Winter is definitely upon us here in Scotland, though we've only had a bit of snow, on the high mountain tops. Two days ago I climbed Ben Challum, a "munro" at 1025 metres (3362 feet), with some friends. The picture below shows Ben Challum in summer:
This was our first winter walk of the season, though we didn't need crampons, as there was just a light covering of mostly fresh snow at the top of the mountain. We did need a lot of warm gear, as the temperature at altitude was around -4C, feeling like -14C with the wind chill!
On the way up we passed an ancient burial ground, where Early Medieval cross slabs believed to date back to the 7th or 8th century have been found.
The path, part of which is shared with the West Highland Way, passes fields of very friendly sheep, who are clearly used to being fed by walkers.
As we gained altitude, the snowy summit of Ben Lui (1130m) dominated the southern horizon, with Beinn Dubhchraig and Ben Oss to its left.
Looking up to the north, we could see the snow-dusted summit ridge of Ben Challum. To reach the ridge we had to cross wet, marshy, boggy ground, some of it thankfully frozen.
The wind was quite strong and very cold, but we managed to find a very sunny sheltered spot to stop and have an early lunch break at 11.30am. By this time we were at an altitude of 930m and there were a few small patches of ice and snow about.
Once we reached the summit ridge, the snow was quite crunchy and easy to walk on, even on the rockiest part of the ridge.
The rocks soon give way to a broad grassy ridge, which had a light covering of snow and ice.
The snow deepened as we approached the summit cairn.
The weather was clear and there were glorious views from the summit, over the hills of Glen Orchy...
And out beyond Glen Lochay to the Lawers range.
Even on the summit ridge, the bright midday sun was starting to melt the snow, but there will be more to come.
The days are becoming shorter as winter approaches, and as we started to make our way down the mountain, at about 2pm, the sun was already becoming quite low in the sky.
We walked back down through a winter wonderland, with the surrounding mountains bathed in golden sunlight.
By the time we were back down on the boggy snow-free hillside, the late afternoon light was giving it an amber glow which contrasted beautifully with the deep blue sky.
Nearby mountains Ben More (left) and Stob Binnein looked serene in the late afternoon light.
We passed another old burial site on the way back to the car, and some more friendly sheep.
And then we were off to our favourite café to warm up by the stove.
More snow is forecast over the next week. I cannot wait for our next winter walk!