Nevis Gorge and Steall Falls

Arrived in beautiful Glen Nevis this afternoon, and once it stopped raining we set off up the Glen and through the Nevis Gorge.
It is a narrow sheltered gap between the mountains where a river races through enormous boulders down to the loch. The sides are filled with ferns and ancient pine trees, and once you are through it, the land opens out on to a meadow with the Steall Falls straight ahead.
There is also a bridge strung across the river that is made of three strips of wire - one to tightrope walk across, and two to use to balance yourself with. 
Daz whizzed across and was so cocky on the return journey that he was bouncing and leaning right over.
The walk was a long out and back trip from our campsite, and we were followed home by big black clouds, but we were lucky and made it before the rain started up again. 
It wasn't a steep walk so I only added 417 metres to my Everest tally. I am now at 3,348 metres, which is the same as the Piodra del Molino in Argentina.
My step tally is doing well though, with over 28,000 added today, making a total of 143,162 for the month.
Ps, I have added an image from Skyfall so you can see how similar yesterdays shot was.

Skyfall - the location

If you have seen the James Bond film called Skyfall, then you will know that James spent his childhood in the Highlands of Scotland. The house where he lived was called Skyfall, and was in the middle of nowhere.
It was actually filmed in Glen Etive, although his house did not really exist.  The Glen is 13 miles long and is almost completely deserted - apart from fellow James Bond hunters.
We cycled the whole length of it and the scenery is stunning. We also tried to recreate the scene where James and M stand at a viewpoint looking out for the baddies to arrive. Obviously, Daz played Bond, while I tried to be Judy Dench and my bicycle played the part of the Aston Martin. 
Even I can see that we were not very successful.

Snow angel in August

Can you believe it is high summer in Scotland?
Here we are today at Glencoe Mountain Ski Resort playing in the snow near the top of yet another Monro.
Surprising weather as well, as after our soaking yesterday it rained for 20 hours, then perked up enough for us to escape from the van for an afternoon out.
Yet another amazing hike up the mountain, initially following the route of the chairlift, then branching out to look at the snow and then to the cold and windy summit to check out the cairn.
We are trying to have a fit month and my step count for the month is going well - 95,979 so far.
We have also set ourselves a challenge this month - walking the height of Mount Everest,  which is 8,850 metres.
We have now reached 2,931 metres, which is exactly the same height as Mount Ulvetanna in East Antarctica. No I hadn't heard of it either.

Ben Lui

We are still at Tyndrum and today we cycled from the campsite along a rocky track to the start of the walk up Ben Lui.
This monster is 1,130 metres high and towered above us as we got to a fast and furious stream. It rained non stop last night so the water was really high. The guide book just said to cross it, so we followed it up stream for a while, then plucked up the courage to slide down a sloping rock, jump on to a large rock in the middle, then leap to the bank on the other side. It certainly got our hearts racing.
After that I thought it would be straightforward, although the path led steeply upwards, but then it disappeared, leaving us alone in the middle of a gigantic boulder field.
We clambered to the top then had to climb up through a steep gap in the rock face to get over the ridge. Annoyingly, the path reappeared from the opposite direction and we followed it again until the going got tough and it left us once more.
Darren consulted his smartphone and we made a vertical beeline for the top and eventually reached a rather under sized cairn, where we posed in a very relieved way.
Heading back down was almost as difficult as going up, and we passed the wreckage of a little plane that must have crashed here some time ago - worrying.
We were happily following the only other person that we saw on the walk, but instead of taking the boulder field way to the bottom, he appeared to disappear off a vertical cliff. We dithered about for a while, then found a section that didn't seem quite so steep, so I mainly slid down it on bum, in my new waterproof trousers.
Once back at the bikes the rain lashed down, as we negotiated the steep rocky track back home.
Can't believe how exciting, and dangerous walking can be!
Number of steps walked in August - 73,939
Vertical height - 2,205 metres

Double Monro day

A Monro is a Scottish mountain that is higher than 3,000 feet above sea level and apparently there are 284 of them. Many people collect visits to them, and we have started this enormous task by bagging two today.
My photos run backwards and show me at the top of Beinn Dorain and Darren at the top of Beinn an Dothaidh. My mountain is higher, so maybe that is why my cairn is bigger!
We set off quite early as the weather forecast was for heavy rain from lunchtime onwards and we are a bit wussy so didn't want to get too wet and cold if possible. 
Our bus dropped us at Bridge of Orchy and we joined the footpath just behind the station and headed upwards. After a long hard slog we reached a t junction and turned left to climb Beinn an Dothaidh. The path was visible at first then suddenly disappeared, leaving us wandering through a peat bog with lots of hidden ponds and streams. At one point Daz jumped right across a dodgy looking bit, but I decided to step daintily through it. Big mistake as my boot sank and it wouldn't come back out, it was as if the bog was trying to suck me in. Managed to escape with boot intact (just), and eventually found the top.
I had planned to eat my picnic there, but it was freezing so instead put on gloves and hat and braved the bog back to the t junction.
Took a quick break then headed up the other side to Beinn Dorain. The rain really got going and clouds covered the mountain, so we couldn't see very far ahead. I took the lead and took us along the wrong path, and we then had to scramble up a very, very steep slope to find the right route.
Suddenly the cairn appeared just ahead in the mist, so we quickly circled it then headed back down to civilisation - well the pub opposite the bus stop.
Ps, it was actually really good fun.

Steps in August so far 51,287.
Vertical height gained 1,398 metres.

Tyndrum to Crianlarich

Travelled a bit further north this morning, then walked part of the West Highland Way from Tyndrum to Crianlarich.
I started off with every inch of skin covered as I was so worried by getting bitten by the famous midges. However, after a few minutes the sun came out and after not hearing any buzzing, I relaxed and followed the example of fellow walkers and enjoyed the occasional blasts of sunshine in a teeshirt.
Amazing scenery and an easy to follow path made this a memorable afternoon, and really pleased to get such a corny shot of a Scottish thistle with mountains in the background.
Number steps today - 24,236. Vertical metres climbed 239.