Arrochar ...

Of the many Scottish Mountain areas which are steeped in history, one of my favourite are the Arrochar "Alps" - early hill days included ascents of Ben Arthur aka The Cobbler with my Dad and cousin as wee boys. As the years went on my knowledge of the area grew through books like "Mountain Days & Bothy Nights", "Always a Little Further" and "May Your Fire Always be Lit" - these described different and unique eras of escape, exploration and mountaineering.

Over the years, I sought out the Caves which provided early climbers with accommodation and climbed some of the classic lines on the Cobbler including Recess Route, Punsters Crack, Nimlin's Direct and Naismiths.

It was during an easy walking day in the late 1980s that I got chatting to some guys at the Narnain Bouders who were training for a race over the surrounding summits. I asked about the route and smiled when they informed me that it went from Succouth over to Ben Vorlich before heading to Ben Vane, Ben Ime and Beinn Narnain. At that time I didn't think it was actually possible to do that route in a single push ! The race was sadly dropped from the calendar by the time I took up hill running but thankfully it was resurrected by Westies in 2007. Since then I have raced, marshalled and been sweep runner ...must race it again soon.

Cobbler Path Junction

These days, the Alps have become a regular training ground and bolt hole when a little bit of head space and altitude are required.

Sunday morning saw an early start ... just before dawn in fact. This was due to a mix of insomnia and also wanting to avoid the bad weather which was forecast to start arriving mid morning before really shitting out in the early afternoon.

The days of the direct pipe track are gone and the route took the "slipper" path up to the point where the old traverse track leads back to the route up Beinn Narnain. This provide a nice warm up before the steep and constant climb up Narnain itself. On the summit the wind was okay but it was clear the forecast had been accurate and the things were deteriorating. An initial navigational error on the descent was quickly corrected before enjoying the run down to the bealach and decision point. With the weather still be "doable", I started up Ben Ime ...round the summit and a quick descent back down. Breifly chatted to a guy who had been on the Cobbler who shared the bad news that it was horrible up top ~ I decided to go and see for myself . In the end, it wasn't nice but I did manage to thread the needle and sit on the true summit before a very careful down-climb to pick up my pack and drop down to the path via the corrie route.

Cobbler Summit

Ended up back at the van by 11:30am soaked but a happy beard. All that was left to do was belt south for some B&B (Blonde and Beard) time with Katie #brawtimes indeed.

The way down ...