Ben Bheoil with a guy humping a 156 litre rucksack..? 19 10 26 (11) 2025 2 4

After the exertions of the 18,6 miles' walk (almost 30 km), I described in my last blog to do with drinking whiskey, I returned to my semi-permanent base in Pitlochry to the comfort of my Backpacker's Hotel on the High Street, as also mentioned in earlier blogs, in two minds of what to do with my last week's holiday once my two nephews had departed after the breakfast we had shared in a nearby restaurant.

So as my pic above shows after some deliberation I tried once more to take contact with an old climbing friend, L, sitting to the left of the other guy in this next pic, who couldn't have greeted me in a friendlier manner all apologies for not returning my earlier attempts to contact him, and even coming to meet my train around 1:30 pm.  This time I had used "Messenger" to contact him his later explaining how he lost two phones this year already, with surprising success to both him and me. The guy, S, who would accompany me on my 3-day hill walk, but first we were to eat dinner together and go to a talk by the Scottish lady who had just completed a record breaking ride on her bicycle: round the world in 157 days, 20 days faster than the previous lady record-holder, JG, a thoroughly inspiring young lady...

The following day then my new friend S and I departed for the next hill on my list, Ben Bheoil which is situated in front of Ben Alder, a hill I had climbed earlier, the 31st May 1983. Then I stayed at the Culra Bothy, a pic of which I shall include later... 

First a pic of S carrying the biggest rucksack, all 110 litres of it plus other adornments such as a sack of wood kindling to get a fire going, etc., etc., I have ever got to walk with. When I asked S should I take my gas stove along he replied that he had two stoves, one gas the other petrol, that we didn't need a third, so in this way to use his word in a manner of speaking he became my "sherper".

Now the weather had changed since the last weekend when I climbed with my two nephews D and G, in weather for the 3 days we stayed at Bob Scott’s bothy an hour’s walk from the Lin of Dee, in brilliant sunshine for most of the time not a cloud in the sky.

Now as can see from my pics the weather was just the opposite and typically Scottish: either raining, about to rain, or just stopped but not something for the faint at heart, hahaha.

 

My indecision about to embark on this walk was as much to do with the two alternatives about how I should be spending this second week of my 2 week autumn holiday: holed up in the Backpackers’ hotel with lots of people to talk to, or on my own either on the train traveling to the area of where my hill was situated, and then the 3 days to approach it, perhaps 12 miles, just over 19 km, from the nearest road, and after achieving its summit 12 miles to walk back. Its alternative to have the comfort of the hotel with a roof over one’s head guaranteed, and in between meal times provided, by microwave or electrically heated ovens and a Co-op supermarket just around the corner, and an unending supply, or so it seemed of new people, mostly young people and most of them the fairer sex to talk to...

That I chose the former and the strong possibility of my own company for the 5 day trip was why I had come here to Scotland: to climb more of its 282 x 3000 ft peaks with now only 14 of them left to climb.

But that instead of walking and climbing alone thanks to the offices of my good friend L who arranged for me to meet S we had each other's company which with 3 days without meeting another person save for a lonely footpath repair-man we enjoyed the trip enormously when we each believed we had also made something more than a simple acquaintanceship which will see us meeting up again at a later date. Have a good day everyone as I hope you too get the pleasantest of surprises in your lives at least once in a while?