The Arrochar alps – sitting quietly in the midst of surrounding giants. Blue sky and views that stretch forever, glistening icicles, frozen burns and that iconic rock formation iced with heavy coats of white. The Cobbler in December!
The best thing about winter hill walking in Scotland is unpredictability. The worst thing about winter hill walking in Scotland is also unpredictability! It is so hard to plan ahead, weather flickers by the second and so you either have to go super scout prepared with kit or take a risk with the elements.
Without an abundance of waking kit this year, the plan was to stick to the wee hills only. 6 hour max routes, so we didn’t end up walking down icy ridges in darkness. Ben Arthur (The Cobbler) is one of my favourite hills, sitting at 2884 ft and with breathtaking views down Loch Long. We completed the hill up and down in 4 hours, and given our lacking kit of no crampons or poles it felt pretty speedy. 
We reached the summit at 2pm – the sun was low in the sky and cast incredible pink hues across the landscape. 
-5 at the top, and at least -10 with windchill meant our decent was slightly more challenging with frozen fingers and toes – 
But we weren’t as chilly as the ice climbers! 
Triple layers on the way down – and a teeny bit frosty/grumpy!
WARM AGAIN! Thanks for a fantastic day Callum!
-and thanks for reading
R x
Rona McMillan 