Thursday, 31 March 2011

MY FOLKS IN SCOTLAND...

st abb's head nature reserve (pettico wick)


stirling
















st abb's head nature reserve (pettico wick)





edinburgh













Saturday, 26 March 2011

BYNACK MORE

krotka historia:
pobudka 5.15 / jazda 2.5 godz / pogoda wspaniala / sniegu ogromnie duzo / nieco za duzo jak na zdobycie munrosa
udalo nam sie przejsc tylko dolina co zreszta zajelo nam prawie 3 godz ze wzgledu na gleboki snieg, ktory strasznie trudny bym do przebrniecia miejscami - szczegolnie z moimi krotkimi nozkami. zdecydowalysmy sie zostawic bynacka na inny dzien gdyz, mowiac wprost nie wyrobilybysmy sie z czasem.
fajna zimowa sceneria, cieplo choc dosc wietrznie, ale nader fajnie!
.
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just a short story:
alarm went off at 5.15am / 2 hrs drive / great weather / loads of snow /
a little bit too much as for bagging a munro that day
we managed to walk as far as i marked on the map, just to the foot of an lurg... and that took us 3 hrs anyway. the snow was deep, sometimes i really struggled to wade thru it (as my legs are pretty short).
we decided to leave bynack more for some other day and i think that was just a right decision as we would never do it in time before the dawn.
anyway - it was a great day, with great weather and sunshine!
.
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tu udalo nam sie dojsc / our 3 hrs walk (and another 2.5hrs back)


stamtad przyszlysmy - meall a'bhuachaille - looking back




a tam idziemy / looking forward




snieg coraz glebszy.. / snow gets deeper....



pierwsze widoki na nasz cel - brzuch an lurg i bynack more (cypek z prawej z tylu)
first views of our destination - an lurg ridge and bynack more (far right)




oto on / here he is








widok na doline strath nethy / looking towards strath nethy








strath nethy




bea cyka fotki / bea taking pics




nieco wietrznie? / a wee bit windy??




ostatnie spojrzenie zanim uderzymy w ..brniecie powrotne / ok, last shot before we wade back




okazji z takim sniegiem sie nie przegapia! / couldnt resist to build that one :))




(to noga jest.. ) / (it is a LEG)





Thursday, 3 March 2011

BEN VANE

na szczescie po wielu ponuro-szarych dniach w koncu prognoza pogody zapowiadala cos ciekawszego :) i sprawdzilo sie - dla odmiany slonce swiecilo w weekend (a nie jak to zawsze bywa, kiedy siedzimy w pracy) wiec zebralysmy sie w gory. pobudka oczywiscie nieco pozniej niz planowalam, ale jak tu wstac w niedziele o 6.00 rano?!?!?!
tym razem na cel obralysmy ben vane. tuz przed 10.00 dojechalysmy do inveruglas skad zaczyna sie szlak. dzien byl piekny, jak widac, swiecilo bardzo i nawet bylo cieplo :)
szlak poczatkowo prowadzi nieuzywana asfaltowka jadnopasmowka, pozniej zamienia sie w lesny trakt, z ktorego schodzi sie na sciezke bagienno-blotna wiodaca w gore na ben vane. widoki cala droge przednie: najpierw kawal skurczybyka a'chrois z lewej, ben vorlich z prawej, ben vane oczywiscie prosto przed nami. pozniej, w miare wspinania sie widoki sa jeszcze lepsze: na loch lomond i ben lomond, loch arklet az do loch katrine, beinn ime, beinn narnain i the cobbler, z drugiej strony tama oraz loch sloy, oraz dalej na polnoc ben lui. zreszta zobaczycie pozniej :)
ben vane coprawda ledwo zalapal sie na status munrosa, ale jest charakterna, stroma gora. mniej wiecej po przejsciu 1/3 drogi koncza sie blociska i zaczynaja sie skalki, ostatnia 1/3 drogi to juz w sumie same skalki (w naszym przypadku grubo przykryte sniegiem). jedyny trudny moment na drodze w gore (ktory okazal sie jeszcze bardziej trudny podczas schodzenia) to skalny stopien zaraz po przekroczeniu granicy sniegu. stopien jest dosc wysoki (jak na moje krotkie nozki), waski i niestety byl oblodzony wiec nie dawal podparcia wcale. byloby dosc trudno, ale akurat w tym miejscu spotkaly nas dwie kobitki ktore mialy czekany i przy ich pomocy pokonalismy stopien dosc szybko. zreszta od tej chwili reszte dnia spedzilysmy wlasnie razem z tymi kobitkami, ktore okazaly sie bardzo milymi gadulami :)
generalnie tego dnia na ben vane szlo dosc sporo osob, spotkalysmy nawet jeszcze jedna grupe polakow :) (w drodze powrotnej, przy tym paskudnym skalnym stopniu)
byl to jeden z najmilszych dni w gorach -troche adrenaliny, piekne widoki, mile towarzystwo, fajne zdjecia oraz nowe doswiadzenie z czekanem, ktory jest calkiem sensownym zakupem :)

