The Best Camping Spot on the Finest Mountain in the Scottish Alps

What a wonderful pitch and a wonderful way to start the day and this is how day two started. Solitude on the mountain and not a soul in sight. It was lovely. However that's not how this adventure started. In fact it started with me meeting up with Jerry and Mark and we were going to be doing something that wasn't camping and something that I hadn't done for well quite a few years but I was really looking forward to it. Oh I'm hoping everyone can see the size of the bags. See look these lightweights here. So special. Old age pensioner. I do have two microphones with me but one's buried in the depths of the bag so we're going to do something special. We're in the Arik and Alps aren't we? Yeah. So there's a beautiful loch down here and the reason I've got a bigger bag, well we'll come on to that later on, we don't need to know about that. It's not the fact that these guys are being cruel and making me carry everything. In fact you guys have probably got more gear. Well certainly one of us anyway. So yeah we'll report back when we're at our first destination which should explain the different bits and bobs in the bag. So shall we head on? Let's go. Oh here we go. Oh it's nice to get that off. So hello. Is this on? It's on. Yeah it's on. We're good to go. So we're at a wee crag aren't we? Halfway up the mountain. Yeah well quarter of the way, fifth of the way up the mountain but anyway on a mountainside it's quite nice. Yeah it's quite nice. There's a wee breeze just coming along the side so no well not as many midges and flies as we thought. So yeah it's cracking but it's just short routes aren't they? Short sport routes bolted on nice nippy schist but it's good just to get back into it isn't it? Yeah I think, well you were saying it's a blast. Some of you guys were out and yeah well I mean same for me. Not really, we've climbed easier stuff already this year. Yeah this is as hard as it gets. These guys are leading it and just pulling me up the top rope and I am which is good fun. I'm enjoying the top rope. I am, I don't mind. I think you could lead, you could lead the next one but just don't take your tent up. Yeah I've been putting my tent on just to make it, I found it a bit easy so I've been putting the big back on. Hardcore, hardcore. Anyway we're gonna do a few routes here and we'll report back later on. The fact that this little crag was on the mountainside afforded it some air and what I mean by that was there was a little bit more of a breeze which was keeping the midges at bay and the climbing was good fun. It was bolted sport climbing, nothing too technical for those of you that do it more often than I do but it was certainly got me thinking and it was great to get back on the rock. It was good, it's good to be back on the rock. The midges have made an appearance so it might be time for you to go and camp. They're loving this. It'll be fine, the midges don't come anywhere near me. I've soaked these in permethrin so it's got a kill zone. They'll be the people that like veal, not veal and venison. These are aracher midges. They'll bite through the tent fly sheet to get to you. Well it's quite good, how many routes did we do, four? Four routes or something like that and the two warm-ups and then they get harder and then the last one was really nice with a wee overhang on it. The second last one was really nice. It was nice too, yeah it was nice too. It was good fun. Murray will maybe show you footage of them. Yeah I'll see if I can get some dynamic footage on the screen now but right I'm going to head on so you'll see these guys, they'll be disappearing. I'm going to get a heavy pack on and try and get to the top of this. Stay classy, you need to stay classy, lock and wrestle. I'll make that decision because you'll not be here to make that decision. No, I might hear the screams, they're just down the road so I might hear the midges eating you. Don't tell them what I've felt, it's going to be really good. So I said my goodbyes to Gerry and Mark and as they headed the short distance down the mountain I was now heading the longer distance up the mountain trying to keep ahead of the wise and the midges. Well that was great fun. First time I've been climbing in quite some time and very enjoyable and it was good of Mark and Gerry to drag me up the cliffs down there but yeah much fun. The objective now is to get to the top of the mountain and it's lovely. I'll show you the view that I'm experiencing at the moment just down to my left here. You can see down the view over here is fabulous. It's Glen Crow and the rest of the Be Thankful is just down there and the mountain I'm going to go and camp on is Ben and Lachlan and in fact yeah I'll show you the steep bit in a minute but yeah everyone that's come down past me said it's fly hell up there so I'm hoping that the wind picks up a wee bit. It's one of the things a lot of people think oh it'd be great to go camping when there's no wind but now that we're into June and summer the downside of that is the midges and I'd rather have a bit of wind than the flies and the clegs