With less than three weeks until our big race of the year, The Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon, I was having a bit of a panic. (This is normal when a race is looming but it’s difficult to calm all the doubts about training). So instead of worrying further I decided to get out and walk more Munros.
I had a window of about seven hours on Sunday, which meant I needed a few mountains close to home.
On a recent evening walk up Beinn Ime, the tallest of the Munros in the Arrochar Alps, I noticed that it would be perfectly possible to walk a neighbouring Munro Beinn Narnain as well – and then Ben Arthur (the Corbett known as the Cobbler) in one longer outing.
My tri club friend (and a fellow “fit old bird”), Christine was also up for the walk and so we set out early on Sunday on yet another warm and sunny day.
The walk to Beinn Ime, Beinn Narnain and then the Cobbler isn’t difficult in good weather. Mostly you follow a well-worn path. In fact, The Cobbler is hugely popular and on Sunday the path back down looked more like a busy shopping day in Glasgow city centre. There were so many people out enjoying the weather and the scenery.
There are also numerous different ways to walk these mountains but I’d decided on Beinn Ime first, then back to the bealach between the trio of mountains, then up to the summit of Beinn Narnain, back down again and then on to Ben Arthur.
We descended Ben Arthur towards the south and rejoined the tourist trail back to the start.
The pace was “old bird fast” and satisfying. We passed dozens of people going up and down each mountain. Few people were doing the three peaks and most had the Cobbler as their single objective.
Christine and I walked and chatted and admired the scenery and walked some more and chatted some more. We had a thoroughly lovely day and promised we would do similar again soon. The landscape, weather and day out qualified as “Scotland at its walking best”.
Today my legs are tired but not aching. I feel a little less worried about the looming event. In fact, I think I might be looking forward to the challenge. Possibly… maybe…