15 June 2009

The Dundonnel meet turned out to be another successful trip with an attendance of 35 members and guests despite a poor weather forecast.  The weather was much better than expected and a great day was had by all.

Ray Harron and Natacha Mihajlovic set off from Ardessie Waterfalls and walked up the track along the Allt Airdeasaidh. Within 1hr30, they got to the top of Sail Mhor where they enjoyed great views of the Summer Isles in the north and corbetts Beinn Dearg Mhor and Beinn Dearg Bheag in the south. After a leisurely snack, they followed the ridge of the corbett over Ruigh Mheallain and Sgurr Ruadh and spotted some wild goats. The long way up the north west ridge of An Teallach took them to Sgurr Fiona and then Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill in claggier weather but the skies cleared beautifully again by the time they started making their way down over Meall Garbh. One even got sunburnt!

George Herraghty headed off up Beinn Ghobhlach from Corrie Hallie.  He had a long hot day with rewarding views from the top while waiting for a pint of beer that never arrived!!  He returned to Dundonnel via the Eilean Darach footbridge.

Jo Chappell, Paul Chappell, Mick Greenshiels, Graham Milton and Claire Wirsig set off from Ardessie Waterfalls and heading up the Corbett Sail Mhor.  They enjoyed a short break by the river before headed up to the summit, where they took the opportunity to take in the beautiful views of the Summer Isles while having a leisurely lunch break.  They also spotted some wild goats on route to Ruigh Mheallain before returning to Ardessie Waterfalls.

Ros Wright, Chloe Wright, Nadine Williams, Laurence Williams, Ken Ross, George Sim and two American guests Kelsea Mullance and Forrest Etter headed off from Corrie Hallie for a circular route to Sheneval Bothy.  Everyone enjoyed the excellent views and good weather.  This was a whole new experience for the two American guests who had a fantastic day out.

Heavy Whalley, John Cosgrove, Mary Cosgrove and Sarah Tyson set off from Dundonnel up onto the ridge of An Teallach to the summit of Glas Mheall Mor and Bidein a Ghlas Thuill.  They all had a lovely day out with great company.

Bob Weeks set out for a hike up Beinn A Chlaidheimh from Corrie Hallie.  He had a pretty uneventful day but managed to spot a few deer and frogs along the way.  The only down side to his day was the 3 mile way back up the road to the pub from Corrie Hallie.

David Brown Douglas set off for a day out in the Fannaichs.  He headed off over Creag Dhubh Fannaich then completed a circular route of Beinn Liath Mhor Fannaich, Sgurr Mor, Meall Gorm and An Coileachan.  He also took the opportunity to spot some mountain hares and frogs.

Paul Geraghty, Elliott Harbottle, Chris Muir, Greg Muir, Trish, Richford, Jenny Smith, David Strathdee, David Whitelock, Julian Spencer, Alastair Wren, Corinne Ferguson, Bob MacDonald and Sandy Murray all set off from Corrie Hallie for a traverse along An Teallach.  They started off at the summit of Sail Liath then onto cadha Gobhtach and Corrag Bhuidhe that presented some exciting scrambling.  According to Julian Spencer Lord Berkeley’s seat was quite warm by the time he came to sit on it.

Lord Sandy's Seat

The traverse then took them onto the first munro of Sgurr Fiona then along the ridge to Bidein a Ghlas Thuill where they stopped for a lunch break.  They then completed the traverse returning to Dundonnel via Glas Mheall Mor.  They all had a brilliant day out and even managed to get some views of the Summer Isles.

Jo Chappell

For more photos from this met click here

Sat 4th – Sun 5th July 2009
O.S.Map(s): 15 [and 9/10 for areas north]
Accommodation: Shore Campsite (Website)
Cost: Tent & car : 1-man £6, 2-man £8. Strictly no dogs allowed in the campsite.
Facilities: Shower block, toilets, chip shop, laundrette, shop, beach!

Located 4 miles north of Lochinver on an award-winning white sandy beach (click here for directions), Achmelvich is the perfect location for sea-kayaking, hillwalking, rockclimbing and just chilling out. Nearby hills are Suilven, Canisp and Quinag, while Foinaven is also an option further north, as are the hills of the Coigach peninsula further south. For rock climbers, the classic sea stack of the Old Man of Stoer, Stac Pollaidh and the sea cliffs of Reiff are obvious attractions.

