We are Back - Job Done - Fait Accomplis

We are back, and without a single blister. ooja

Delighted to have made it and met lots of lovely people on the way.

Given the amount of pictures it will take a day or so to post them all...check back soon for the full report.

In the meantime a small sample

                                The Slackers at the top of the Devils Staircase

10 miles to the Kings House from here Start of Rannoch Moor

                                      The Slackers official trip sponsor :-)

Be Back soon - missing you Already

The Slackers are on the way, please check back for our pictures and wonderous stories of our amazing travels.

We will try and update the Blog en-route however this may not be possible due to technical difficulties i.e. I dont have an iphone4 ...yet.

The Slackers

Sunday 22nd April Milgavie - Saturday 28th April Fort William

Well folks final plans are afoot for our trip departing Milgavie on Sunday 22nd April 2012 at 09:00am  and arriving in Fort William on the Saturday 28th April 2012.

Will update the Blog on our return with lots of pictures and tales of our travels...

check back for full trip report and pictures :-)

The Slackers.

Ben Ime One out of three aint bad..Saturday April 14th

Ben Ime

Ascent 1011m

Time 5.5hrs

This was the final training walk for The Slackers before heading off on the

West Highland Way on the 22^nd April, so we decided to try and make it a good one.

The initial plan was to walk up Ben Narnain, cross over to Ben Ime, and then if time allowed head up The cobbler, however this was always an ambitious plan, one which ultimately did not materialise, we climbed Ben Ime which proved to be a good enough challenge.

                                                                      Starting point

                                                    

The Weather en-route was changeable, initially we had a fine clear morning (though  cold) followed by periods being overcast with a cold cutting wind and some small snow flurries from time to time, we did however get a great view of the cobbler summit on the way up.

                                                        Rocky Mountain High

We decided to stop for lunch half way up Ben Ime as we had been advised by walkers on the way down that it was freezing and blowing a gale  on the Summit, turns out this was not the case as the weather on the summit was superb.

We managed to find a small cavity in the hillside which allowed Charlie to finally fire up his Trangia  gas stove to boil water for his tea and vacuum packed dinner, although in the cold wind it seem to take forever for the water to boil (really is was 10 minutes).

Whilst here we met Michael and David, who where on there way down from their second summit of the day (must have been up early guys)the guys where really impressed with our base camp, though in reality they could not believe Charlie was daft enough to be boiling water on a freezing hillside.

Michael had found an Antler which was quite impressive as its not the kind of thing you find lying around every day, after mercilessly winding Charlie up re: his vacuum packed lunch and gas stove, we said goodbye and the guys made their way home.

                                                                 The Early Birds

Michael,s six point antler (nice one)

After lunch we continued our ascent into the snow covered hill  and we met Duncan.

                                                                        Duncan (the Medic)

Duncan proved walk with us for most of the trip and proved a handy travel companion (being a medic in the Royal Navy, with a bag full of medical supplies) this gave us some renewed vigour when it came to talking the more icy tricky parts of the walk. We were in good hands in the event of a man down situation.

Duncan also has a keen interest in photography and geology and he was able to keep us informed about the different rocks formations and associated minerals, however he forgot his gin for his summit toast (really should be Malt whiskey Duncan), but he did remember the Fig rolls..

The following Panorama View has been sent by Duncan... WOW...

                                                Charlie and Duncan on approach to Summit

BLT and 90Rocks 100m from Summit

We cracked on through some marshy ground until we reached the snow, by now we were getting close to the summit and the snow was getting deeper and slippery in places, eventually after around 3hrs form Arrochar we made the snowy summit, and every step was worth taking.

As we set foot on the summit the sun exploded through the clouds giving us the opportunity for some great views and amazing pictures.

                                      Snowy Summit  Ben Lomond in Distance(spectacular)

Great Views West

BLT and 90Rocks at Cairn

On the summit we met up again with Peter again (he had passed us earlier) he had come over to Arrochar from Dunlop on his first Munro trip of the season.

                                                                    Peter

On the summit we also met Jules (pictured in shorts and straw hat) and his walking buddies from Tillicoultry (a really nice friendly group) , the girls had thought they were going for a nice walk and some lunch but they fell victim to Jules Wanderlust, he was on a mission to claim Ben Ime as munro number 165 and I do believe (after he galloped past us on the way down  the hillside that Ben Narnain may also have become number 166 ..great achievement.

