Ben Nevis - Scotland (UK's Highpoint)

[Guinness]

One benefit you get traveling for business, is the opportunity to add a few days to play. This trip allowed me the chance to climb UK’s highest peak, Ben Nevis. Although it is a height we are accustomed too standing at 4,406 feet, you are required to climb almost the entire height, as you must start at 200 feet.

I originally planned on a two peak hike, but I limited it to just Ben Nevis as the clouds were at 3,000 feet. The trail was a real tourist trail and plenty of people were on the mountain on this Friday. I started out at 10:00 am and was back off at 3:35 pm.

The trail is in great shape until the 3,600-foot level when you entered the clouds and some snow pack appeared. The last 800 feet of vertical climb was in limited visibility to just about 100 feet or less. I was careful to shoot GPS way-points on the way up, just in case they were required during the descent.

One concern you have is that on both sides of the trail above 4,000 are steep cliffs. Although I knew the trail passes within 50 feet of the cliffs, I had no visual site of them.

Ben Nevis, and the surrounding area called “The Highlands” is very beautiful and well worth a trip there to visit. Hiking is a passion there and many hostels are available to support your travels. One day I just traveled on side roads for many miles and there are established “Public Footpaths” everywhere. There is nothing like this available to us here in our stomping grounds. I do plan on going back for an extended vacation and hike several peaks and trails.

 

[arghman]

pictures?

 

[Hillwalker]

Scotland

Having travelled to Scotland for "hillwalking" nine summers out the last twelve. I concur: "Ben Nevis, and the surrounding area called “The Highlands” is very beautiful and well worth a trip there to visit. Hiking is a passion there and many hostels are available to support your travels. One day I just traveled on side roads for many miles and there are established “Public Footpaths” everywhere. There is nothing like this available to us here in our stomping grounds. I do plan on going back for an extended vacation and hike several peaks and trails."

For a few Highlands pictures until Guinness gets his up:

http://community.webshots.com/user/nh_hillwalker

 

[Jay H]

yeah, Pictures?

I happen to see something on INHD2 in hi-def called Visions of Scotland. (Visions is a series of hour long programs, each one about a particular place, this one happen to be on Scotland) If you get a chance to watch it (in HD too! ), do so, it's an awesome program and in HD, it's almost better than looking out your window. Anyway, the Highlands look awesome and all the craggy islands offshore just looks like an expert kayaker's dream come too.

Glad you had a good trip Guinness, I was going to email you about it. I thought of you when I was paddling yesterday in a lake in NJ, I passed buy a house with a deck facing the lake, one of the outside umbrellas on his picnic table had "Guinness" written all over the umbrella...

Jay

 

[giggy]

nice report guinness - how was the guinnes???

This sounds like a great time.

I had the opp to visit scotland last october for the first time and I thought It was one of the nicest countries I have ever visited. I will go back and hike the highlands within the nety couple of years - my brother in law lives in edinburgh, so that is nice!

I can only assume these are similar to the terrain in ireland - where even though they are low, they are much more rugged than our mtns - there is no treeline really and the weather coming of the atlantic and irish sea gives our weather a run for its money.

 

[TMax]

I'm positively orange with envy!!! Great job!

 

[hikethe115]

Sounds wonderful Ed! I'm jealous. I keep hearing how great it is over there. I'm just going to have to get over there one of these days.

 

[MattC]

Sounds like a fascinatin' place Ed. Interesting that the high peaks over there are 4K as well, or at least that one. I wonder if they are geologically related to our NE mountains. I believe the Appalachians actually continue under the Atlantic all the way to Europe, but I don't know if that means the UK specifically.

Anyway, like Giggy asked, how was the Guiness over there?
I've heard the stuff they brew for export is actually stronger, since the higher alcohol helps preserve it during shipping.

Matt

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Nice report, and I am also looking forward to photos. I have only done short hikes in Scotland, northern England, and Wales. The bare hills do remind me a lot of the Whites and Maine.

I wonder if they are geologically related to our NE mountains. I believe the Appalachians actually continue under the Atlantic all the way to Europe, but I don't know if that means the UK specifically.

Many of the mountains in the British Isles, Norway, some in north Africa, along with the Appalachians were all formed by a seines of continental collisions. On Pangea they were a continuos chain which constituted the Appalachians. When Pangea broke up the mountains became scattered across several land masses.

A good trick question is: What is the highest ancient Appalachian summit today? Answer: Galdhøpiggen 2469 m., 8100', the highest peak in Norway.

 

[Jay H]

Isn't Acadia (which encompasses pretty much all of the NE, east of the Hudson including the White Mtns, etc. are considered a splitoff of the plate that modern day europe sits on. The big huge plateau created after the splitoff and then the resulting ice age and glacier activiting forming appalachia->Appalachian Mtns. including the various river valleys such as the Hudson, the Taconics, etc

Jay

 

[Guinness]

I finally had time to post some images for this trip. They can be found at the HPC Photo Gallery page here.

