Classic Rock routes on the Cobbler, hillwalking/running on Stob a' Choire Odhair & Stob Ghabhar, and a bit of cragging on Ben An
Over the August bank holiday weekend, Maria and I had a few good days in the Scottish hills, climbing Punster's Crack and Ardgarten Arete on the Cobbler, having a nice yomp over a couple of munros near Bridge of Orchy, and climbing Ash Wall and The Last Eighty on Ben An in the Trossachs.
We had intended to do the classic VS linkup of Wether Wall and Whither Wether, but the rock was really quite wet, and we decided to do something a bit easier. The hill was still in the cloud at this point, so we wandered around in the mist looking for Punster's Crack.
Heading for the traverse on a damp Punster's Crack
Maria on the traverse on Punster's Crack
By the time we got to the final wall of Punster's Crack, the cloud was clearing and the rock was beginning to dry out properly...
Mara arriving at the top of Punster's Crack
We then headed over the central peak of the Cobbler, and dropped down to the SE face of the South Peak, where we climbed Ardgarten Arete. Unfortunately we didn't get any good pictures on the route, but this shows us at the start. The route goes up & left to join the crest, which it follows all the way to the top.
The Cobbler
On the way up Stob a' Choire Odhair
View from Stob a' Choire Odhair
On top of Stob a' Choire Odhair
Dropping down to the bealach before Stob Ghabhar
Dropping down to the bealach before Stob Ghabhar
Near the top of Stob Ghabhar
Top of Stob Ghabhar
On the way down
The Last Eighty, Ben An. This was quite a good route, but Ash Wall, despite the 2 stars in the guidebook, was not to be recommended. It was pretty vegetated, and the whole hill seemed to be infested with ticks. We both got bitten, but hopefully we've avoided getting any nasty diseases...