                                                          Jules and the crew

                                                           

After saying good –bye to the folks gathered on the summit we started back to Arrochar , the weather by now was lovely and sunny and made for a pleasurable descent.

                                                    Charlie (narnain Boulders)

We stopped at the Narnain boulders where we met Audrey who was having a rest on her way down from the Cobbler, we would meet her for a second time in Ben Arthurs Bothy were we had a beer and watched the Grand National but no winners.

                                                         Audrey in the Bothy

So alas not a lot we can do now , the boots are well worn in and the kit all tested so it is all systems go for next Sunday and I personally feel our prep has been good.

We have had a magnificent time readying ourselves for this walk, and have met some great folks on the way that we would hope to meet again…

BLT (The Slackers)

Saturday April 14th The Slacker last training walk.

The Slackers final training walk for the West Highland Way 2012 will be on Saturday 14^th April,  and Ben Narnain  will be the venue for our days walking.

The Follower is unavailable this weekend due to a previously arranged engagement in Inveraray , (enjoy the party John) and is leaving BLT and 90Rocks to complete the training schedule, he has assured the team he will put in a few extra walking shifts mid-week to maintain his fitness.

Check back for trip report and pics (I have had some basic training from The Follower on how to photograph landscapes correctly) from this weeks walk

Inverkip - Greenock Cut loop Saturday 7th April

Saturday 7th April saw "The Slackers"  penultimate training walk for the WHW 2012 and to be honest it was more about getting the miles in and debugging what will be our chosen walking kit , more than anything else, and having done this route several times we knew what to expect.

 It had to be a local walk for The Slackers this weekend, as we couldn’t leave until 11:00 am solely to give 90Rocks time to recover from his “Friday nights Smith Tribute Band Swally” but hey its Easter weekend so we cut him some slack..

The Follower  the official tour photographer had forgotten his camera, (he is forgetting stuff on a regular basis now we are getting worried about him.)
So it was down to 90Rocks iPhone4 camera to record the day in picture..Im afraid most are too pish to use (judge for yourself)..still fair play for trying Charlie.

                                             Charlies Iphone pic of BLT and The Follower

Whilst the Greenock cut loop allows for some fantastic views over some of the Scottish Isles (Arran , Bute, Cumbrae )  it pales into insignificance when compared to some of the walks we have done in  the past month,(namely Bute and Glen Loin)

The weather on Saturday was kind to us, (it stayed mainly overcast) it can be a slog from the main street of Inverkip to the Hills above Cornalees Visitor centre if its too warm and just downright miserable when wet.

The access road is closed to traffiic going via Shielhill farm due to subsidence during the winter storms, so we could saunter up the hill without fear of being mown down. 

All in All todays walk was pretty good, with only sporadic light rain,  the highlight of the day was collecting water for our Malt Whisky  from a small well created during the First WW by the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

We completed the 12 miles in approx 4hrs 40mins, The Station Bar in Wemyss Bay provided the Apez Walk refreshments

Greenock Cut via Inverkip circuit

"The Slackers" are back in walking action this weekend Saturday April 7th walking the Greenock Cut circuit loop, in preparation for the big WHW walk (Two Weeks on Sunday) the walk is approx 12miles with some challenging hills enroute.

Check back later for full trip report and pictures.

Kilcatten Bay via Glecallum Bay loop Saturday 31st March

Distance: A tricky at times 9miles

Time: 5.5hrs

Well what can I say we had suspected that this would be a fantastic walk and we were not to be disappointed, we were all looking forward to this walk ,after all we were following in the footsteps in the era of St Columba with some sites around St Blanes going back as far as the 500s and it is fairly typical of the terrain you get on the West Highland Way and coupled with the perfect weather it made for a great day.

                                                

                                      Clear skies for our Arrival in Rothesay

From the off we met Norrie (he is a familiar face around these parts and he happened to be on our bus )
                                                                     
                                                             Norrie

Norrie shared with us his message in a bottle story and his intention to keep the chain going by releasing a new message from the lighthouse at Glencallum bay, where he had found the original message, (pictured later in the blog) , we hope the message gets further than the Ayrshire coast where it originated, (Maybol I think he said) Norrie is also a well informed source on walking and bird life in Bute you can check out his link here.. Norrie,s Website……..  http://www.birdseyeviewofbute.co.uk/.

