We arrived at Fort William around 0915, touched the water, then quickly drove to the base of Ben Nevis. I say quickly, but that doesn't include the roundabout near Morrisons that was so fun we had to go around three times. The car park at Ben Nevis is about 36m above sea level. The summit is 1344m above sea level. We were in for a big climb.
We started off fairly fast, passing all the other people on the track, but after 15 minutes of walking up rocky steps I was wishing I'd packed less. That said we were moving quickly and got up the first 500m of elevation in about 30 minutes. A couple of brief rests and 90 minutes later we were nearing the top. The summit itself looks like something from the moon - there is no greenery to be seen, just rocks. And snow. And more rocks. It was bloody windy up there too! A few photos followed to prove we got to the top, then the descent.
After flagging on the final section of the ascent I was determined not to slow everyone down on the decent so took the lead and basically ran down the scree slope. The weather continued to hold all the way down to the base, with our grand total from touching the water being 4.45, time for peak 1 - 4.30. Not bad. I went in search of ice cream in the Ben Nevis cafe thingy but couldn't find any. I was less than impressed, but by this time I couldn't feel my right foot, so decided running in to town wasn't the best plan for a cornetto. We piled in to the car and started off for Scafell Pike. According to the GPS, our ETA was 2000. Climbing in the dark isn't fun, descending is less fun.
Annnnnnnd more tomorrow!
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