Ben Nevis (Scotland, UK) - 8/15/18

Jerry & Cheryl's adventure up Ben Nevis (Trailhead)

Trail Access

Trail above the Garradh

Ben Nevis (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Nibheis) is the highest mountain in the British Isles. It is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of Scotland, close to the town of Fort William and is affectionately known as 'The Ben.' Jerry and Cheryl T. were successful in their second attempt at Ben Nevis this week. The Ben is popular for many mountain sports including Hill Running which dates back to 1895. The Three Peak Challenge was probably born out of this Ben Nevis Race. The average temperature for the mountain at this time of year is 45 degrees. The weather on The Ben is notoriously gloomy so ideal conditions should never be counted on.

Approaching the top of The Ben

 Jerry and I summited the peak, Ben Nevis, on our own. It’s 4409’ above sea level and we started at 5 below sea level. It’s all steep uphill but because the elevation isn’t high, it’s not a tough hike - just long. We had better weather than when we went with the group. Less rain and wind. We had drizzle and it was very misty. Also it was very slippery coming down as it had rained quite a bit earlier. You’ll notice in the pics that the summit had some old stone structures on it. One is an observatory. Can’t imagine what they wanted to observe as it’s always cloudy. We had our photo taken at the high point which was a short climb up some rocks to stand next to a column. You can see the observatory between us. ~ Cheryl T.

Summit Photo - Observatory in Background

Historic Ruins at Summit of Ben Nevis

 A meteorological observatory on the summit was first proposed by the Scottish Meteorological Society (SMS) in the late-1870s, at a time when similar observatories were being built around the world to study the weather at high altitude. In the summer of 1881, Clement Lindley Wragge climbed the mountain daily to make observations (earning him the nickname "Inclement Rag"), leading to the opening on 17 October 1883 of a permanent observatory run by the SMS. The building was manned full-time until 1904, when it was closed due to inadequate funding. The twenty years worth of readings still provide the most comprehensive set of data on mountain weather in Great Britain. ~ Wikipedia
 

The Money Shot!

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