Kishorn Bouldering

With only about four weeks until my first, and only, big race of the season I am seriously over-trained. During the speed sessions this past week my heart rate has stayed persistantly low and any attempt at increase in pace is impossible due to tired legs. It got so bad this weekend that all motivation to go running went out of the window. Instead I went over to Applecross for a pub lunch, followed by tea and cake before I finally got motivation to check out the bouldering in Kishorn. Well actually the boulders are just down off the Bealach na Ba. The largest, the Kishorn Stone, is obvious on the drive up from the loch, sitting as it does on a grassy ridge about 5-10 minutes easy walk south of the road. There is space for one car at NG811 408 which is about 500m up from the large car-park by the bend. Other than that parking is fairly limited, unless of course you want to park in a passing space. The rock is a hard, smooth sandstone and the boulders generally seem to have a reasonable clean side on the west and a steeper and dirtier east side with mostly flat (and dry) landings. Someone seems to have drilled a steel spike into the top of the boulder closest to the road. All boulders are accessed by a network of deer tracks and it wasn't even that wet underfoot. Lower down the hill, about 5mins further from the Kishorn Stone, there is a cluster of further boulders with varied problems ranging from very straight forward slab scrambling to overhanging desperates. Enough here to keep someone of my medicore talents happy for a couple of hours.

Sunday was worse as I felt so tired and ill on Saturday evening that I called off the planned climbing trip to the Ben and did some gardening instead. Perhaps a couple of days complete rest will sort me out. I certainly hope it does anyway.

Life isn't all bad though. On an evening run (about 28km in 4.5hs) over in Kishorn on Tuesday I chanced upon a great little crag up high on Beinn a'chait. Torridon's answer to Burbage North so watch this space for a photo-topo soon ; 0)