Ben Nevis at 4409ft (or 1344m for you modern folk) is highest mountain in the country and one that I am surprised that we have not attempted before now.
We travelled up on the Friday night and after booking into our accomodation we headed straight to the pub.
Did we take it easy and sip mineral water and retire early before our 12 hour climb the next day?
Na, don't be silly. We kicked the arse out of it until the pubs shut and we HAD to go back to the hotel!
The next morning we were up early to the sight of a glorious sunny day. We got ready, had breakfast and headed off to the the bottom of Ben Nevis where large numbers of people had already started to gather in preperation for a long day's climbing.
We went with the crowds but tried to make a good pace as we followed the rocky path that takes you along the popular tourist route, climbing ever higher.
We came to a split in the path and Thomas advised us that to the right was the easier, tourist route, but to the left was the harder and steaper route which we of course was the one that we chose.
The path took us deep into a valley and we walked as far as the mountain rescue station before we started the slow, painful clamber up to the top.
It was two hours before we made it out of the valley and it was worth all the hard work. To qoute Thomas, "fucking hell", which was pretty much what I thought as I got there. The scenery was amazing and you could see for miles.
By now it was 4.00 and we still had a long way to go before we reached the very top. The sun was out in full force and even though we were so high it was very warm.
We continued along the top of the valley carefully since as you can see from the picture above, one false move would have ended badly!
Liam and I picked up the pace and surged ahead of the others and we reached the summit a good 40 minutes before our fellow climbers. It gave us time to relax and enjoy the view.
They eventually arrived and Kath got a little bit emotional at finally achieving our goal.
Unfortunately, we still had to go all the way back down again and time was against us and with the sun beginning to get low in the sky we set off down the opposite side of the mountain as quickly as we could.
A group decision was made that Liam and I go ahead and get a Chinese take-away for us and a sausage supper for Mr Arthur and of course a few cans of beer to wash it all down.
We set off at a cracking pace, maybe a bit too cracking as Liam twisted his ankle near the bottom of the Ben but was able to soldier on. By the time we made it to where the car was parked it was pitch dark and the other three were at least half an hour behind us.
Nevertheless, we carried on into town and bought all our provisions and returned to the hotel. We had just set the table with all the food and drink ready to be opened, when the others arrived looking exhausted. perfect timing! Kath commented that it was like that feeling you get when you were a kid when you came in from playing and your Mum had your dinner ready for you on the table!
After dinner we all got cleaned up and changed, ready for tonights festivities. Unfortunately, Kath was totally knackered and took a rain-check. Sensibly deciding that she was going to bed, unlike us arseholes!
We found a pub with a disco and did what we do best....got pished. There weren't many dancers up but after much goading from my friends, I decided to have a dance off with one guy who thought he was John Travolta. Still not sure if I won or not.
The DJ was playing some really pish tunes so we started to request something a bit better dance to. Culminating in Pulp's Common which had everyone on their feet, swinging their pants.
I seem to remember asking the DJ to play Jason Donovan's "Too Many Broken Hearts" and I think he was up for it but he ran out of time and never played that particular Golden Oldie. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
As the DJ finished, he announced that the Shinty Club would be open until 3.00 if anyone wanted to go. So we jumped in a taxi and made our way there, absolutely reeking.
Don't really know how to describe the Shinty Club, but you know you are in a classy place when five minutes after you arrive the ladies are challenging you to an arm wrestling contest!
After a while and a few more beers, it was getting just a bit too rowdy and we decided to bail out. By this time we were in a bad way. We came across a digger parked inthe street and I know for a fact that if we had been able to start it we would have probably driven it home and a night in the jail would surely have followed!
The next morning was rough! We had a good few hours drive was ahead of us and so we set off as soon as we could. We found a nice wee pub that did a tradional greasy fry-up breakfast and suddenly things didn't seem so bad anymore.
The sunshine from yesterday had been replaced by clouds and rain but we were not caring as it would have taken more than that to take the shine off of what was a great weekend.
