A bank holiday weekend and the forecast for Monday was bit of wind, bit of rain and a bit of sun. Best err on the side of caution that the weather won't be good enough to do all those gardening jobs that are stacking up and head for the mountains instead. We're not short of options when it comes to great day walks in the Outdoor Capital, so I opted for one of our truly iconic peaks.

At 1022m Buachaille Etive Mor at the head of Glencoe may not be among the highest in the Lochaber area but it is one of the most imposing and most photographed in Scotland. Plus if you start from the road at Lagangarbh (where you'll also find one of the most photogenic old cottages in Scotland!) at 270m, it does take the long uphill slog out of the day. Riven by deep gullies and supported by huge ridges, big steep and rocky, standing isolated at the head of Glen Etive, The Buachaille is an imposing mountain by any definition.

I never like walking up Corrie na Tulaich - steep, loose and rocky it's like trying to go up the down escalator! Instead I prefer to head out to the right of the corrie and go up the obvious grassy slope. Towards the top of the slope we headed out further right to gain the ridge. Every now and again a rain squall would blast out of the end of Glen Coe, give us a quick soaking and then dry up again. Definitely not gardening weather! The ridge goes up and curls round to the top of Corrie na Tulaich. A few minutes later and we were at the summit. We carried on walking past the summit to reach a fine lunch spot looking straight down onto Crowberry Tower with Rannoch Moor and Glen Etive stretching out below (for another great view of Glen Etive, have a look at 'The Two Passes' blog entry from July 06).
Back over the summit and down to the head of Corrie na Tulaich and descend down all that loose ground. At least we and the scree were trying to go the same way! Back home and it looked like the weather had dried up for the day, perfect for baking a cake.

posted by ocuk @ 7:55 PM  1 comments

Went along to the opening of the recently refurbished Lime Tree Gallery in central Fort William the other night - what a place! As well as all the millions of fun things you can do and see outdoors in Lochaber, now there's another attraction for those occasional rainy days (not that we've had many of those so far this year). The gallery has been totally refurbished and is now of the standard that can exhibit work from the national galleries, so the re-opening kicked off in fine style with an exhibition of priceless Goya etchings from the Hayward Gallery in London, dating from the late 18oos.

I must admit that I spent a bit too much time chatting and drinking wine and not much looking at the actual art (tut, tut) - so I'll be heading back there this week for a proper look! If you've not had a chance yet - there's still plenty of time. The exhibition is free and runs to 9 September. The gallery is open from 10am to 10pm. If you're not going to make it to Lochaber for the current exhibition, don't worry: owner and well-known landscape artist David Wilson has a packed schedule planned for the Lime Tree - keep an eye on the Events section for future shows and other events. For other cultural events in Lochaber, check out the listings on the Hi-arts website. - Lisa

posted by ocuk @ 4:37 PM  3 comments

The River Garry (near the small Highland village of Invergarry at the northern boundary of Lochaber) was scheduled for a release on Wednesday night. Just to make sure I wasn't going to turn up to a dry river I took the precaution of organising an afternoon's work up near Kyle so I could check out the river level on the way there, yep it was up and running. Good solid grade 3 and a bit.

I'd finished work and got back to the White Bridge in time to see folks packing up for the day. A quick text to the other guys then wait for them to turn up. We had the river to ourselves. A quick play about in the upper rapids and then we headed down stream to the play hole.

Lots of flat spins and a few good solid poundings later and the migdes had found us in the eddy. There are numerous surf waves and a couple of good pop-out spots further down to play about in as we made our way to White Bridge and off the river. Next release date should be 24th August. For more rivers in the area check out here.

If you've never tried it, but would like to give kayaking a go, find out more at http://www.canoescotland.com/ - Ken

posted by ocuk @ 10:46 PM  0 comments

The first day of our week-long West Highland sea kayaking cruise saw us dropped off at the entrance to Loch Nevis, which separates Mallaig from the remote Knoydart Peninsula. A gentle start to the week with a 12km paddle down the loch to Tarbert for lunch. The weather was fine with a gentle breeze against us, something to bite into. For some reason paddling on a flat calm oily sea feels like paddling in treacle. We had fantastic clear views of the Knoydart mountains raising straight up out of the end of Loch Nevis.

