Another New Recruit!
I was lucky, my first Munro gave me blue skies and views for miles. But for Kenzie’s first Munro? Pouring rain, gale-force winds, and visibility near zero. With three teenagers, a hyper dog, and a camera in hand, we took on Meall Ghaordaidh in what can only be described as Scottish hillwalking at it’s traditional best!
A Baptism of Cloud and Rain
With our Easter holiday in Tenerife a distant memory, Nathan and I were both keen to get back out on the hills and bag another Munro. Angus was up for another one, and young Kenzie from 2 doors down, and Nathan’s football team had been bugging me too about going up a “big hill”, as he so eloquently puts it. A good lad, with a good heart and a fiery spirit, I knew he was more than capable fitness wise to tackle a Munro. However, with the forecast not looking the best, this was looking to be a baptism of cloud and rain for Kenzie’s first Munro. However, if he managed to complete this one, if he comes back out for another one and gets clear views, it’ll be even sweeter.
One thing that had crossed my mind, was my duty of care. Was I even legally allowed to take 3 teenagers, 2 of whom have diagnosed autism and adhd, up a mountain? With permission from guardians, the law says I can, but what about Mountaineering Scotland, the BMC and such? Their advice would undoubtedly be to take a Mountain Leader’s Course, but that requires 20 days in the hills, and I’m not quite there yet. Regardless, I’ve got to be smart in the Munros I choose when I’m taking the kids. I definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable taking them on a ridge walk just yet, but with Meall Ghaordaidh offering no such challenges, and being within 90 minutes of home, it offered a great starting point regardless of the weather forecast.
I had said to Kenzie to wear boots and bring a waterproof, but he is a bit like the other two in having to get someone else to organise their life for them, as he turned up in a pair of Nike air maxes and a hoodie. Credit to him though, he’d brought sweets and plenty of juice, but I couldn’t help but laugh when I told him he’d end up soaked through in that “told you so” tone,
We were also bringing Roman along for the adventure, fresh from a bit of an adventure himself! In case you didn’t know, Roman went missing for three days and 3 nights! I did a little video about it in case you want the full story, but in short, we left Roman with a friend whilst we were in Tenerife, and unfortunately he got into a car crash in the middle of Ayrshire. Roman got a fright and legged it and was missing for 3 days until we got back home. Fortunately, Matt was on hand with Roman’s girlfriend, Tara and we went out to where he was last sighted and found him cowering in drainage tube under the railway line! He seems to be none the worse for wear, but is now fitted with a GPS collar in case something should happen, especially out in the hills!
We didn’t quite leave as early as I’d planned, and the main little section where you’d normally park for Meall Ghaoradaidh was full, so we had to park further along the road. I made sure to drive in and get my front wheels onto something grippy for an easy exit, as it was pretty muddy, and I definitely didn’t fancy pushing! I setup the camera to record us all getting suited and booted, and hopefully some comedic moments between the boys, but instead I still ended up tying laces and double checking everyone had everything they needed for the day.
A Long and Boggy Slog
The walk along to the start was simple enough, but I dreaded the hard tarmac that would become ten times harder on the return leg. We kept Roman on a tight lead as we followed a land-rover track up and along the side of Meall Ghaordaidh. We went through a couple of gates and had a few quick water breaks, mainly at Kenzie’s request, but the boys were doing well and the rain was staying off for the moment.
The land-rover track continued on round the side of the hill and we hung a left onto a boggy path that would lead us to the top. I could spy a larger group in front of us that we’d been slowly catching, so I was confident in our direction and pace, as we started to slowly head into the clouds.
I was praying that we would reach the summit and we’d get another inversion, but as the rain started to hit hard, I began to question my life choices. I envisioned my wife and Angus’ mother telling me it was a great thing for the boys, making memories they’ll remember forever, and that it was a great idea. Who was I kidding? This was becoming a nightmare. The wind had picked up, and the rain was starting sting against face and visibility was down to around 50m. I stopped for a moment to try and recompose myself. The boys were just visible, all three still together slowly trudging towards me. I shouted a few words of encouragement, but truth be told, if any of the three of them had said they’d had enough at that point, I would’ve gladly went back down.
I’ve no idea why I packed the drone. Why did we come out? How is this enjoyable? I’d started to question all my choices that day, and was constantly checking my phone to see how we had to to go, getting more and frustrated at having to clean the screen of my phone to unlock it. However, after a brief bit of rock action up to a plateau, I could see the large group I’d seen earlier on a final steep push to the summit. This gave me renewed energy. If they were still going, so were we.
“Almost there boys!” I shouted and pointed up towards the group. We all bunched together for the last little climb up to the cairn. I knew it was going to be windy and brutal up top, so got my camera rolling early as I doubted we’d be there for long, and I was right. We got to the top as a four, and quickly went inside the stone circle to each touch the cairn. The boys wanted to stop for a break, so we tried to find some shelter out of the wind and rain, but it was pointless. No matter where we sat we were getting battered. I tried to shelter them as much as possible as they sat down to the south of the cairn, giving them enough of a break to refuel and recharge for the descent.
Not there, Angus!
The return leg was fairly easy, with only one little steep section where the large group had sought shelter and were tucking into some food as we snuck by them. We went off the main route at that point to investigate what looked like a cave, but none of us were willing to trying and negotiate the bog that guarded the entrance. After taking a bearing with my compass I plotted a course for us to meet up with the path again before the land-rover track. I managed to impart some knowledge about maps and compasses to the boys, but I think a little classroom session with them before our next Munro would be a good idea.
The rest of the walk back was fairly uneventful, apart from Kenzie sliding and falling on his ass at least five or six times due to his Nike Air Maxes. I know my knees certainly didn’t mind the descent, although I still think I would’ve benefitted more with the poles.
Overall, the day was a great success, despite the weather. Kenzie certainly seemed to enjoy himself even if he needed to completely change when we got back to the car. The only downside for me was when I realised Angus had put all his wet clothes on top of my dry clothes in the boot of the car. That was a rather wet ride home for me!
