Before leaving Edinburgh to spend Christmas at Loch Ness, we enjoyed another run on the Salisbury Crags in the morning.
On December 24th, Christmas Eve we headed out to go up Meallfuarvonie. This round top hill is the highest peak around the shores of Loch Ness at 2283feet. It is a classic feature when viewing the loch from all directions. Neil has always had his eye on hiking this hill and Christmas Eve was the day we set out to do this. We bundled up well and Neil carried a pack with extra gear. One thing I didn't bring with me from home was proper foot wear for this type of outing. Note my light trainers!
As we climbed the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. It was snowy and icy underfoot although if you broke through, it was wet and boggy. I was starting to whine about my feet being frozen and of course it landed on deaf ears. No sympathy from the Ambrose brothers!
The conditions soon turned|arctic like and we were really facing the challenges of mother nature. Neil reckons the winds at the summit were 120km/hr plus. It was a white out blizzard and so the obligator stone was added to the cairn and a hasty retreat was hastened to lower ground.
Things calmed down for the return journey and we were treated to nice views of Loch Ness. We were all happy to reach the car and quickly change out of our wet clothes. It was a memorable Scottish outing!
Christmas morning we woke to a beautiful sunny crisp day. We decided to go up Mealldonne a
short drive from Graeme and Fiona's house.
Mealldonne the goal for today.
Frost underfoot - nice views!
That's snow covered Meallfuarvonie rising above the clouds where we were yesterday.
The top had a bit of snow and ice but nothing like yesterday's outing.
Happy Christmas to All!
No comments:
Post a Comment