25.09.16 Cruinn
a’Bheinn (NN 365 051)
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| Cruinn a'Bheinn (NN 365 051) |
Completing an ascent of
every hill in a list is a personal achievement, something that is special to
the person involved, something that holds significance and many good memories of
the hills and places that the journey of completion has taken the individual
on. These hill list completions are
special whatever the occasion, and whatever the listing, as they are the
culmination of this journey, a journey that sometimes starts without the
intention of completion, many times the end is only contemplated during the
journey and not necessarily at its beginning.
However special each completion is to each individual, some stand out
above others as some hill lists are more physically demanding; the Marilyns is
one such hill list.
A number of years ago the
completion of the Marilyns had gained a reputation as being something that may
never be accomplished, as the St Kilda sea stacks were not surprisingly proving
somewhat of a barrier to final completion, but the hardy souls who had reached
the wall at the end of the hall were not to be denied, and with Rob Woodall’s
and Eddie Dealtry’s completion in 2014, the quest for the elusive Marilyn
completion had been attained. Since then
another six people had scaled these forbidding sea stacks and went on to complete
one of Britain’s most difficult of hill listings, but until the 25th
September 2016 there had been no female Marilyn completion. The accolade of the first female Marilynist
fell to Jenny Hatfield, who along with her partner; Rick Salter became the 9th
and 10th people to complete the Marilyns, in the process becoming
the first couple to do so and Jenny becoming the first female completer.
I was fortunate to
attend the completion having been generously offered a lift north by Bob Kerr,
who then drove us back south after the festivities. We all met at the car park adjacent to the
Inversnaid Hotel on the shores of Loch Lomond, as Jenny and Rick kindly posed
for what proved to be one of many photographs during the day, the sun shone out
from greying cloud, with the forecast for the day not being ideal with the
possibility of thunder stalking the hills.
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| Jenny and Rick at Inversnaid |
As more people arrived
little groups were assembling with the intention to visit the 536m map heighted
summit of Cruachan, a Hump with a listed drop of 101m, before continuing to the
main hill of the day; Cruinn a’Bheinn which had been chosen by Jen and Rick as
their final hill on their 1,556 Marilyn quest.
I set off in pursuit of
a small group as they headed over the bridge spanning the turbulent waters of
the Arklet Water, beyond the bridge a path continued directly south, this forms
a part of the West Highland Way, within a few metres the majority of people
followed a path up toward the Hump whilst I continued south with George Morl
and Alan Whatley as company.
This part of the route
was in woodland and swathed in dabbled sunlight as the morning did its best to
bring light and warmth to the landscape.
George and Alan steadily pulled away from me as we left the woodland
path to follow a track that gained height toward the area of the bealach between
Cruachan and Cruinn a’Bheinn. By now the
views had opened with Loch Lomond stretching out below with its western banks
butting against deep greys as shower clouds massed.
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| Alan Whatley on part of the path through the wood adjacent to Loch Lomond |
The track gave George
and Alan good access toward Cruachan from its south, and also Cruinn a’Bheinn
from its north, the latter involved a trudge through a particularly unsavoury
looking bealach, which proved one of those Scottish marvels that stretched out
relatively flat and expansive and contained a watery mass of small channels,
thankfully the bealach consisted of grassland and devoid of the dourness of
peat hags, however it still proved tiresome.
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| Shower clouds massing out to the west |
It was a slow trudge
over the bealach, I stopped frequently on the steep ascent of the northern
slopes of Cruinn a’Bheinn, looking back over a land where a multitude of hills
stretched for miles all around, a wild and pleasing landscape to look out to,
one that beckons investigation. For a
person used to the delights of Wales, Scotland is other worldly, its scale
immense in comparison, both countries fulfil that inner hill need, but one is
hard to surpass and I was immersed in but one small fragment of this stunning place
where water and land meet in loch and mountain, the Scottish Highlands are
truly unequalled anywhere else in Britain, and although I love the hills of my
native Wales, it would be hard for me to not admit that these Highlands are
indeed the jewel in Britain’s landscape.
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| Heading over the bealach toward Cruinn a'Bheinn |
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| The view north toward Cruachan |
By the time I reached
the small summit cairn I felt a bit knackered, as any mountain fitness I had
built up earlier in the year had disappeared as two months away from the hills
due to whiplash suffered in a car shunt from behind at temporary traffic lights,
had meant that my body was not used to the grind of distance and ascent.
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| Ben Lomond from the summit of Cruinn a'Bheinn |
Once at the summit I
quickly set the Trimble up on the cairn and measured a 0.39m offset between its
internal antenna and the highest natural ground at its base. As the last of the designated 300 datum
points were collected a figure appeared over the last steep northerly slope, I
closed the equipment down and shook hands with Eddie Dealtry, Marilynist number
two. We’d corresponded shortly after
Eddie had completed the Marilyns as he submitted an article for the Guest
Contributor heading on the Mapping Mountains site, but this was the first time
we had met.
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| Gathering data at the summit of Cruinn a'Bheinn |
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| The Trimble GeoXH 6000 set-up position at the summit of Cruinn a'Bheinn |
Within a few minutes a
throng of people had arrived, including Rick and Jen, who stayed safely away
from the high point waiting for everyone to arrive before they headed toward
the culmination of their own special journey.
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| Rick and Jen nearing the summit of Cruinn a'Bheinn |
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| Jenny waiting for the ceremonial arch of walking poles to form before taking the last few steps with Rick to Marilyn completion |
I had time to take a few
photos as thirty people assembled around the summit cairn to welcome Rick and
Jen through a ceremonial arch of walking poles, their journey was over, a
completion to be remembered.
The following thirty
minutes consisted of many handshakes, kisses, bottles of Champagne and Whiskey
and a lot of cake. It proved a grand and
very enjoyable affair; we soon left the summit cairn to gain shelter from the
brisk wind and the westerly showers that blew in.
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| Taking shelter from the wind with Champagne, Whiskey and cake |
Before leaving the
summit area the those Marilyn completers still present lined up beside the
cairn with Alan, who had started each individual’s journey when he first listed
the Marilyns in the Relative Hills of Britain book that was published by
Cicerone Press in 1992. To complete such
a list is a phenomenal undertaking and congratulations to each and every one
that has done so.
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| Five of the ten Marilyn completers with list author Alan Dawson (seated) (L-R) Alan Whatley, Tony Smith, Rick Salter, Jenny Hatfield and Michael Earnshaw |
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| Rick and Jen at the summit of Cruinn a'Bheinn |
As another westerly
shower blew in I made a move down the hill following a line of coloured jackets
off in the distance as they meandered a slow passage through the mass of watery
stuff that formed the bealach, by the time I’d reached the track I felt
knackered again, and by the time I had reached the path beside Loch Lomond that
continues through the wood I knew that something was wrong with my right
knee. The remainder of the descent
proved a slow one, but also one that was immensely enjoyable as the scenery, albeit
partly shielded by the trees, occasionally opened out giving spectacular views.
I only had to wait a
couple of minutes beside Bob’s car until he arrived, we had just enough time to
change, sort our gear out for the journey south, say our goodbye’s to a number
of people and dive inside the car as the next heavy shower blew in. I arrived home nearing 1.00am and woke up
next morning with a swollen right knee that made putting weight on my leg painful,
looks like it’s going to be a few weeks before I’m back on the hill.
Survey Result:
Cruinn a’Bheinn
Summit Height: 632.4m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000) 632.5m (Leica RX1250)
Summit Grid Reference: NN 36538 05147
Drop: c 174m
Dominance: 27.51%
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