Book now with Dan Moysey by email

Sunday, 19th July 2009
O.S.Map(s): 20
Est. time of arrival: 9.30 am
Time of departure: 18.00 pm
Leave Elgin: 7.00 am

As was the case last year, for the July meet we will be using private cars for transport instead of the bus. We will meet up at Lossie Green carpark in Elgin as usual at 7.00 am to see how many cars will be needed and share costs as necessary. We can then pick up at Forres, Nairn and Inverness as usual.

This is a great opportunity to bag Seana Bhraigh, one of the most remote Munros. The minor second peak of Seana Bhraigh (906m) is at the NW margin of a high plateau with gentle inclines, and from here a broad ridge leads NW to the summit. The N slopes are steep with crags higher up and the W slopes are very steep with crags at the head of Cadha Dearg. There are four main ridges, NW curving N to Meall nam Bradhan giving an ascent route from Glen Douchary, NE to minor top (760m) giving an ascent route from the path from Strath Mulzie, the Creag an Duine ridge NNE gives an ascent route for scramblers, and finally a broad ridge SSE to Meall Feith na Slataich (ca760m) which is accessible from the Inverlael in the W on the path through Coire an Lochain Sgeirich.

Contact Jo Chappell by email to book a place for this meet and maybe let her know if you are prepared to be one of the drivers.

6-7 June 2009

About 25 members and guests had a wonderful action-packed weekend on Skye!  The weather was generally bright and sunny with a bit of a cool wind, which for Skye is about as good as it gets.  Even the midges only made a brief half-hearted appearance at the Glenbrittle campsite.

Saturday was dominated by groups doing the circuit of the awesome Coire Lagan.  Alan Duncan, Fiona Duncan, Bob MacDonald, Val Kemp and David Brown Douglas set off up the west ridge to Sgurr Sgumain.  Bob did some good route finding and got them to the chimney between Sgurr Sgumain and Sgurr Alasdair.  The views were spectacular, with a rainbow to end the day.  They also saw a small dog carrying its reluctant owner up the hill (see below).

'Penny's Ledge'

Fiona Gingell, Allison Bache, Chris Harding, Imke Meynecke, Graeme Henderson, Richard Knack and Daniel Moysey all did the circuit of Corrie Lagan, the best bits being the “bad step” just before Sgurr Alasdair, Collie’s Ledge and the ascent of the Inaccessible Pinnacle.  Fiona and Richard had the pleasure of leading up the easy side of the Inaccessible Pinnacle and the rest of the group top-roped the steep side.  Back to the campsite after a short day of only 12 hours for some beer and lots of food.

Dave Galloway, Spence Julian and Oliver Galloway joined the crowds doing the circuit of Coire Lagan.  Spence particularly enjoyed the more adventurous route up Sgurr Alasdair via the chimney.

Graeme Morrison, Simon Willatts and Penny (Graeme’s dog) started at the south end of the ridge and worked their way over Sgurr Alasdair, Sgurr Mhic Choinnich and finally the Inaccessible Pinnacle.  At one point it all looked a bit precarious as Penny took offence at being carried/pushed up a rather steep and exposed scramble, but everyone survived.

Ella Grant, Drummond Beattie, Margaret Paterson and Graeme Gunn had a nice trip up Coir’ a’ Ghrunnda and then up scree slopes to Sgurr nan Eag.  There were plenty of stops to admire the views.

Sarah de Rees realised a long-lived dream of a cultural day on Raasay.  She walked from the ferry terminal up an old railway track to a disused iron ore mine and then on to the deserted settlement of Hallaig on the west coast.

The real mountaineers, namely Ali Erginsoy, Illona Morrice and Andy Brooks, headed into Coir’ a’ Ghrunnda weighed down with ropes and lumps of metal and proceeded to successfully ascend a multi-pitch V Diff climb called White Slab.

Sunday turned out nice again, although the starting hour was generally a bit later than the day before.  Graeme Morrison, Simon Willatts and Penny went up the northwest ridge of Bruach na Frithe, which was great because it involved minimal dog carrying.  They got to the summit via a series of ledges, which avoided an otherwise awkward step near the summit.

Fiona Duncan, Alan Duncan, Bob MacDonald, Drummond Beattie and David Brown Douglas climbed up to An Dorus where they then scrambled on to Sgurr a’ Ghreadaidh.  They then returned to An Dorus and went up Sgurr a’ Mhadaidh.  Fiona and Drummond returned to Glenbrittle by the same route.  Bob and David, who were staying an extra night, continued along the ridge and on to Sgurr Thulim.  It was all topped off with a meal and a well deserved drink in the Sligachan.

