Wild land awareness on Blaven, day 1

Brrrr! I've just come in from the cold, the hail and the howling gale. I had my doubts setting off this morning, that there'd be anyone mad enough to have a go at Blaven in this dismal weather, but sure enough when I got to the car park there were two cars ahead of me. Cheered at the thought that there were a few resilient souls about, I pinned up my '50% off membership today' notice and set off to inspect the lower reaches of the path, which not very far in I discovered was under several inches of water. That's what three weeks of rain will do. The great lady herself was black and formidable with torrents of water thundering down her flanks. I abandoned any thought of walking into Coire Uaigneach and returned to set up my 'office' in the car park at the start of the trail. The office is a camping chair and a rucksack packed with information about the Trust and a copy of the latest journal, which I enjoy reading outdoors and thought would be good to show to anyone I spoke to. Thus prepared I settled in, watching the cloud patterns on the slopes of Beinn Dearg Mor and Beinn na Cro on occasions where the sun broke through the gloom.
It wasn't long before I spotted a walker returning to her car. Curious as to why I was sitting there we had a chat and I explained a little about the Trust and John Muir himself, whom she had not heard of. She was from Newcastle and walked with her husband in the Lake District, this was their first visit to Skye and they were enjoying it in spite of the three week monsoon. I offered my JMT journal by way of reading material while she waited in her car for her husband, but she declined, preferring to admire the view.
A while later a party of 6 appeared, booted and spurred and in jolly spirits in spite of the worsening weather. One woman among them wanted to know 'what kind of nutter sits out on a mountainside in the rain?' My mention of the Trust was met by 'ah, yes...John Muir' and a general nod of approval. 'Sign me up!' one man said.
Joy! one new member would be worth sitting out the hailshowers for and I duly handed over the details, before tracing the line of the path for them on their OS map.
The group set off at a brisk pace, their coloured anoraks bobbing along until they vanished from view. I huddled into my waterproofs and hunkered down, still expecting the first party of walkers on their return and supressing the temptation to duck off to the Blue Shed cafe in Torrin to warm my hands with a cuppa. They came eventually, wind-blasted and drenched. One man told me he measured a wind speed of 75 miles per hour at 400 metres, and at this point gave up the ghost. Wise, I thought. Blaven my not be the Cuillin Ridge but it's still a serious undertaking in bad weather. I would have turned back myself for less. We talked awhile and they wished me well with my work. At that point and with the cold starting to bite, I called it a day.
I left Blaven swathed in storms and admiring the hardiness of the last 6 plucky walkers who had set off on her trail. I understand their determination, travelling hundreds of miles to Scotland to answer the call of the mountains, the irresistable pull of wildness...and even if it's only one new member for the JMT today I like to think that Blaven has cast her spell and that all who tread upon her come back the better for the experience. As John Muir himself said, 'In every walk with nature one receives far more than he sees.'