Arrochar, Argyll

It's been amusing to read back over my original plan (a word document called the Big Trip) and then see what I actually did on the day. 

Today, for example, was written as Arrochar rest day. Therefore, a day of rest, you'd think. What I actually did was attempt to climb Ben Arthur, an 884-meter high peak near the town. It is more commonly called The Cobbler, as one of the three peaks is supposed to look like a cobbler bending over his 'last' (a bit of shoe-molding equipment). It turns out to be a famous training climb mountain, good for when you are going to do Ben Nevis and want some practice - and there were about 100 other people also climbing it today.

I was draw in in by the Arthurian association. The legendary king as not been connected with any place I have been so far, so it was nice to finally get near a reference to him. However, after hunting about on the internet, I found no actual Arthurian legends to back up the name. The original Gaelic name (Beinn Artairr) meant something like Bear-man Mountain, so maybe there were were-bears up there? 

I did not finish the climb. I got to about 700 meters, and then sense, and my sciatica, and impending bad weather, told me it was to finish before the summit - by which I mean, I missed the really steep bit. My last big climb left me sore for a few days, and besides, this was technically supposed to be a rest and recovery day. Total time walking today was about 8 hours, about 5 of it up the mountain.  

Great views all round here, especially the light on Loch Long, which leads up from the sea to Arrochar. I hope the photos do it justice. Off to Fort William tomorrow.