ben vane 915 mnpm
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finaly, after so many grey and gloomy days, the weather forecast promised something better. and it became true!
we decided there was no time to loose and definitely we wouldn't waste a sunny day doing nothing therefore we woke up EARLY morning, packed, picked up Justyna and drove to inveruglas to tackle a munro. we arrived to the village just before 10.00.
the day was nice and sunny, it was warm! ....well, kind of warm for february :)
at first, we followed a tarmac road, then after passing the old farm we turned into country road, and again, after passing a stream we reached the beginning of muddy and boggy path up to ben vane. since the very beginning, the views were spectacular - first to a'chrois and ben vorlich, then further up to ben lomond, loch lomond, beinn ime, beinn narnainn and the cobbler, loch arklet and loch katrine hills. amazing!
ben vane is hardly a munro but steep slopes make it a hard day out.
after passing about 1/3 of way up, the bog ends and terrain becomes rocky and rough. nice :) then after another 1/3 way up everything is just rocks (for us it was rocks and snow & ice)
actually there was only one tricky moment on the ascent - the rock step just after we passed snow line. the step was high (for my short legs anyway) and narrow... and covered in ice :( we would struggle there but luckily at this point we met two ladies who had ice axes and with their help we passed the bloody step :) actually since then we spent the day together, going up to the summit and then down to inveruglas. they were as chatty as beata (lol), so you can imagine how nice it was to bag a munro with them :)
in general- the day was great, we had some adrenaline, nice views, nice company and an ice axe experience (already on a 'to buy' list), ben vane was very busy, we met another group of poles (at the tricky step) and a lot of nice lads and gals (lol). ok, now you go and see the photies :)

ben vane 3002ft (915m)
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z parkingu przy centrun turystycznym w inveruglas - a'chrois
a'chrois from the car park at inveruglas visitor centre



pierwsze widoki na ben vane
first views to ben vane


w koncu i ja mam jakies zdjecia odkad bea chodzi z malym kompakcikiem /
yuppi, now there are some pics of me too, since we bought a wee compact camera and bea carries it everywhere :)




a'chrois




a'chrois



zadowolone siostry sz :) / happy sisters



poczatek sciezki na ben vane / path to ben vane




ben vorlich



widok w strone inveruglas / looking back to inveruglas



ela & ben vorlich



dziewczyny / girls & a'chrois





ben vorlich & loch sloy



loch lomond, loch arklet, loch katrine & ben lomond



ben lomond



mala przerwa przed ostatnim odcinkiem szlaku / wee break just before the last 1/3 of way up and the snow line




ostatnia 1/3 drogi, (nie, to jeszcze nie jest szczyt) oraz zaznaczony trudny moment
last 1/3 of the ascent with the tricky step (in case you wondered, it's not the summit yet)



gleann leacann sheileach, beinn narnainn & the cobbler



ja :) / myself



ja i pan lomond / mr lomond and I



szczyt ben vane okazal sie, niespodzianka, totalnie plaski! my i babeczki :)
surprise, the ben vane summit is a wee flat plateau!




beinn ime



a'chrois & beinn narnainn



ben lomond & a'chrois




gaduly, wciaz na szczycie / chatterboxes ;) ... still on the summit




.. i wciaz na szczycie / ... and still on the summit




widoki na polnoc / looking north



wielka trojka / the mighty three
ben lui, ben oss, beinn dubhchraig



trudny kawalek widziany z dolu. niestety na zdjeciu wyglada jak bulka z maslem, naprawde bylo dosc klopotliwie, slisko i nieco stresujaco. wlasnie spotkalysmy polakow :)
the tricky step (i was already down), i know it looks like piece of cake on those pics, but believe me, it was a bit stressing. oh, we just met another group of Poles here :)



.. widziany z gory / the tricky step seen from above





bea ma ubaw :) / bea has a lot of fun, hasn't she..


loch lomond, loch arklet, loch katrine



ben lomond & loch lomond




wyspy na loch lomond / loch lomond isles








ben lomond



siostry sz / the 'sz' sisters



juz na dole, na parkingu. wycieczka emerytow bierze wieczorna, stateczkowa wycieczke po loch lomond
down at the car park. a group of pensioners is going for a wee evening cruise on loch lomond




speedy gonzales :)