A failed attempt to bag Meall Ghaordaidh and a cookout beside Loch Ard
Once bitten, twice shy... and a lesson learned in avoiding the crowds on Scotland's munros.
Eve and I headed out to bag Meall Ghaordaidh; a Munro that sits a few miles outside of Killin in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. Meall Ghaordaidh is not a particularly challenging Munro nor is it overly popular with tourists or ‘baggers’. It was for these reasons that we chose to ‘bag it’.
With bags packed, flasks made and maps ready we headed out the front door to start the hour-long drive.
Leaving home on a bright sunny day, heading into the hills is the closest I get to experiencing child-like excitement. Going into the mountains gives us adults a chance to dispose of our responsibilities, even for a short time. Being in the moment, in awe of the scenery surrounding us, is the best feeling in the world!
But fate had other plans for us!
I posted on Facebook last night that we had an awesome cookout on the banks of Loch Ard close to where we live! But this was not the whole story and was never our plan for the day!
What happened was this (not that it’s particularly exciting, but infuriating for us it most certainly was)…
We arrived at the car park area beside the River Lochay to find it was already full. Not a big issue as we have had this happen before, and can usually find somewhere else to park close by.
But not today!
We drove up and down the road for miles to find somewhere, anywhere to park, but found nothing. Well… not safe or legal anyway! If we owned a large 4x4 it could have been very different. But our wee Suzuki Alto doesn’t handle ‘off-roading’ as well as we would like! We have tested it and it didn’t end well!
Once bitten, twice shy! The most infuriating thing, the same thing happened to us just a couple of weeks ago! We attempted to climb a different Munro only to be caught out again by the lack of available parking! Eve and I, with Sarah, have now agreed that future Munro days will have to start a lot earlier, aiming to be walking no later than 8 am!
It was with a heavy heart that we accepted the inevitable and drove back to Killin. Eve was quite distraught, wanting to drive back to have another look, despite already exhausting all available options and ideas short of asking a local farmer if I could park on their land! I didn’t think that would go down too well!
With Eve not wanting to return home (sorry Sarah) we stopped off at the coop in Killin to grab some food.
Eve has been asking to cook Lorne sausage on the camping stove for a while. Our usual hiking food consists of one-pot meals that involve little more than adding boiled water to ‘something’. The prospect of having some ‘real food’ whilst out hiking was very exciting to us! So that’s what we did.
We (Sarah and I) eat predominantly a plant based diet. We do not force that upon Eve. We will on rare occasions eat meat (more so fish) but would always opt for a alternative whenever we can.
We headed back home bursting through the front door and catching Sarah unaware. To my disappointment we didn’t catch Sarah up to any mischief, rather she was packaging up some items to send to Eve’s penpals in America!
After a brief explanation, we headed back out towards Loch Ard to find a hidden spot for lunch.
We sat for over an hour looking out over the Loch towards the island of Eilean Gorm listening to birds sing and the wind rustle the trees. For Eve, these moments are when she is at her happiest and her most content.
For all the love Eve has for hiking and exploring the wild open spaces of Scotland, the times when we can just sit, and have a sense of place is when she is at her happiest.
She played with sticks and stones, balancing them and throwing them as far as she could. She spent time sliding down the mossy embankments, getting herself covered in mud and soaked to the skin. I could sit and watch Eve play like this forever and never tire or get bored of it.
I don’t doubt if people had seen us, they would think Eve feral and I the neglectful father for letting his daughter play with dirt and sticks. But I disagree, strongly! Children should play. They should get dirty and heaven forbid, get covered in small cuts, grazes and bruises.
It wasn’t that long ago that a bruise or cut was worn as a badge of honour among children, showing them off to friends as evidence of hard play and adventure.
Where have those days gone?
How have we got to a place where children, with parental support, would rather sit and scroll on a phone than be outside exploring nature and by extension, themselves?
I will leave you with a few more images from our cookout at Loch Ard, the most beautiful and picturesque loch in Scotland (I might be a little bit biased)!
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See you all again soon.
Ian
I hope you enjoyed reading this. If you did please consider buying me a coffee or Eve a hot drink. Maybe even another Lorne Sausage roll. Thank you. Ian & Eve