|
Torridon
27-30 May 2005
 |
 |
|
Francis arriving at Ben Alligin – his last
Munro |
Francis and Sally looking back at the summit |
We woke up on Saturday morning to gale force winds and rain. Enough
to make two of the party turn tail and head back to Glasgow! Not a good
start, especially since most of us had had a journey full of hold ups
and road works on Friday.
Of the hardy (?) campers, three never turned up, two got a last
minute place in the Youth Hostel (thanks to Gordon who had inadvertently
booked direct with the Hostel as well as through the Club) and three
just about survived Friday night. The Thomson’s ridge pole bent and the
tent collapsed in the early hours, leaving only Elspeth’s tent standing.
The Thomson’s decamped to join friends in nearby self-catering
accommodation, and Elspeth eventually cracked and filled the 30th
Glenmore space in the hostel.
After much sitting around most of us did something.
A keen party (Elisabeth & Victoria Culshaw, David Broadfoot, Mary
Hill, Dave Webster and Isobel Freeman) set off at 11.45 to climb Maol
Chean Dearg. By this time, conditions had eased considerably, making for
a pleasant afternoon ascent.
Team 1 shamed team 2 (John Donnelly, Gill & Arthur Whittaker) into
joining them for the drive round to Cullags and the ascent to the
beallach, before breaking away and ascending the impressive An Ruadh
Stac and then walking all the way back on a good stalkers path (via the
Ben Damph hotel) to the hostel. The rain started again on the walk out,
but at least the wind came from behind.
Hugh Bourhill and Liz Maitland had been keener than either team 1 or
team 2 and set off in the bad weather to do the same walk as team 2, but
without the peak.
Henry Perfect, Ian McNab, John and Jill MacLean and Margaret
Tildesley made a successful ascent of Craog Bheinn, via a cairn at 371m.
The final team (Alan Stevens, Caroline Thompson, Dave Reynolds, David
Foster, Stella Lowder, David Harrison, Alice Mitchell, Irene Cook and
Suzanne Ullman) did a coastal walk to Diabeg. The sea must have been
very spectacular, judging by the white horses visible from the hostel.
Those also present, but not on Saturday route cards were: John
Anderson, Mary Cox, Brian McDaid, Phyllis Smith and Gordon Dykes. It is
left to the reader to decide who went home, who went looking round
gardens and who went for a run.
On Sunday the weather improved to an almost reasonable day. Just in
time for Francis Hickenbottom’s attempt on his last Munro – Ben Alligin.
He was joined by Sally, Sue & Gordon, Dave & Isobel, John Donnelly,
Arthur & Gill, Dave & Mary, Elisabeth & Victoria, and John & Jill.
Colleague of Francis – Andrew & Claire drove over from their cottage in
Inverness to complete the party. Another leisurely start found us having
a late lunch on the final summit, after the now traditional ski sticks,
champagne and cake celebration.
Other Sunday routes were:
Bein Dronaig – John, A Liz M. and Mary
Beinn Bhan – Stella, Caroline, Alan, Irene, David F, Alice, David H.,
Hugh
Beinn Dearg – Henry, Dave R., Ian
Drochaird Coire Roill – Elspeth, Margaret, Suzanne.
Many decided to spend Monday fighting with the holiday traffic on the
way back to Glasgow.
Those few who hoped that the traffic would die down had a day of
sunshine and showers. Some groups had worse showers than others, with
Dave and Mary reporting quite miserable conditions on Fionn Bheinn. John
A and Hugh succeeded in their challenging traverse of Liatach and Sue &
Gordon managed two Corbetts (Meallan nan Uan and Sgurra Mhuilinn) on
their way home. David H. and Alice, were too quick in their ascent of
Maol Chean Dearg, resulting in being stuck in queues on Loch Lomondside.
Gill and Arthur set off up Fuar Tholl with John D., but he soon got
bored and ran off to do Fuar Tholl "plus". He was last seen speeding
back down the path, way below us, when we were still on the way up!
The most important achievement of the weekend was, of course,
Francis’s last Munro. A close second, however, was the Glenmore Club
success in the quiz, organised in the hostel by a group of fellow guests
from the Open University Mountaineering Club. The quiz was to raise
money for Torridon village hall. Our team really came third, but the OU
quizmaster upgraded us because he felt that we disadvantaged. Many of
the answers followed a pattern - they were the names of all the OU
members. Our team were very grateful for the gesture and were even more
grateful for the prize of wine!
Arthur Whittaker
|