and the midges and all that sort of stuff. Anyway let's show you what I've got to tackle next. So this is the the steep part and in the summer it's just pretty it's not too bad but you do have to watch this might be in fact I've actually said this is one of the easier hills to do and in summer conditions it certainly is. It's a fairly steep pool but in the winter or any ice in the ground this bit here is very very dangerous because there's a long run out and I know there's been quite a few fatalities so if you are coming up in the winter just be wary of that make sure you've got your ice axe and crampons but anyway the midges are swarming when I've stopped so let's see if we can get up to the top and see if we can or hope for a breeze up there. I made my way up the steeper section and there was a few bits and bulbs where you had to get your hands on the rope but nothing too bad in these summer conditions. I know the midges are quite bad no breeze is picking up but I've sprayed everything in permethrin including my new top. When we talk about that at the top it's something a bit different for me. I'll tell you why I've got it and why it's been quite good today so anyway final steep pool to come ahead. That's the top up there isn't it? Magnificent looking mountain and the path weaves its way up and you can go into the promontories up there I'll show you in a minute. It's taking my time though not enough time for the midges to catch me but I'm going at a steady pace. So after the steep section with the run out it does level off a bit but as I said there's a steeper part to come where there's an amazing little promontory that you can step out onto. Not a place to go if you don't like exposure but it gives you a great view back down the ridge and this final bit of the path it takes you up towards the summit. Care is required here as well it's quite a steep little path and there's bits again where you have to get your hands on the rock and something to be wary of if you're coming up in the winter is just be careful and have all the correct gear with you. Anyway after a little bit more climbing I made it onto the summit of the mountain oh look at that I don't know if you can see that a wee breeze I'm super happy and I've come over to the second top I think that's the true summit over there but I wanted to just come here just to see if there was any better pictures because I think there's a lovely exposed spot which normally I wouldn't go for because it'd probably be too exposed but it's going to be perfect hopefully to keep the midge at bay but what a place look at the views anyway I also had to come and have a view west from here because this summit actually blocks the view west from the other summit and I'll just spin you around I'll show you it's rather fine looking out away down over yonder perhaps the Durrell bit there somewhere which is where which was where I went hiking a few weeks ago I think that's them just there they're not coming in the camera but what a place right just beyond the summit there is a lovely wee spot so spin you around again let's head back there let's get the tent up and I'll have my first tea I've got two teas with me and I've got two treats as well one treat liquid treat you might know and the well you might know both the liquid treats but I shall reveal all in a wee while let's go and get the tent up and enjoy it now that's the hard work done wow so I'm going to set the tent get the tent set up here there's a lovely breeze there's lots of daddy long legs it's that time of year but they don't bother me they stick close to the ground well right well hopefully you can agree this is an absolutely stunning camp spot and the first treat that I had brought with me all the way up is some fizzy Fanta and I've already had a wee drink of it and as always I've got a reduced reduced in price loss as well I went to the petrol station I was at the airport this morning I had to drop my sister off who was she was over from Australia it was great catching up with her so hence why I'm on the west coast and thanks to Mark and Jerry for altering their plans to allow me to they basically started later because they knew I was in the airport in the morning but anyway that's by the bye I was going to talk a bit about this hooded top I know it looks silly and I've certainly um I've seen them a few times mainly younger American hikers and I thought they'd be really good but when I've seen them worn by middle-aged men like myself older generation I think it looks silly but it's just so practical it's very thin I do have a t-shirt on underneath it but what I like about it is the hood protects your neck you know I usually wear a buff in fact I've got a buff on underneath here anyway but this just gives me more protection for my neck and my ears from the sun when it's when it's warm in the on the two days a year in Scotland when we get it so that's why I've got it and it's actually works really well it's so lightweight and very practical even if it does make me look silly so I'm actually going to go down the other side I can't film another side because literally the tent stops and then the