shores of Loch Linnhe it had wonderfull views to the NE and...
...the SW. The islands of Eilean Balnagowan,...
...Shuna and Lismore looked very inviting. We made plans while we descended in the winter gloaming.
You can follow our winter adventures in stereovision by also following
Ian's blog.
