Topic: The Great Outdoors

[pedro111]

Think I'll just head up toward Bridge of Orchy and Glen Etive and see what I can see.  Slightly paranoid about leaving the car by the roadside overnight, but the Highlands aren't a notorious hotbed of car cime.  I'll probably end up sleeping in the car and being too cramped up to do any walking the next day

So you just rock up in your car to the middle of nowhere and go for a geet big massive Bear Grylls style trek, yeah? Sounds class. Where do you live out of interest?

[OpenC]

That's the plan   I live on the road up toward Wooler and Coldstream, putting the Cheviots on my doorstep so I do quite a bit of massive Bear Grylls style trekking anyway.  Just there's more rock and steeper slopes in Scotland, which makes it more interesting

[BoSelecta]

If your heading up past Glencoe i would deffo do the five sisters, and ben chapuil. We've always holidayed up that neck of the wood and were always nicking off wild camping for a while. If you bare with me il get me dad onto the case, he's done 90% of the munroes round the area your talking about so il see what he has to say.

[OpenC]

Nice one, much obliged.  Haven't been up through Glen Shiel for years.. I made a start up The Saddle but was turned back by snow (not a crampon user back then), but never tried the five sisters.  Looks lovely



 

[pedro111]

f***, I want to climb that f***er, ffs.

[pedro111]

Shame there are no mountains next to North Tyneside otherwise I would be climbing the t*** the morra!

[OpenC]

Liathach and An Teallach are the ones to go for:







Nowt quite of that quality in this country (or Wales, for that matter), but there are some ways up Blencathra in the Lakes which may satisfy, and that's just a couple of hours away max

[Toon Saint]

Shame there are no mountains next to North Tyneside otherwise I would be climbing the t*** the morra!

This one isn't too far away from you.

[cp40]

Shame there are no mountains next to North Tyneside otherwise I would be climbing the t*** the morra!

rising sun pit heap is a canny little hill like.

[Wullie]

What do you take with you when you go to climb a peak like the two on this page, O_C?

[Clay]

This looks absolutely gorgeous Did you take it?

[pedro111]

Shame there are no mountains next to North Tyneside otherwise I would be climbing the t*** the morra!

rising sun pit heap is a canny little hill like.

Theres a big hill round there? Never noticed one before.

[OpenC]

I didn't  But now I'm getting a small and decent camera, I can get stuff like it in the future \o/

To just climb these two, you need not much more than a decent pair of boots, plenty of water, a bit of willpower and a bit of nerve.  I generally also take two Cocker Spaniels.  In winter, you need to add crampons and ice axe.  I've never walked the ridges between the various summits of these hills, though - I've been up the East top of Liathach and never got to any of An Teallach's tops due to grisly cloud.  The ridges that run across the top of these two are particularly intimidating.

This is a particularly famous bit of An Teallach, for example (spoiler due to big image)

Spoiler

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[Clay]

Not a f***ing chance you'd get me on there Feel sick just looking at those guys standing at the side.

[OpenC]

Aye, I'm not a huge fan of that sort of thing myself (particularly with dogs.. although they're more sure-footed than people, I always worry about them knocking some poor f***er off).  Thankfully, the vast majority of mountains in Britain you can get up with your hands in your pockets should you so desire, although in Scotland particularly the occasional hands-down moment is unavoidable.

[cp40]

Aye, I'm not a huge fan of that sort of thing myself (particularly with dogs.. although they're more sure-footed than people, I always worry about them knocking some poor f***er off).  Thankfully, the vast majority of mountains in Britain you can get up with your hands in your pockets should you so desire, although in Scotland particularly the occasional hands-down moment is unavoidable.

any problems with them going for sheep?

[OpenC]

Nah, they live near enough sheep farms (and have, as a result, been kicked by enough tups) to know better, thankfully.  They don't bother with them at all.

[BlufPurdi]

Think I'll just head up toward Bridge of Orchy and Glen Etive and see what I can see.  Slightly paranoid about leaving the car by the roadside overnight, but the Highlands aren't a notorious hotbed of car cime.  I'll probably end up sleeping in the car and being too cramped up to do any walking the next day

Besy way to do it.  You'll be able to find a wee alcove somewhere, or hide behind some trees for your car generally.  Admittedly not done wild camping in a good ten years, but it's the business.  Scotland would be my last choice of destination mind you, the weather is just too unpredictable and when it gets bad, it gets really bad.  Which is more often the case than not!

[OpenC]

Aye, it does that >_<  The camping is just a means to an end, though, so I'll not be too gutted about shitty weather (easy to say now).  You don't go to Scotland for the tan, after all

Cheers for the advice, though.. good to know that I'm on the right sort of lines.

[BlufPurdi]

I've only ever camped in Scotland (bar festivals), so my vision of camping in England is probably more than delusional anyway.

[OpenC]

I think it's just about accepted above intake walls, but it's also borderline illegal in England and Wales, which sort of takes the edge off it.  If a farmer sees you heading up toward a mountain at 5PM, he's probably going to be suspicious   And I think the wettest I've ever got was on Scafell Pike rather than any Scottish mountain, so they don't have exclusivity on s**** weather.

[BoSelecta]

Try camping at the head of Glen Nevis, you can pitch your tent right by the car and you'll be surrounded by brilliant moutains. If your worried about where to camp, try googling wild camping in Scotland, you can drop your tent anywhere. You'd never have any problems leaving your car in the highlands for a few days whist your off. Best of luck.

[OpenC]

Was considering Glen Nevis, but I suspected it would be a touch on the busy side..

Cheers though, I'll certainly have a look

[madras]

done a bit wild camping when i was younger (if you can call it that when you stopping on a mates uncles farm but we never bothered him and he never bothered us.). i'd love to camp on top of windy gyll for a sunset and sunrise. off to the lakes with the family in the summer so hopefully drag the wife up a hill or two and hopefully come september i'll be less tied (school runs) so can get out more.

[BoSelecta]

Sorry i couldnt give you more info, i thought my dad might of had more to say!