ground drops away it's a spectacular location I'll hopefully show you but I'm going to put you away just now and I'll bring you back later on let's go and have some Fanta and a wee snack. Right I've just heated up some water I've just got a wayfarer's meal doesn't need hydrated just needs heated up in the water so I'm just leaving that to cook it's about half seven eight now and it's lovely I've just been chilling in the tent actually listening there was football on there was a late game on um so I've just been sitting and listening to that nothing no interest no teams that I support in there but it was quite relaxing listening to it yeah what a point what a spot I mean literally this mountain just drops away down to the rest and be thankful down there and you can see the ridge I've come up I don't know if you can make it out in the camera behind me you can see the route all the way up it is a magnificent it is a magnificent mountain and when I was over in Jura coming back from the other direction it's even more impressive Benan Lockan I've said it before it was one of the original Munros but it when it was reclassified because it fell short by about 14 meters of reaching that magical 3000 foot mark but what a place in the Aracher Alps look at this you can see why they're called the Alps it is just beautiful so I'm really looking forward to having a bite to eat my second treat is some whiskey I think it's tomato I've got and some peanuts but I'll have my um yeah I'll have my tea and uh yeah I'll report back later on oh what an evening I have just been uh chilling I wasn't into some podcast and I suppose a wee tip for you this is the tip of the day on the um many occasions in Scotland when you have really warm still summer nights and it's balmy warm happens at least once every two years um again I might be teaching you how to sook eggs but when you're in the tent like I was there I was just chilling um I've kept both outside doors opened and it allows a wee bit of airflow through the tent so you don't bake sometimes when the doors are shut and there's no breeze coming through it can be quite warm yeah that's the tip of the day for you but this is just wonderful I can see over to the Cruiken Hills over to the Glencoe ones you see Bidgeon and up to the the biggest of them all Ben Nevis it's so distinguishable anyway we're about I don't know 40 minutes from sunset the last of the sun illuminating the rest of the uh Aracher Alps I can see Ben Vane, Ben Arnane, Ben Eam, the Cobbler and Louvain through to Ben Lomond and it really is just absolutely fabulous and then down to the left of the tent that's that's the uh the Glen that takes you up to Abyssinia if you remember the the Haunted Bothy experience that I did the video a few weeks ago a few months ago now it's certainly different conditions that day it's absolutely wonderful I was going to talk a wee bit about YouTube I did a video a few well it would have been I think it would have been it's not out yet um I did a video about whether I thought YouTube is worth it and um yeah I think I think it is but I've struggled a wee bit recently trying to get the videos videos out I've not lost any enthusiasm or any mojo for it it's just I've so busy um I've had relatives over from Australia as I said I dropped my sister off at the airport I had a fantastic weekend with her last weekend but I didn't get out and then I've been it's just just busy just life's like busy life's been busy um and I've struggled to get out every weekend and I've been struggling to find time to edit the videos so I've been I have been managing so I've just I just thought I don't know throw it out there there might be a few weeks where there might be a lapse in videos knowing me I'll probably I'll probably get around it myself and Gerry have got a a trip uh booked to the north well it's not a trip but we've got a few days and we've got plans uh weather depending we've got plans a b and c for uh up in the northwest islands we're hoping to go for a few days up there and that'll that'll certainly build up the YouTube videos because what I tend to do with the YouTube videos is I never have it takes me a while to edit them but when I say it takes me a while I never manage to edit them say I'm out today it's Saturday night I'll not get this edited in time for Wednesday so it tends to be a few weeks um before they come out and I always tend to have a backlog of them so um some some spare but that's that's not the case at the moment I'm down about two I think so um yeah going to Sky I might I might be able to get a few more and get that buffer that buffer zone back up it's it can be tough sometimes as I said in that video that I was talking about I have a lot of respect for folk that do this full-time and they are dependent on making videos so um any of those guys that you watch and you know they do it full-time you just watch their adverts you know go and buy them a coffee go and do that because it's it's not an easy it's not an easy thing but anyway yeah enough yapping about that I am just going to sit here and watch the sun go down um I've had a few whiskies not many uh I've