Long haul up the Ben

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Returning to Scotland after living in the western USA we found ourselves scoffing at the pitifully inadequate size of the mountains... "I have four and a half thousand feet for breakfast!" Emily bragged. So we resolved to hike up Ben Nevis just to show how menial a task it was. The tourist trail sounded quite boring so decided to hike up Carn Mor Dearg and along the ridge up the north side. Starting at sea level we hiked up through the forest and into the moor where we caught sight of the big mountain. We were enjoying walking along the trail with Ben Nevis on one side and Carn Mor Dearg on the other and when we approached the climbers hut we realised we were heading straight into an enclosed cliff face where the only way out was back the way we came. We then realised we should have walked up the eastern shoulder of Carn Beag Dearg and onto the ridge. Feeling unenthused about backtracking we noticed a group of cocksure teenagers scaling the steep slope of Carn Mor Dearg and thought it would be a good idea to join them. About halfway up Emily's vertigo set in making the already challenging climb seem almost impossible in its wretchedness. But going down wasn't an option. We continued on on all fours with our noses to the ground, grasping and cursing whatever we could (especially those sinister teenagers who led us on this foolish quest). We eventually made it up to the ridge somehow, completely knackered and feeling death's hand leave our shoulders. We then scrambled over the endless piles of boulders and loose stones that comprised the ridge leading to the steep climb up ben nevis. We eventually crawled onto the summit to find several hundred English tourists (mostly screaming toddlers and geriatrics) eating cheese sandwiches and drinking lemonade. They didn't know the hardships we'd endured and we dutifully fell into line for the long slog back down the tourist path (for losers). By the time we returned to the car, a full eleven hours after parking it, the old legs were starting to give us some gyp. All in all a beautiful hike but it would have been nice to know that there isn't actually a trail.

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Photos

The Mighty Ben Nevis
Britain's highest mountain (1345m)

snowy mountains
mountains this high are very snowy still, even though they are relatively small.

climbing up
the view from Carn Mor Dearg looking along the Carn Mor arete and the final ascent up Ben Nevis

Carn Mor Dearg from Ben Nevis summit
We foolishly scaled this face of the mountain after taking a wrong turn. We almost died!!

At the top
This proves it ya bastards.