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Into Thick Air
Hitchhiking around Scotland on my own, I joined up with a bunch of Americans toting their inevitable, unenviable 60lb backpacks.
We stayed at the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel, in the imposing shadow of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain.
4,409 feet doesn't seem like much of a mountain, but it shoots straight up to that height from sea level.
After 3 hours of climbing, with the air going thin and us already past the treeline and into the clouds, it certainly seemed like a mountain.
We were just starting to get impressed with our effort when we were suddenly overtaken by a guy in running shorts
An hour later, with us still two hours from the top, he passed us on his return trip.
Finally at the top, standing at the edge of a sheer, 2,000 foot cliff, we managed to forget about the runner and congratulate ourselves.
Is when a hand appeared over the top of the cliff, followed by a guy who sat down and anchored his rope for his three buddies to climb with.
They coiled their rope, packed up their equipment, and headed down the path, running.
What was left of our pride vanished when we next found the Ford T that somebody had driven up to the top in 1923...
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"Asking a bomb squad if an old bomb is still "real" is not the best thing to do if you want to save it." - denim
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