still got most of the hip flask left I'm going to go down and get that and bring it up here might put my jacket on it's getting a wee bit chilly now I've done not bad I mean it's 9 30 at night now and I've still got just got this wee t-shirt with the hood on which I talked about earlier on which I've been very impressed with so I'm going to shut up now I'm just going to watch this uh the sun go down and that's the sun nearly down as you can probably see now it's just still a lovely wee breeze which is perfect and I'm hoping that this cloud is sitting slightly inland kind of over Ben Louie and as I said before over towards the Cruican group and Glencoe and Ben Nevis in fact Cruican's a hill to the right of the the sun yeah I'm hoping that cloud catches so it might might light up it might not I'm not sure but yeah it's just before 10 o'clock it's one of the most it's one of the the benefits of living in Scotland is in the summer the uh well yeah well it's 10 o'clock and the sun isn't even down yet so I think we'll still have an hour of light it doesn't really get dark at night either uh which is fabulous of course the opposite is true in the winter but if you like astrophotography then it certainly works for that so yeah I'm just going to sit and watch the sun go down then I'm yeah what a wonderful wonderful night so I watched the sunset and then the moon rise before hitting the hay and going to sleep for a few hours before sunrise the next morning good morning no I didn't have that good a night's sleep I didn't do my due diligence when I put the and I kept slipping down because I'm on a wee bit of a slope but anyway that's life when you're camping um let me just show you what where I've perched well you probably saw it yesterday but anyway the sun is streaming in it's 5 40. I did wake up at 20 past four um the skies were clear so there wasn't any pink skies or anything for sunrise so I decided to go back to sleep but the sun has now woken me up let me just show you uh I might have to open the door for you look at warm actually it's nice right I'll report back once I'm out of my sleeping bag let's get up back up to the summit there's a slightly very slightly stronger breeze it's a wee westerly breeze coming in so let's just sit here this is lovely oh right that's we had breakfast and I'm in no rush really I've just been taking my time sun's coming up it's getting warm I put my wee duvet jacket on when I was on the summit because the but over here where the tent is in the sun it's just absolutely lovely so I don't know if you can make out from the way of position the camera the view that I've got straight from the door of the tent's probably got to be one of the best views that I've had on any pitch it's just lovely and I left the door open last night um so whenever I woke up I could just look out uh when I woke up at 4 30 I looked out and sun was just about to rise but there wasn't any cloud in the sky so actually rolled over and went back to sleep but it's a fantastic fantastic mountain and I'll talk a wee bit about that once I've got the tent down um so I'm going to start striking camp and uh getting stuff away and I'll report back once everything's packed up and in my bag and I'm ready to just I'm ready to distend I was ready to descend the mountain god I can't speak and right that's me uh it's me all packed away what a glorious trip it's been from doing a wee bit of climbing for the first time in over 12 months well probably probably longer for me certainly sport climbing and then doing this wild camp and the weather's just been lovely and you can see this look at this ridge behind me and it doesn't get I said this I say this over and over but it never looks as good on the camera as it does to the eye and this is really to me this nobly mountain ridge which rises steeply to the summit and this is the summit's 900 over 900 meters it is very alpine and to me I think this is oh this might be controversial is this the most alpine of the arachal alps it's certainly I think my favorite mountain in the arachal alps and I know it's a favorite of Jerry's as well he's a local so that means it's even more um I don't know trust it more if it comes from a local but yeah it's not a long day it's short steep it's got a wee bit of scrambling the views to the rest of the alps and the west is just fantastic uh so is it is this the sort of mountain range that where the corvettes outdo the munro's I think it is because the other corvette are famous ones the cobbler but I still I rate this over the cobbler to be honest there's more climbs in the cobbler but I just think this is just a magnificent uh magnificent mountain uh walk perfect for a nice sunny day but as I said please be wary in the winter there's quite a few bits where there's long run-offs and you've got to remember even if you've come up here in the summer when there's snow covering the path that's backed out it's a serious proposition but anyway enough of that I'm going to end the video here hope you've enjoyed it thanks for watching stay safe out there and I'll see you on the next adventure right let's saddle this back and get off the hill