Monday 14 November 2011

Buachaille Etive Beag


So...T'was Saturday afternoon, and the weather forecast said "Go West" young man. The outlook is sunny.

Now, followers of my blog know of my undying, yet sadly misplaced trust in the met forecast.  The next day was to be no exception.

Therefore, the rucksack was duly packed and I headed off to Lochearnhead, with only a slight detour on the way, stopping at ASDA to purchase a flask that was smaller than the welders gas cylinder that normally accompanies me up the hill.    I also had a new bit of gear to try out.  I had been to LIDLs and bought a 2 piece trouser and top creation for wearing below ones ski suit.  I can now testify that this bit of kit works really well and keeps you nice and toasty.  The only downside is that it comes in black with blue deco on it.   Had it been black and red, it would pass admirably for a 'Spiderman' costume and saved me a good deal of cash come fancy dress parties.

Then, Saturday evening, it seems the highlight of the week was to be a disco in the village hall.  Now, having watched "Little Britain" on tv, I had a fair idea of the sort of evening this would turn out to be, so feigning extreme exhaustion, I decided to pass on the winter social event of 2011.

Sunday morning, with Digger the dog in tow, I set off for Glencoe, so sure of the weather that I never took heavy waterproofs, despite the early mornings lashing rain and knowing that the nice girl on BBC would not cheat on me yet again. (would she)...

So, after a quick coffee stop at Glencoe Mountain Ski Resort for coffee, and checking on the progress being made in digging out the banking to site their Microlodges, we arrived at the parking area.  OH JOY...


The 1st view of Stob Coire Raineach

It's funny how the dog seemed delighted just to be out on the hills again, regardless of the lack of visibility, so off we set in the clag, map in hand as it seemed as if it was going to be another of those typical Scottish days.

Then at around the 1,500 feet region...bliss.


Like the parting of the seas...

We quickly made the bealach, and decided to go for the summit of Stob Dubh, the higher of the 2 tops.  Luckily as the weather had cleared, we never made the mistake of assuming the 1st cairn we arrived at was the intended Munro, as the real summit is in fact another 20 minutes haul further along. (and a good climb higher).  
Looking behind us, a braw sight. The Aonach ridge (also known as the 'brown trouser ridge' was in fine sight.


The Ridge

After a quick snack at the top, we descended back to the bealach and set off to the summit of Stob Coire Raineach.  There, I suffered a doubly whammy of unhappiness.  The first was that the top itself was rather uninspiring...and even worse, I opened my tupperware box and my eggy rolls lived up to their name, and promptly rolled off down the hillside, rapidly followed by a big black lump of Labrador.  Him having 4 wheel drive, reached the lunch well before I did...


Is it just me, or is that bu**er grinning??

So, hungry and deflated, it was time to head back down, stopping only for a wee while to watch the SAR chopper across on the 'brown trouser' ridge, either carrying out a rescue or dropping off a family-size pack of Andrex.

We then stopped of at Tyndrum to have a chat with a site owner there before heading back to Lochearnhead and a cuppa with fresh scones. Digger got neither of these.

As it was now dark, I decided to head back down to Fife, and the pub, leaving Cathy to weed her garden.  Yep, you read this right.  She was going to pull weeds whilst wearing her head torch. (and I thought I was stupid).

It's now Monday night and all the varnishing has been completed on the 2 Microlodges in the shop, so just the doors and roof shingles to do, then they will be heading out to the mountains.






Monday 7 November 2011

Creag Mac Raineach


What a glorious Sunday it was.  The start of the day was a tad hectic as I was running late to catch the coach due to the car being iced up, but eventually made it just in time.

On the basis of the icy weather, I was so well prepared with my kit consisting of battery heated gloves, hand warming gel pads, extra thick socks, 2 woolly hats, a double thick fleeced jacket and copious helpings of piping hot tomato soup.

The reality was, that by 10.30, it was t-shirt weather so a great deal of energy was expended humping severe weather gear and a flask the weight of a welders gas bottle up the mountain.

I managed to arrange for my part-time companion, Digger the dog, to be picked up at Lochearnhead to accompany me for the day. Kathy herself couldn't manage as she's wangled a job that consists of her driving around in Ferraris, Lambos, Porches etc....and gets paid for it.  Luxury.   Still, she missed out on a wonderful day.

We had a group of 30 set off together, but 6 of us picked up the pace a tad and gained a considerable lead and got to the foot of the hill in record time. Then the decision was made that rather than head onto the bealach, we would go a more vertical route to the summit.


Very blue sky and stripping off the extra layers of clothing.

On hindsight, we should possibly have stuck to the intended route as the rocks that had not been exposed to sunlight were a slippery as eels, but we managed just fine as it happens with only a few 'oops moments', and gained the summit so early, we had an extended lunch at the cairn.


Looking behind us to Ben Vorlich and Stuc a'Croin


Digger awaiting more sandwiches from the others. (he'd finished mine by this time).

The views were stunning with the best visibilty I've encountered so far this year, and it felt as if you could reach out and touch the Lawers range and the Tarmachan ridge.  Then it was downhill on the shaded side to head for the coach pick-up point at Glenogle cottages, and this was a bit scary with the ice, although Digger delighted himself by breaking through sheets of it to dive into bracken filled puddles.

Then off for High Tea in Comrie and home.  A damn good day.

Meanwhile, it's now Monday and the next pair of Microlodges are coming on well and we had another press photographer in today, so with luck, some proper pics for the site later this week.