At the start of the trail up Ben Nevis is the Ben Nevis Inn. A small Inn that serves the best Guinness and food you could want when you get off your climb. Especially since it is 75 feet from the trailhead!

During my visit I stayed at The Clachaig Inn located about 16 miles from Fort William in the small community called Glencoe . This Inn is situated off the main roads surrounded by rising hills on all sides. They offer nightly live music and of course many selections of local brew. I found several brews that quenched my thirst and then some. How is that for Views-n-Brews?

I included the tourist pictures I took when I was off the mountain to provide an overview of this beautiful area. I did a tour of the Ben Nevis Distillery and saw how the famous Scotch Whisky is made and of course, I brought back a rare bottle for my collection.

 

[Abster]

West Highland Way/Ben Nevis

In 2002 I went over to Scotland and did the West Highland Way - a 95 mile walk starting from near Glasgow and ending in Fort William. It was a beautiful walk over several days and I stayed in Inns, B&B's and a yurt along the way. The days are hiking and seeing beautiful scenery and evenings are eating, drinking and playing cribbage in local pubs.

I was surprized at the diversity of scotches I tried.

I also ate at the Ben Nevis Inn after hiking the peak and had some excellent venison!

It never rained once in the 8 days I was there

Hillwalker - I love the Devils Ridge pictures - yikes!
Guiness - thanks for the TR and pics and bringing back some lovely memories!

 

[arghman]

wow. just curious: was the vegetation mostly grass & was it soft ground or more like the "lawns" in the New England alpine zone which are grasses/sedges in very thin soil on top of boulders?

I guess they get a lot more fog/precipitation than we do here (even this year)

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

At the start of the trail up Ben Nevis is the Ben Nevis Inn. A small Inn that serves the best Guinness and food you could want when you get off your climb. Especially since it is 75 feet from the trailhead!

One down, and 659 to go (of the 660 Munros, the UK equivalent to our lists).

One of my favorite parts of hiking in the UK is that lots of the trailheads have pubs! Another classic hike in Scotland is the Anoch Eagack (sp?) on the north side of Glen Coe (a U-shaped glacial valley, like our "notches"), which is similar to Katahdin's Knife Edge, except there is a pub at the lower trailhead (so, hitch a ride up the valley highway, and end at the pub!).

 

[Mark Schaefer]

A nice collection of pictures Ed.

Isn't Acadia (which encompasses pretty much all of the NE, east of the Hudson including the White Mtns, etc. are considered a splitoff of the plate that modern day europe sits on. The big huge plateau created after the splitoff and then the resulting ice age and glacier activiting forming appalachia->Appalachian Mtns. including the various river valleys such as the Hudson, the Taconics, etc

That is the general theory. The Gander Terrane which constitutes most of New England was probably a splitoff of Baltica (northern Europe), although the origin is still debated. This collided with Laurentia (a combination of North America, Greenland, Scotland, and northern Ireland) creating the Taconics. Avalonia collided later creating the Acadian Mountains and this contributed Rhode Island, eastern Massachusetts, down east Maine, and part of the Maritime provinces.

In Laurentia, Scotland was contiguous with Greenland and Labrador. Later it was also contiguous with Scandinavia when Baltica collided creating the Old Red Sandstone Continent and building the northern Appalachians. Gondwana (S America, Africa, and southern Europe) collided later to further build the southern Appalachians and forming Pangaea. At this time present New England was near the equator. Most of the ice ages that sculpted the mountain remnants came later as the North America drifted north.

 

[Jay H]

Thanks, as always Mark "the All Knowing".. I remember seeing a really nice timeline showing the various plate tectonics and how North America came to be somewhere as a PDF file. showed how the collision of the plates created the various mountains and stuff we now see today. It was an interested read and a lot to absorb... Makes one want to become a geologist!

Back to Ben Nevis, what's the historical significance of the name "Ben Nevis". I know in Scotland the lakes are "loch" but is there a Scottish significance to the name? Was it named after a person, family clan, etc?


Jay

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

“The origins of the name of the mountain are unclear. The word ben is certainly the Gaelic for peak, and Ben Nevis is sometimes referred to as 'The Ben'. However several possibilities for the meaning of nevis have been suggested. This include 'venomous', 'burst' or 'flow' (from neb) and 'brow of keen air' (from neamh meaning 'keeness of air' and bhathais meaning 'brow'). Finally a locally popular suggestion is that the name derives from naomh meaning 'heaven'. However this etymology is rejected by linguists. Ben Nevis is also a brand name of whisky distillery in the nearby town of Fort William.”

The above can be found along with lots of other interesting Ben Nevis factoids at:

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Ben_Nevis