Peak 2 : Ben Nevis (1344m), here we come!

Life is uncertain, death is certain.

With reference to the above, life is constantly changing and fluid. Hence, Peak 2 has ended up being Ben Nevis instead of Snowdon. Nevertheless, Snowdonia is still on the radar, albeit slightly delayed.

I don't know how summer flew by with so much and yet so little happening. Contradictory? Sorry, but it is true. Before we knew it, The Day was upon us. All my grand plans of training before setting off for Ben Nevis went out of the window. I did however, take half a day's annual leave for the commute up to Scotland - good thing too, as despite leaving at 3pm, we didn't arrive at the B&B at Crianlarich till 9.30pm. That did however include a stop for dinner at a service station. Lo and behold, believe it or not, dinner was a Chinese takeaway in the middle of nowhere.

Holding on to every last word of the weather forecast, we decided to do the track on Sunday as there was slightly more sunshine and less risk of rainfall predicted.  Saturday was instead spent on a leisurely drive from Fort William to Mallaig as the Jacobite train tickets were sold out. I was stopping every few minutes for photo opportunities, not wanting to miss out on shots of the beautiful scenery we drove past. Alas, I must admit that the camera did not do the views any justice.

The weatherman did not disappoint. We set off on a slightly misty morning with promising blue skies overhead. Parking at the Glen Nevis visitor centre was only £3 for the day (2013). Before long, we were bathed in sunshine and treated to stunning distant views from the Ben Nevis Mountain Track. Despite the very obvious path, we were well equipped with an OS map and compass - just in case!

The trek was uphill all the way, but a lot less strenous than Scafell Pike. However, due to the awkward height of the wet stoney path in some parts of the trek, the descent was painstakingly long. It took us just over 6 hours in total for the ascent and descent. Lucky for us, we managed to snap lots and lots of photos before the clouds drew in just as we finished our lunch on the summit and headed back down, taking particular care to avoid (but stare in awe) at the 'Five Finger Gully'.

So far, we have been particularly blessed with perfect weather on two of our National Three Peaks challenge trips. We couldn't have asked for more. No doubt if the weather had been different, it would have drastically affected our enjoyment ratings. Enjoyment rating : 10/10. Muscle ache rating for the next 2 days : 8/10 (where 0 = no ache, 10 = excruciating pain).