Just after setting off we saw two or three porpoises out in the middle of the loch. Some of us took the shortest route to Tarbet straight down the middle of the loch. The others who took the long way round, sticking to the shore, were rewarded with a close up of an otter and a pair of distant sea eagles.

This is a fine paddle were tidal currents are weak but being surrounded by high mountains, wind squalls can come from nowhere. Tarbet is an idyllic little spot with an easy walk over to Loch Morar. There is limited free camping at the far east end of Inverie Bay, only about 15 minutes walk from mainland Britain's most remote pub The Old Forge. Try to arrive at the campsite at high tide, the bay dries out for several hundred metres at low tide.

Other possibilities are to continue up to the end of Loch Nevis to Sourlies Bothy or go up the coast past Sandaig Bay and Airor towards Loch Hourn.

For more sea-kayaking trips in the Lochaber area and useful paddling info visit the sea-kayaking pages of the Outdoor Capital of the UK website.

For water safety advice visit www.nationalwatersafety.org.uk

- Ken

posted by ocuk @ 9:22 PM  1 comments

OK, so maybe my first ascent of mighty Ben Nevis wasn't exactly speedy but I was chuffed to reach the top of the UK's highest mountain, have a spot of high-altitude lunch and made it back down in time for tea! Can you believe there are lots of people training at the moment for a running race up there? The Ben Nevis Race is a local Lochaber institution, and running clubs from around the UK come to take part. Apparently it's possible to get up and down in under 2 hours - The fastest time recorded is just over 1 hr, 25 mins, which seems incredible - that was back in 1984. Maybe 2006 will be the year that someone tops that?!

Still, my more leisurely pace meant I had time to enjoy the views and chat to other walkers on the main path. There's more than you'd expect at the summit - an abandoned observatory is one of the many things left on the mountain over the years (a piano was found up here in May this year! Read the story about it in the Guardian newspaper here: www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1776987,00.html) .

There was a bit of drama as I was enjoying my sandwiches when the Lochaber Mountain Rescue helicopter arrived in a whirl of wind - but thankfully they were only dropping off some rescue supplies. A good reminder though that you don't mess with this mountain and need to make sure you're prepared for everything. If you fancy taking on the Ben, don't forget to check out the Ben Nevis safety advice before you head off.

Unfortunately my camera battery packed up just as I was heading off (doh!) but I'll get hold of some pics and put them up soon.

If you'd like to find out more about the Ben, have a look at the John Muir Trust website at www.jmt.org/cons/nevis/index.html. You can also download their interesting factsheet to bring with you on your next visit!

posted by ocuk @ 4:51 PM  0 comments

Lochaber Highland Games in Fort William was great fun on Saturday. It was my first time at a Highland Games and it was exactly what I wanted: tossing the caber, shot putt, races, pipe band, kids' activities, local food and drink, and oh yes - Sir Jimmy Saville (and the fact that he put off filming the final ever 'Top of the Pops' show to attend the Games even made the London edition of Metro newspaper!) Didn't know that he was the Honorary Chieftan of the Games until I saw him leading the march into the field in a tartan tracksuit! The whole day was great, with locals and visitors from around the world really getting into the swing of it and taking part in the races, with an international 'tug'o'war' rounding the day off in style.

According to Jamie, one of the organisers, it was one of the best Games ever. It was my first Games, but definitely not my last...the Glenfinnan Gathering on the spectacular Road to the Isles from Fort William to Mallaig is meant to be one of the best Highland Games around - see you there on Saturday 19 August!

Find out more about outdoor events in Lochaber visit www.outdoorcapital.co.uk. You've still time to catch a genuine Highland Games - check out the calendar of Highland Games and don't miss out on seeing that caber fly!

posted by ocuk @ 3:40 PM  0 comments