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As I entered in the grand hallway, an imposing oak staircase greeted me. The wonderful high ceilings were decorated with ornate cornices. A huge brass bell sat on a dark oak refectory table standing in the hall. I rang the bell with fingers crossed. A small rotund smiling lady greeted me (reminding me of Mrs Bridges from the television series "Upstairs Downstairs")
"Do you have availability for a family of four please?" I desperately asked. She leafed through her book and smiled at me.
" I am afraid the only thing I have left is the converted barn which is situated at the rear of the house." I asked if I could have a look at the room. She led me through a beautiful stone floor kitchen, complete with Aga in the corner, to the back garden. "Just follow the stone steps at the end of the garden and you will find the old barn," she told me. I passed through the garden, up the steps and opened the door, entered the stairwell leading up to the room. To my sheer delight the room was wonderful, high vaulted ceilings, two double beds on the lower level, open staircase leading up to the landing, through a doorway into the 'loft' room where two more doubles stood, with en-suite. There was no doubt in my mind, this was the room for us.
We got settled, unpacked a few things then headed into town to purchase some waterproof clothing. The weather forecast was not good. Heavy rain forecast for the next two days. We should have known better, Scotland being renowned for its inclement weather. We had not come well equipped.
Fort William's town centre has a superb selection of shops to choose from. Probably the best outdoor clothing shops in Scotland. So, returning to our accommodation armed with bags full of our new purchases, we were ready for our climb.
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To our delight we awoke the next morning to glorious sunshine. We headed down to breakfast, took full advantage of the great selection of on offer including 'the full English' as we didn't know when we would get our next meal once we started our climb.
We checked out and headed out to the base of Ben Nevis, which was only a 5-minute drive away. As we approached the Visitors' Centre, which is nestled in the shadow of Ben Nevis you could see the mountain in all its glory. We made a quick visit to the centre to pick up useful information needed for the 'novice climber'. We had been advised to be careful as conditions on the Ben are very changeable, even in the summer months and to make sure we were well equipped, so backpack and waterproofs at the ready, we embarked on our adventure.
As you begin your ascent of the mountain you are greeted with a slow incline on a stony path. If this is what lies ahead, this is going to be easier than I thought. Callum and Angus running ahead, with Jim and I bringing up the rear we proceeded. I was quite surprised how busy the path was, you have to give way to other climbers quite frequently. Sun still shining we climbed on. You could hear the waterfalls before you see them and from a distance they looked like strands of cotton falling down the mountainside. Then, as you get nearer, you saw the amazing sight of them cascading down the rockface. As we climbed higher the path became steeper and much more arduous. Gravel paths gave way to a series of winding zig zig tracks: alot more gruelling. We had been climbing for about 2 hours, with many short breaks I may add, when we asked a descending climber, "How far from the top are we?"
" About another three hours climbing," he replied. At this point I realised we would NOT make the summit.
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The views during our entire climb had been breathtaking. As you look across Glen Nevis you see a truly stunning array of rugged mountain ranges and valleys. The colours and landscape are like nothing I had ever seen before. The children loved it, cupping their hands in the trickling water running off the mountainside to get the coldest sweet drink of truly 'pure mountain' water they had ever tasted. The peace and tranquillity was intoxicating
We continued climbing for another hour. By this time I was becoming quite tired. Angus, our youngest, who normally is a bit of a slow coach, was racing ahead. It was wonderful to see the children enjoying this experience as much Jim and I. We agreed on another thirty minutes of climbing then we would begin our decent. I was quite surprised in the drop in temperature the higher we got. Taking deep breaths was exhilarating, as the air was so pure and clean.Once we had reached the 'halfway point' we decided to turn and make our decent. Both the children wanted to continue but with at least two to three hour trek back down the mountain we persuaded them it was time to turn around.
What a good decision that was: we had been descending for about an hour, when dark clouds started to cover the mountaintop like a blanket. Within minutes, the rain started. There was a mad panic to get our waterproofs on and we were off on our merry way. It was amazing how quickly the weather conditions changed and we were thankful we had decided to make our way down when we did. The paths became quite treacherous as it became very wet and slippery. As the rain came down harder our very basic waterproof clothing could not cope with the downpour and we were soon drenched through to the skin. After another hour or so we finally arrived at the base of the mountain. The sight of our car and the thought of dry clothes and shelter
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from the rain was heavenly. With the rain lashing down we desperately ran for the car and changed out of our sodden clothes into something a little more comfortable.
The amazing experience of climbing Ben Nevis gave us all a great sense of achievement and left us with wonderful memories we will always treasure.
