On The Hill Again

Speaking with my mate Tam last night I wasn't sure I was ready for the mountains but he insisted and decided just to go for it. So it was up this morning and head for Arrochar and up Ben Ime with Tam and Alec. It was typically Scottish and atmospheric up there with the clouds swirling around the crags, I find the hills just as amazing shrouded in mist as I do covered in snow or bathed in sunshine. I felt surprisingly good on the walk up, only really feeling it on the last 200ft.

                                           On the summit of Ben Ime with Alec

                                          Tam and Alec on the claggy walk out

Almost instantly after leaving the summit I started to feel the pain in my ankle but particularly in my knees. It was brutal but then we bumped into an old lad who was telling us about this being his 3rd attempt on the hill after recovering from a heart attack then the subsequent surgery and after that from kidney dyalasis, I didn't complain after that. As Chopper Reid would've said "How about this Kev, harden the f**k up"...................

                                            Tam and Alec below the Cobbler on the way down
We dropped out the cloud just below the Cobbler and put down a fair pace, it felt great to be moving fast on the hill again. I didn't realise just how massively I missed the mountains, every deep lungful of mountain air I dragged in I felt better, more alive, everything becoming clearer. It was like escaping from some dark dungeon................