Mountain Odyssey: The Chronicles of Narnain

Well, what incredible weather has been battering the country over the past few months! Record flooding on the Somerset Levels, railway lines washed away in Dawlish, waves crashing over huge buildings, flood debris on promenades across the country. This island has been shown to be particularly vulnerable, as the jetstream does it's dastardly deeds and we batten down the hatches and the nation goes into hibernation.

But, what stalwarts the British people are! I give you: The Battle of Britain. The Blitz. Clyde shipbuilding. The Arctic Convoys. Shackleton (okay, so Shakleton's technically Irish, but we'll let him off - he was a Brit at heart). Robert Falcon Scott. Douglas Mawson. The Great Escape. Ranulph Fiennes. Hamish MacInnes. The Victor. Trafalgar. James Bond. Alexander Fleming. Barnes Wallis. Churchill. Oor Wullie! Queen Elizabeth II. What a great nation! And Alex Salmond looks to divide us? Right!That's it - hairstyles at dawn - Salmond and Trump - a fight to the death. Trump's combover versus Salmond's coo's lick. Or how about Sugar Ray Leonard versus our illustrious First Minister, in a fight to the death. Bare knuckles! Wishful thinking.

You may wonder where on earth I'm going with this? (don't worry, so am I!!!). The point is, we Brits are a hardy, long suffering, get on with it bunch of people. We dig deep. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. And in case you hadn't realised by now - I'm firmly in the No camp for the coming independence referendum.

So, there he is, this hard as nails (British) mountain man (that's me, by the way), sound asleep, dreaming of Lancaster bombers and Manchester United's poor form. And the alarm goes off at an unearthly 6.30am. At this point I roll over, thinking "Beinn Narnain (or, is it the kingdom of Narnia???) is only about 75 minutes drive (or, through the back of an old wardrobe) - I can afford an extra half hour." After all, the days are starting to stretch. Have you noticed? Half five before it was dark yesterday? So, half an hour later and I fell out of bed - bring it on! The hills are alive!

Today's weather was incredible. Well, not exactly in the way that it's been recently. Arrived at Arrochar - 8.45am. Ready to head for hills - 8.55am. And, do you know what? Not a breath of wind. I had chosen my day well. A couple of hastily arranged work appointments and some jiggery pokery later, and here I was again with some good conditions forecast between two nasty ridges of low pressure familiar story). More storms to come. More flooding - the Somerset Levels cut off from the outside world (Davie Cameron, get your act together!). But all's well with the world when I can get some mountain time.

It must be at least 10 years since I last ventured out onto Beinn Narnain, or the Cobbler for that matter. And things had changed - there's a new path from Succoth (on which the bold Stewart steamed ahead without a second thought), taking the walker up a series of zig zags and along some contours to the Buttermilk Burn. Only problem is, if you're heading for Beinn Narnain you will need to contour back along to just above the site of the old Sloy Dam rail track, before hanging a left and heading straight up the bog-fest that is the lower slopes of Cruach nam Miseag. Drat and double drat! (Dick Dastardly - another great Brit! I rest my case). I resolved to find the old path later, on my descent.

One of the Arrochar Alps, Beinn Narnain is Gaelic for Hill of Notches - aptly named and descriptive of the false summits encountered, when a short descent is required before a steep uphill section. In profile, these appear as notches cut out of the eastern shoulder of the mountain. This is a steep and rocky wee hill, much like Ben Vane. However, in my book it trumps (not Donald again!) Ben Vane, as it has a fine section known as the Spearhead, part of a couple of fine rock towers standing sentinel just below the summit.

I must say that the weather at this point veered between snow flurries, whiteout, azure blue skies and bright sunshine. But oh how rewarding mountaineering in these types of conditions is! The amazing views are all the better when glimpsed briefly through parting clouds and spindrift. The same spindrift that was presently blowing wee, sharp needles of ice into my eyes and up my nose - ouch!

To the north, a fine rocky ridge connects Narnain with A' Chrois - a worthwhile jaunt I once traversed in summer as part of a Cobbler/Narnain/A' Chrois trio. What a great day that was! To the south, The Cobbler, or Ben Arthur. To the east, Ben Lomond, from this angle a fine snow-capped pyramid. And now, for the third consecutive trip, I found myself having to don crampons and wield an ice axe, as I gingerly made my way across a fine, firm snow field with drops away down into the corrie, far below. A slip, at this point, could prove challenging.

Ice axe arrest is a skill that's usually practised on a short, smooth slope with a nice, safe run-out at it's base. Using this technique for real is not for the faint-hearted, and I had no great desire to employ it today.

The big notch before the summit is an impressive sight in winter, looming as it was today, out of the cloud and rimed in snow and ice like a giant fridge freezer. I stood transfixed, awestruck with it's icy grandeur and then reached for a wee energy gel to fire me up to the top. Once gained, the summit plateau certainly ain't as impressive as it's rocky ramparts, and exhausted from the effort of the climb, I just about managed to plant one foot in front of the other as I made my way to the the ice encrusted trig point pillar. Lunch time: tuna sandwiches, cheese and onion crisps followed by a Cadbury's Caramel, all washed down with copious amounts of steaming hot tea - fantastic!

Then, suitably rested and refreshed, I took a compass bearing from the trig point and headed downhill for the Bealach a'Mhaim, and found myself sinking deep into soft snow - completely the reverse of the leeward side of the hill. I glimpsed a party of climbers weaving their way up the northern flank of the Cobbler, and for a moment considered following their lead. However, in full winter conditions, the mountains are very demanding on these old legs and I resolved to leave it for another day, heading off down to the Narnain boulders and down the long and winding road back to the car. At which point the weather really shut in, as the snow started falling in earnest. I reflected on my decision to leave the Cobbler for another day as one of the better decisions I've made. Another amazing mountain day in my wonderful winter playground! The Odyssey continues.