I would go with you on that, Luv Shack. Trundler and I used to put the SportIdent checkpoints out on the Cairngorm summits for those events, then man the CP in the Lhairig Ghru. Always a good testing day out. As is a 'mere' circuit of the Cairngorm 4,000's from Corrie Cas, especially the direct line from Macdui to Cairntoul across the s. end of the Lhairig Ghru.
Yep, I remember you doing that epic round a few years back WD..
Me? I remember that climb up MacDhui after we'd packed up the checkpoint when the last competitor had gone through in 2002 (?). What a monster! Highlight of that day was running into the Coire Cas car park off Cairngorm with Mike Cudahy and Inken Blunk after completing my sweep of the plateau.
Great hill days eh?
PS - I'm up for more if you fancy organising it again Martin...?
Well said T...
Hill days such as those are very very special.....
Thought, care, planning, love & plenty of luck!
Lets hope there may be a repeat, of some kind...?
Miss Muddy Paws Dad....
Not clever & often stupid..
T. & L.S. that last Scottish 4k Duathlon was in 2003. The 'big hill' experience that I remember from 2002, was accompanying T. on sections of his circuit of 28x 'pre 1974 Scottish County Tops over 2,000feet'. At Inveruglas he insisted that the real 'mountain man's' route up Ben Vorlich was straight up the S. 'buttress' behind the power station - not the 'wimp's' route up the road to the Sloy dam and then the diagonal up the flank of the ridge. That 'buttress' was over 1000ft of almost vertical, knee deep BOG. Why it does not just 'flow' into Loch Lomond is a total conundrum. Once it starts to 'lay-back' onto the ridge proper, the ground really firms up and you find yourself darting in and out of multitudes of rock outcrops, but still with lots of ascent to come . Here Trundler pushed on ahead, to reduce his overall on-hill time.
It was a beautifully clear September evening in the Highlands, with vast panoramas. Eventually I came to where the path up from Sloy dam gains the ridge. Looking down that path to the dam, it looked an absolute doddle against our 'macho' route. Between here and the summit, T and I must have missed one another amongst the rock outcrops and I idled 15 minutes away, taking in the stupendous summit views that were on offer that evening; then it was a blast south, weaving in & out of the rock outcrops down the ridge before 'wading' down the full height of the southern 'buttress'. On reaching the vans at the loch-side car park, Trundler was washed, changed and preparing a meal! He too had spotted the 'Sloy dam path' and without the slightest pang of conscience had settled for a 'wimp's descent'!!
Last edited by wheezing donkey; 06-01-2008 at 05:53 PM.
Me and my big mouth....
Yes I took the "wimps way" I admit it, but I had already done 9150ft of ascent and 6100ft of descent that day (and nearly 45000ft in the previous 7 days) BEFORE the Vorlich descent so I felt entitled to give my self a 'cushty' route down...
AND Mr Donkey, the 28 tops I did were ALL the mainland Scottish Old County Tops (including the sub 2000 footers). There were actually 9 Munros and about half a dozen Corbetts, along with sundry others in there - most of them climbed from very low level and descended back to the starting point. 189 miles and 55,000ft in total.
So leave me alone....
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