Rating
: 
Fort William, Scotland
October 27, 2003
Pros:
The beautiful colour of the leaves at this time of year.
Cons:
Fog at the top of the mountain
Now for the next great mountain climb in Fort William. Today was
spent heading form the Isle of Skye to Fort William, home of Ben
Nevis, the highest peak in the UK at 4406 ft, and my next conquest!
On the way, we stopped at Eilean Donan Castle, owned by the McRae’s
and still inhabited by them today, as well it was the castle where
Highlander was filmed. The rest of the day was spent admiring the
highlands and listening to tales along the way, including the tale
of the 5 sisters mountains, and the 7 heads monuments. We stopped
at a whiskey store and picked up some supplies, then off to the
hostels, where I brilliantly offered to so a cook up for the group
of 15 (what the hell was I thinking?) It took me 4 hours and I recruited
help, but it ended up being a fantastic meal, enjoyed by all, and
I didn’t have to spend a dime on a drink that night. I did
have help from the Scottish tour driver, who gave me verbal recipe
for Mince Neeps and Tatties, which is basically mince meat, with
turnip and potatoes, all mixed together, with onion, carrots etc,
very good, if I do say so myself, and I was nicknamed the Kitchen
Nazi. (what me be bossy and order people around, never, I have no
control issue hahahaha) The night ended with a final drink in the
Ben Nevis pub, which is located through the men’s restroom
in the Ben Nevis restaurant, so yes, I walked into the men’s
restroom and out the other side, not before surprising a few men
at the urinals no doubt, which I tried to smooth over in a wine
haze, by stating ‘it’s okay, I’m a nurse’
I’m sure it helped!
The next morning, up bright and early, myself and another nurse
got dressed, loaded up out gear and headed over to BEN NEVIS for
our big ascent. It was a beautiful day, the sky was clear and the
air crisp. The walk from the hostel to the base of the mountain
was 4 minutes, and we were all psyched up for the big climb. As
we made our way up, we stopped often to see the sights and drink
water. We hadn’t really brought enough for us for he day and
luckily there was a fresh water spring about half way up. We filled
out bottle with the most clear and cool water I have ever drunk.
Continuing up, it remained a bright and beautiful day and we were
very warm. The views were breathtaking as the highland extended
a far as you could se and they reflected all sorts of colours. The
leaves on the trees below in Glen Nevis were gold, orange and red,
reflecting brightly in all the loches they surrounded. About ¾
of the way up, the terrain change and haze started to filter in.
The ground became jagged rock, and the air was cold, forming icicles
on my eyelashes. Unfortunately once at the very top of Ben Nevis,
the views were obstructed by a fog, but the crevices in the rock
showed how high we were. It was incredible, we embraced each other
and took a tonne of pictures, Narilee even text messaged her family
in Australia to tell them where she was (sorry all, I didn’t
bring my mobile along). It took 4.5 hours to get up, but so worth
every minute. After collecting a rock as a keep sake, we began the
descent and made it down in 3 hours. We ended up walking through
the woods in complete blackness, but we were on such a huge high
that it didn’t matter. Once we returned to he hostel, we showered
and headed out for a huge meal at the Ben Nevis restaurant before
collapsing into bed. The next morning, I couldn’t get out
of bed and actually needed help to make it to the shower. By far
one of the best experiences of my life! |
