Memories from the Scotland walking trip - 1990
Geraint and I decided that it was about time we'd knocked off some of
Scotland's most famous peaks so in the summer of 1990 we set off to Glencoe
in order to claim our first scalp - the Aonach Eagach ridge.
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The trusty old Cavalier. The doors were all open in order to let midges
out but it may have also let a few in.
After a good night's drinking in the Clachaig (where we camped) we decided
to walk the ridge in a west-east direction. This entailed an annoyingly steep 3000ft
climb by the side of Clachaig gully to reach the first Munro. Many gallons
of beery sweat were lost.
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Looking east along the ridge. Am Bodach is the peak in the far distance.
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One of the many many pinnacles on the ridge.
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Geraint's rucsac perched on a particularly narrow section of the ridge.
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Looking down onto the Chancellor from the Aonach Eagach ridge.
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Looking back westwards along the ridge from near Am Bodach.
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A rather young looking me with a rather young looking Geraint.
After scrambling up onto the summit of Am Bodach I remember mentioning to
Geraint that descending off the peak would be an 'interesting' move. When I
traversed the ridge from east to west a few years later I noticed that the
descent off Am Bodach is to the left (south) of the summit whereas Geraint
and I had scrambled up over the crags to the north. In retrospect the route
taken in 1990 was a far harder scramble and one that I wouldn't be capable
of completing these days. Well, unless death or serious injury count as
being completed.
At the time I was slightly disappointed with the Aonach Eagach ridge as
everything I'd read beforehand had described it as a nerve-wrenching
scramble over numerous difficult objects. This was probably due to been a
lot fitter, lighter and not caring one jot about the consequences of a fall.
The rest of the week involved driving up to Torridon where the might
Liathach was conquered. We then drove up to Ullapool and knocked of the
equally majestic An Teallach. More photos to follow soon!
