Creise and Meall a' Bhuiridh

The Glencoe hills are always fun! We started with Creise which has the Glencoe Ski resort on it. As it wasn't winter, there wasn't a huge amount of skiing going on, but there was a bit of mountain biking - you can take your mountain bike about 1/3 of the way up the hill on the first ski lift, then ride a couple of routes down. Looks fun!

We weren't on the bikes though, so we worked our way up past the ski lifts and then up to the top of Creise. Things were fairly uneventful until we saw the path from Creise to Meall a' Bhuiridh, one that involved plenty of Glencoe goodness, semi-scrambling and the like! This part of the walk felt much more remote, which was strange in a way as just a few hundred meters from the top of Creise, around a curve in the top, was the top of the last ski lift. While not operating today, it seems that in winter you can get the ski lift almost to the top of the mountain, and then ski all the way down!

While it was warm-ish near the bottom of the hill (warm-ish meaning not deep winter cold), it felt pretty chilly near the top - could winter be on its way??

There were some great views from Meall a' Bhuiridh so the panoramic function on the phone camera was put to good use - panoramic photos just look so much better than regular photos! This is the first hillwalk when I've not used the trusty Olympus compact camera that I've been using for the last 8 years (is it really that long?!). The camera is still going strong - and lasts better than the phone does, in terms of battery, but it's just so much easier to carry only one device rather than two. The Olympus will probably make a return once winter hits though, thanks to its splashproof rating and better battery life - the screen on the phone really sucks out power very quickly.

Carn Gorm, Meall Garbh, Carn Mairg, Meall nan Aighean

Another four hills down, we parked at the car park near the phone box in Invervar and then headed through the gate, through the forest and up the hill. Carn Gorm, hiding in the distance, was first and needed quite a bit of a walk in, but once up top, it was easy walking across to Meall Garbh, Carn Mairg and finally Meall nan Aighean.

Most of the walk was fairly uneventful, with the exception of a spot of snow (in June!), but the final steep descent down Meall nan Aighean gave a great view along the hidden valley, tucked in between these hills and the Ben Lawers ridge.