Fiona Gingell, Illona Morrice, Joe Glennie, Sarah de Rees, Ali Erginsoy and Daniel Moysey considered the tourist route up Bla Bheinn, but settled on the spectacular traverse from Clach Glas.  Based on consultation with the “experts”, it was decided to take a rope (and then some gear), but then we consulted some more “experts” and it was all left in the car.  The right choice in the end.  However, the scrambling was quite exposed and the 20m “Difficult” graded chimney was exciting.

If only every weekend meet could be as good as this!

Dan Moysey

Diff chimney on Blaven

More photos from this meet can be viewed here

Sunday, 17 May 2009

We did not get the lovely Mediterranean spring weather enjoyed by all on our last bus meet however it remained clear and dry for most of the day. A rather fresh wind kept most parties moving swiftly on the plateau. The eastern traverse did not involve any difficulties for members and guests (28 in total, including 6 guests) and a very sociable and relaxed day was had by all.

First off the bus at Crathie, Alan McConachie, Dave McLean, Annette Turnidge and Sam Coates set off for Gelder Shiel bothy for a pit stop and went back to the bus at Loch Muick bagging corbett Conachraig on the way.

Graeme Bartlett enjoyed a leisurely walk to Carn an Sagairt Mor/Beag and dropped down to Dubh Loch and Loch Muick where he had a pleasant snooze in the sun. En route, he met up with Andy Williams.

Natacha Mihajlovic, Ray Newell, Simon Willatts, Alastair Wren and Stephen Linturn also had a good walk on the Lochnagar plateau.  They went over Carn an Sagairt Mor, Carn a Choire Bhoidheach, Lochnagar and Conachraig. Simon left the rest of the group at the top of Carn a Choire Bhoidheach to bag Cairn Bannoch and Broad Cairn.

Most parties followed similar routes: Jo Chappell, Sharon Cooke, David Brown Douglas, Ali Erginsoy, Corinne Ferguson, John Henderson, Spencer Julian, Bob Macdonald, Tish Richford, Ros and Amy Wright enjoyed a pleasant stroll over the same hills and even lingered a while on Lochnagar in glorious sunshine. Spencer (who also bagged Corbett Creag nan Gabhar at the start of the traverse), David, Sharon and Bob finished at Conachraig before heading back to the coach.

Malcolm Campbell and Paul Chappell joined up at Carn an Sagairt Mor and left the rest of the group to go over Carn Bannoch and Broad Cairn. They arrived back at the bus at 4pm. The highlight of the day was meeting four cyclists at the top of Broad Cairn!

Bikes were not made for boulder fields!

Finally, Lydia Davies, Monica Cox, Graeme Morrison and Greg Muir had a slightly different day, taking in the four Munros in Glenshee which were also Monica’s first! They came off the bus just north of the ski centre and made their way up Carn an Tuirc, Cairne of Claise, Tolmount and Tom Buidhe and finished at Spittal of Glenmuick.

Natacha Mihajlovic

More photos from this meet can be viewed here

The Bus and Weekend Meets syllabuses (syllabii?) for the 2009/2010 season are now available for viewing here and here.

As with last year, Syllabus/Membership Cards will be posted out to members as they join or renew their subscriptions. A friendly reminder that subscriptions (unchanged at £25) are due by 31 July 2009.

Sunday, 21st June 2009
O.S.Map(s): 19/20
Est. time of arrival: 9.35 am
Time of departure: 18.00 pm
Leave Elgin: 7.00 am

Another deservedly popular venue in the Northwest Highlands. The big objective here is An Teallach, comprised of two Munros, Bidean a’ Ghlas Thuill and Sgurr Fiona. There are several routes of ascent: One directly from Dundonnell and another from Corrie Hallie up to Ghlas Thuill are straightforward; a longer route from Corrie Hallie via Sail Liath offers enjoyable but exposed scrambling.

Worthwhile alternatives to An Teallach in the Dundonell area are Sail Mhor, or a low(ish) level walk into Shenaval bothy and back.

Of course various hills in the Fannaichs can also be done on this meet by leaving the bus at earlier points.

Contact Natacha Mihajlovic bt Email to book a place on the bus.

NB: The date printed on the Syllabus/Membership card is incorrect and should read 21 June 2009.