Christmas Meet, Milehouse, Kincraig

Rarely, if ever, has the booking sheet been as dynamic as the one for this meet. There were almost as many cancellations as attendees, and that was with us making good use of the overflow camping facility. So with a wild and wintry forecast the committed headed off to Kincraig and a bit of a snowy shock. Despite the wintry weather in Aberdeen the sight of a good few inches of the white stuff in the hut car park still caused us some surprise, and a few parking problems.

Saturday was pretty much like the forecast; some clouds, cold but hardly a breath of wind. Most folks set off for reasonably big days out for the time of year. After failing to agree on a start time the popular choice of Bynack Mor saw two parties. Ann and John were the early birds who paid the price of breaking trail most of the way up, until caught by Stu and Juliette who had been delayed by dog issues. Their payback was getting down in the light, unlike the tardy tailenders of Roddy, Evie and Malcolm, despite having a ploughed trench to follow. Sadly the fine weather didn't hold and high up it was cloudy on and off, and there were some ferocious gusts too. Meanwhile, Jamie, Naomi and Linda B headed for the Glen Feshie hill and club members can see more of their exploits on the Facebook group. Sticking in Feshie, Scuz went for an ambitious double Corbett bag at the southern end of the glen but even she was defeated by the deep snow after just one, and Denis and Susan stuck to a low level walk around Achlean.

Deep going near the old Bynack stable

Bynack Mor in sight, but the clouds rolling in

 

Nearly there...

Getting a bit wild as we came down

Looking over to Ben Avon

Bright spell as we headed down

Saturday night brought on the usual excellent communal feast, with Malcolm's turkey terrine and Naomi's huge banoffi pie deserving special mention. There then followed what for me was a first, a bit of festive singing due to some secretive pre-planning amongst the musical types. All very festive.

Time for carols (singing chefs not shown for hygiene reasons)

Waking to the sound of heavy rain is never good, and less so with so much snow around. Given the exertions of the wading the day before most folks were happy with a long breakfast in preparation for some enthusiastic car pushing, before heading off to various cafes, gear shops and getting their skis out of storage. There have been some unconfirmed rumours about biking and some wee wanders...

Classic Summer Ridges – in March!

Last weekend Ann and John headed off to the Celtic Connections Big Top Festival on Skye, accompanied by old friend Fit Simon who was over from Dublin. In addition to two nights of excellent music (but terrible beer – why do they do that?), we were lucky enough to get superb weather and two great days out on classic ridge routes.

First up was the traverse of Clach Glas and Blaven. The last time we had done this was in the damp and memories were not good, but the day was perfect; hot and sunny. We started off up Sgurr nan Each, just to get better views and add a bit more scrambling into the day. Having not done anything on rock for some time it was also a useful warm up for body and head, and a reminder of just how grippy gabbro can be. The ascent is fairly straightforward and we made the summit for perfectly-timed elevenses.

Blaven and Clach Glas

View N from Sgurr nan Each

Warming up

 Then onto the main course. The ascent of Clach Glas went surprisingly well, despite having forgotten the guide book. It was every bit as impressive as we remembered and the final wall is just sensational with the combination of exposure but great holds. First lunch was well-earned. 

Clach Glas

Perfect scrambling with great views

Steep wall to the summit of Clach Glas

The descent brought the first of the day’s problems as I got to the base of The Impostor to find a big section missing due to a recent rockfall. Although we later saw people downclimbing this I found a way around the side. Passing the base and seeing how precariously balanced some blocks were it seemed like a good call. 

Descending The Impostor. Rockfall and loose stuff bottom right

During the rest of the descent we enjoyed the amazing rock scenery that the relatively easy route winds it way through, until we got to the last bump on the ridge. The worn route seemed to venture into some very steep and decidedly technical ground and, feeling a bit confused, we were pleased to be caught up by a bunch of friendly Glaswegians with a guide book. Unfortunately it was the climbing guide and not much use at all, but we had some enjoyable banter that was to be repeated at every tricky bit for the rest of the route. Using our initiative we cast around a bit before we discovered the actual and very easy way around the side. That got us to the ridiculously-named putting green and the start of the ascent of Blaven. This begins with the “4m wall”, which was as tricky as ever and wasn’t helped by the water seeping down the centre. After that we were more or less there, except for the big chimney pitch which saves its hardest move for the end, when you are all out of options. Nice. A short walk to the summit brought second lunch. Although I’ve been up there twice before, both times as last Munros and accompanied by plentiful Talisker, this was the first time with a long sit in warm sunshine.

On the descent I was regretting the absence of Talisker as I think that must be the reason I had no recollection of how unpleasant it is, but it didn’t last too long and we were soon at the car and heading back to the Festival for more tunes.

Fit Simon on the summit

The combination of two great but late nights at the Festival, the previous day’s excursion and the clocks springing forward meant that we were a bit jaded come Sunday morning. Luckily Fit Simon lived up to his name and kicked us into action, although we thought it prudent to change the route selection from Pinnacle Ridge on Gillean to the Forcan Ridge on the Saddle. While this was vastly easier than the last outing, it was no less enjoyable and fitted the bill perfectly, with great situations and nothing at all serious (except for a group of Edinburgh students, who were far too serious for their own good). The only downside was that winter soft-shell trousers are not ideal wear for a day that set a new March temperature record, but all-in-all a genuine 5-star weekend and worth missing the Club’s Dinner Meet for.

First part of the Forcan Ridge

Not very elegant - but effective

The classic view

Ullapool Tall Ships Weekend

Just a few days after our last trip to the North West, Ann, John, Juliette & Stu went back up to Ullapool. The draw was that part of this year’s Tall Ships’ Race was calling in for a weekend of festivities.

Things got off to a bad start on Friday evening when we arrived to find the campsite full. It had apparently filled up by that morning and the usually absent staff were there to keep extras out. We had foreseen this problem weeks ago but the site wouldn’t take bookings, so frustration all around. The rumour that there was still space at Ardmair proved correct so we were soon pitched there and back in Ullapool for a fish supper and that night’s gig of Skerryvore and The Vatersay Boys.

Despite a rubbish forecast, we were woken early the next morning by the tent overheating in the sun. Given the amount to get through in the day we opted for a short day on the Graham of Beinn an Eoin, just S of Stac Pollaidh, an interesting little hill with the potential for great views that I had missed last time due to it clouding over during the ascent.

Stac Pollaidh starting to vanish

 The start of the route is a bit of a flouter through tussocky bog and a minefield of recently-planted trees. It was made even more unpleasant by numerous clegs, a few midges and the sight of cloud starting to roll in from the west. Things improved with height and we just started to get some views when the cloud finally closed in and that was it for the rest of the day.

Last of the clear weather

The higher southern summit provided a good stop for first lunch, just before the rain started. Soon it was lashing and made the ascent of the northern top quite unpleasant, so much so that second lunch was postponed in favour of a quick descent. There is no easy way back from here so it was back to hacking through the bog in a cloud of clegs. At least the rain stopped but I did feel a bit cheated – two ascents and no view.

 

Soggy descent

Thanks to the difficult ground our short outing had taken much longer than it should so the planned swim was abandoned as we dashed back to Ullapool for the start of a giant strip the willow down the length of Shore Street. It was quite a sight to see the place packed with people, there was a great atmosphere and the boats looked magnificent too. The rain held off long enough for a quick BBQ, but came back with a vengeance later. Luckily the Saw Doctors’ gig that night was in a decent tent.

Strip the Willow on Shore Street

Wylde Swan running up Loch Broom



Gloria, all the way from Columbia, prepares to depart

 

The Saw Doctors