Our Beagley adventures in the mountains have been brought to a virtual halt in the past month or so due to the limited daylight hours. We’ve taken the opportunity to prepare for an action packed spring and summer of hiking and running in the mountains. Paul and I have joined a running club to help us build up our fitness. We’ve entered some cross country races, 10ks and have even started doing hill races. The pups have been running regularly along local trails, on the beach and cross country as well as some lure coursing and off-lead running. But perhaps most importantly we’ve been working hard on stopping the pups from pulling so much….especially when we’re running downhill!

In the last week we’ve had a couple of nice days so we took the opportunity to test out our Beagle calming measures in the hills. Sadly, when the fresh air hit their noses all the training went out the window and we spent most of our time arse-surfing on the downhill stretches:

I think we may have to accept this aspect of our little monkeys’ behaviour!

Our first hill walk of 2012 took place in the hills around Straiton – a small, picturesque village set amongst beautiful countryside. Our walk started in the village and climbed up the hill to the monument that you can see on top of the hill in this picture:

Sheltering from the bitterly cold wind behind the monument

Looking back towards Straiton from the monument

From the monument we headed across the moors for a while…

…before arse-surfing down the hill behind our excited, baying Beagles.

The walk continued along the river for a while before crossing a little bridge:

Of course, Beanie and Biggles had to climb up to have a good look:

We continued along a pretty trail for a while with plenty of obsticals to keep the Beags entertained..

…then another steep ascent up through forest trails to a viewpoint on another hill before making our way back to Straiton for icecream and sardine flavoured bones. We’ll definitely be doing this walk again – probably running it next time!

The forecast for today had been excellent – blue skies, sunshine and superb visibility. We’ve had a few hard runs this week so we decided upon a relatively easy hill walk with fabulous views Beinn Dubh – Glen Striddle horseshoe, Luss. Unfortunately the forecast couldn’t have been more wrong. All we saw during the entire walk was dense, gray fog! It was still a fabulous walk – one that we’re really looking forward to both running and walking in better weather. The downhill section was very wet today – almost like a water chute. After slipping and falling umpteen times (with the help of our little angels) we eventually gave up and let them hurtle down the hill dragging us behind them on our bums! T’was fun….and very cold and wet!

It wasn’t really the weather for photos but Paul did haul out the camera for a snap of us on the summit of Beinn Dubh

Beanie & Biggles’ morning lie-in was cut short on Friday when we dragged them out of bed for a return visit to Ben A’an. The last time we were there it was sunny, with blue sky and great views all around. This time it was grey and windy with poor visibility, but we still had a fun time.

The first part of the trail winds through a very pretty forest, packed with interesting smells to entertain Beagle noses. It’s only when you emerge from the forest that you get a proper look at Ben A’an.

It looks a lot taller and steeper than it really is. The rocky path up is in great condition and after all the scrambly walks we’ve done this year it was nice to do something short and relatively easy. It would have been even easier had it not been for the wind. We’d been sheltered as we’d walked through the forest, but but it was blowing really hard at the top.  Happily for us, you can’t live with the Biggly Boy without getting well-used to dealing with powerful wind, and the occasional odorless 30mph gust wasn’t going stop Susan & the pups from scaling the last few rocks for their summit photo.

Getting back down from there proved to be more of a challenge however; Biggles pulled off a world-class lead tangle as he tried to find the optimum sniffing position, while Beanie made the most of her special talent for getting under one’s feet.

We’d had to resort to the “bum method” to descend the Cobbler recently, but this was the first time I’d seen anybody using the “belly method”..

Does this remind you of the rock climbing scene in Mission Impossible II? No, me neither, but then Tom Cruise didn’t have a pair of naughty Beagles tied to him!

Fortunately this unplanned rock climbing stunt concluded without any casualties, save for my trousers and abdominal muscles (I peed my pants a little bit and had sore sides from laughing). I took a couple more shots from the summit, then we headed back down to the shelter of the forest.

On our previous visit the walk back to the car had been dominated by Biggles’ woofing and baying frenzy, but this time he was a model of self control. His silence allowed us to hear all the ambient noises in the woods, and it was pretty spooky..

The forest was very densely populated with tall trees – so much so that they would rub against each other in the wind, generating all manner of scary sounds. We heard creaky doors, rusty gates, ghostly whistles and tapping coming from all directions. Biggles seemed oblivious to it all, but Beanie frequently paused and looked round trying to identify the source of the noises. Very Blair Witch.

In due course we made it back to the car without any disappearances, and without anybody standing in front of the camera with an excessively runny nose (Beanie & Biggles’ noses are moist, but not runny).

The morning started out very misty, but the forecasts assured us that it would burn off during the day leaving blue skies and sunshine. At the unearthly hour of 8am two very disgruntled little Beagles were hauled out of (our) bed and bundled into the car. We were soon on our way to Arrochar to climb Ben Aurthur – more commonly known as the Cobbler.

At the start of the walk we were shrouded in mist and couldn’t really see much at all. However, it didn’t really matter as the first Kilometer of the walk winds up through the forest. As we emerged onto the open hillside the mist seemed to evaporate in an instant leaving some lovely views.

Looking back across the forest to the hills on the other side of the Loch.

Looking ahead to the three summits of the Cobbler

A good, not-too-steep path leads most of the way up the Cobbler.

Of course, Beanie and Biggles manage to complicate even the easiest of routes by one parking her bum exactly where you were about to put your foot whilst the other unexpectedly lunges in the opposite direction:

There is however a very steep climb up to the distinctive, rocky summits.

Beanie and Biggles stop to admire the views just below the little ridge between the Northern and Central summit.

If I look a bit tense in this next picture it’s because I’d just accidentally wandered a little closer to a sheer drop than any sane person would want to be whilst attached to two crazy Beagles!!

The Cobbler has three summits, but only the North and central summits are accessible without climbing skills. We headed up the North summit first. There are some scary sheer cliffs once up there, but the route up isn’t exposed – although it is a bit scrambly and tricky with two inquisitive little Beagles in tow!

We start to make our way up the North summit – you can see the central summit behind us and the infamous ‘eye of the needle’

The North summit – it was a busy little hill today!

The views from the North Summit were amazing!

Beanie and Biggles made lots of new friends:

Nothing like sharing a meal to cement a friendship

Up until this point Beanie and Biggles had been surprisingly good. In fact a lot of people commented on how well behaved they were. But as we started to scramble down the North summit they figured this was the ideal time to go off on a noisy Beagle frenzy. There was much baying, squabbling, lunging and general commotion. We reluctantly concluded that with all things considered the safest way was to shuffle down on our bums! It’s one thing to have to use the “bum” method at all, but it’s quite another to have to do it when your dogs are ensuring that all the other walkers see you. Very embarrassing. But then embarrassment is a way of life with our two mutts

By now the central summit was shrouded in thick mist. There didn’t seem much point in going up if we couldn’t see anything. We hung around for a few minutes to see if it would clear then headed back down saving the delights of the central summit for another day.

The route up the back of Cobbler. You can just make out the ‘eye of the needle’ on the central summit. Our destination for Monday, weather permitting