Читать книгу Not the West Highland Way. Diversions over mountains, smaller hills or high passes for 8 of the WH Way's 9 stages онлайн

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When I was in the Western Tatras, they rather reminded me of the Mamores. Narrow ridges with wide paths, steep drops alongside, down the ridge and up the ridge and here’s another pointy peak. (The High Tatras, which are granite, are something else again.) What do you think, Alois? Tatric a bit?

The Tatras may be twice as high but, Alois explained carefully, Scotland is still much bigger for him. ‘In Scotland if you look around you see only mountains and mountains, I really love this. Also the beautiful lochs.’ Indeed, with chill sub-zero air, a sharp snow edge, Loch Leven below and a view from Mull to Schiehallion, it’s no trouble at all to forget about Scotland’s bog, our grey rain, our miserable summer midges.

A sharp dip leads into the cleavage between the twin peaks of Na Gruagaichean, ‘The Maidens’. The col is steep in and steep out, with verticality on the right, but in this superb snow the crampons can cope. On the second top we looked at birds against the blue sky. No, not an eagle: a raven. Corvus something, sorry I don’t know the Latin.