After a quick check of the tourist Map We decided to follow , the

West Island Way

path, but before too long (after crossing the Golf course to be exact 20 minutes into the walk) we gave up on the conventional route opting for the rugged more unconventional shoreline route towards St Blanes instead.

                                          Kilcatten Bay tourist information

                                        BLT and 90Rocks on West Island Way path.

The shoreline route pushes you through some low lying fields which incidentally also doubles as the Rothesay airfield as we where to find out.

                                                 Another 30 secs he would have landed on us

                                         

The adjacent field we had to pass thru was full of curious young cattle , which was the cause of some consternation for the boys who (shit themselves) reacted as if it was a field full of  man eating tigers..

“90Rocks” then decides to furnished the team with some words of wisdom..

“15 people died in the UK last year from stampeding cattle”

It turns out this statement was utter bollocks (or is that bullocks) when verified, still this is not a good fact to be quoting when you are in the middle of a field full of curious  coo,s).

Turns out this inaccurate factoid startled “The follower” who discovered that he suffers from Bovinophobia. he started running which resulted in him loosing his footing and crashing head first into the rocks, after a quick health check by BLT, it was decided that The follower was fit enough to continue, so onwards we went.

           "Born Free" Curious Cows Charged at The Follower as he was taking this picture

                                            

The Big Kilcatten Coo (the one that nearly took out The Follower)

It was now approaching  2 oclock and time for lunch , so we made our wayalong the coast and  up the hillside to the cliffs for lunch.

“90Rocks” had packed his new Trangia (the muts nuts) Gas stove and some dehydrated (Wayferer bags of dried food )… he had intended on enjoying a space age warm lunch(myself an The follower opting for the more conventional pre-made sandwiches)

Guess what?? He forgot matches or a lighter to ignite his friggin stove.. (BLT has a shared lunch for a third week in a row).

                                        Lunch high on the cliff side with no matches

After lunch we crossed the fields toward the headland and made our way round to ST Blanes church,here you will find the surprisingly extensive remains of St Blane's Church and its walled enclosures. Most of the remains , date back to the 1100s.

                                           St Blanes Ruin

Arch inside St Blanes Church

St Blanes Wall Plaque with some dates

Small Statue in Arch at St Blanes

Isle of Arran form St Blanes

On departing from St Blanes enroute to Glencallum Bay we made our way across the fields towards the Ridge

                                                 

                                                       Approach to Glencallum Bay

 Here high in the Hills we met Ester from Barcelona( Hola, Ester we took a picture but the light was terrible so we didnt use ) she was looking kind of lost (just a wee bit ) however after some directional advice from “The Slackers” Ester managed to find her way to St Blanes church and complete the route (we know she made it because we met again on the Ferry Home )

Our descent into Glencallum bay (aka Horse shoe bay) was quite spectacular as seen from the images the views of Rubh'an Eun Lighthouse are a spectacular backdrop and well worthy of a visit “The Slackers" were well impressed …

                                         

                                               Rubh'an Eun Lighthouse from high ridge

By now it was getting late in the day  we had  started walking at 11.30 and it was now 17:00,  we lit a small camp fire and had coffee whilst waiting on the bus.

                                                            Camp fire on beach

.

Apint of Guinness or two was the order of the day The Black Bull Bar (by the ferry terminal)

Its a small World Once in the  Bar we met Rashmi and Will and their friends turns out they are doing the WHW same week as us and they had a similar idea as us as part of their preparation we will probably meet in Fort William.

                                            Rashmi and Will (hope the legs OK Rashmi)   

                                           

                                              Rashmi and Will,s team see you in Fort Bill

After a few pints it was time for home the 19:00 Ferry took us home to Wemyss bay the perfecting ending to a magic wee day out. (look at these pictures)

                                                                 Isle of Arran

                                                    

Toward Point from Rothesay Ferry

The Most Amazing sunset on Rothesay

Hey Its Ester told you she made it

Kilcattan bay Via Glencallum Bay loop Saturday 31st March

The Slackers are are back in walking action next weekend , when they will walk the Kilcattan bay loop of the West Island Way, on the sunny Isle of Bute.this is a re-schedule of a prevoiusly planned walk.

Saturday 31st March 10:00 am Wemyss bay Ferry terminal