Bucket list, Ben Nevis - check!

Date - 26th August 2013

Conquering Ben Nevis has been a goal of ours for a while. This year was the year to complete the ascend as it is the highest mountain in Scotland - in fact, it is the highest peak in the UK.

Due to the unpredictability of the Scottish weather, we had to wait for the perfect weather conditions as it can be very dangerous to climb in poor climates.

Ben Nevis is actually a Munro, for those that do not know what a munro is, it is a Scottish mountain that is over 3,000 feet high. Ben Nevis is 4406 feet high and to illustrate how high this mountain is we will compare it to the tallest building in the world which is the Burj Khaslifa at 2722 feet.

We began our journey at a pub called Ben Nevis Inn. We set off from here at 1.30pm which is quite late to start the climb. The guide time stated it would take 4 hrs to get to the top and 3 hrs to get back down. Sunset was due at 8.30pm so we were a bit tight for time.

this guide was taken from the start of the Nevis Path

The first hour was tough, the sheer steepness of the giant rocks combined with the beating sun exhausted us.

an hour into the climb

We welcomed a flat stretch of track around the 1hr 30 mins mark with Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe on our left. Amazing to see this body of water at 2000 feet.

flat stretch of track going into the clouds

We stopped at the halfway point, the Red Burn waterfall, where we refilled our water bottles.
As we walked through and above the clouds, the terrain changed dramatically. As you can see, it became very rocky so you had to be careful with your steps. It was also at this point we passed a guy who was walking in flip flops! Our minds could not comprehend what was happening! We were more determined to get to the top after seeing the guy in flip flops.

nearly at the top

It gets pretty gruesome as you approach the summit our legs were starting to ache. But a few encouraging words from fellow climbers and the sight of the summit point urged us to ignore the pain in our weak and exhausted legs and to keep putting one leg in front of each other till we made it to the summit.

our view as we ate our sandwiches

The summit was level and very rocky. It was a cloudy day so we couldn't see much other than a sea of clouds. As we were one of the last ones up, we had the whole summit to ourselves. It was spookily quiet with absolutely no wind.

Apart from the summit point stump, there was remains of the old observatory which closed in 1904. This was briefly converted to a hotel shortly after but was destroyed by a fire.

We spent around an hour at the summit before making our way back down.

As we were running against the sunset, we did not stop for rest on our way down. Already exhausted from the climb up, our feet, knees and shins were hurting. There were a few incidents of slipping due to the wet rocks (it was raining when we were above the clouds).

We got back to the Ben Nevis Inn at 9.30pm. It was pretty dark by then and we had to use our torch. Its a good thing we came prepared with a torch. After an painful climb up and an exhausting descent, relief filled us when we were able to get back to the car and head home.

cairns at the top

remains of the old observatory

standing at the cliff edge

summit point with the old observatory