Last Two Weekends

Andrew sent me the following contributions intending them to be walk reports. But you cannot have a walk report without doing the walk -

                                  No walk - No report !

So here they are, in the club blog  -

Saturday 14th May 2011 – A day on Skye missed

The forecast was awful and three members were on a course at Glenmore Lodge. Andrew G., Gerry and Wesley turned up at the Fort. Unfortunately, I had injured my hand and it wouldn’t stop bleeding so I decided to go to A & E to have it stitched up. Wesley went on alone to Spean Bridge but texted to say that no one else was there either. He decided to go bird watching instead of going to Skye.

Later, Gerry and I decided on a short walk to the C.I.C hut and back. Almost there at about 14h00 two guys overtook us, one of whom enquired “Are you doing both of them?”. “Both of what?” I asked. “ Both Munros” he said. I explained that we were enjoying an afternoon stroll. The pair pulled ahead and I pondered their assumption that the only reason for walking in the hills is to bag Munros. Sad really.

Shortly after this, I fell over and burst open the wound on my hand. I decided to go home to fix it, rather than return to A & E. They would not be amused. Should have just gone to Skye.

Andrew G

Sunday 22nd May – Another day missed

The forecast was awful, 90 mph gusts in the afternoon with blizzards on the summits. It was raining hard. Gerry and I found no one at Glencoe car park. There was no coordinator rostered to contact for information, and we had no idea whether other members would be meeting at Achallader Farm. We decided to stay in Glencoe and do the Two Lairigs, setting off clockwise in the Lairig Gartain, following Martine’s new path. Thick cloud in the glen cleared at the watershed, and we contoured around the spine of Buchaille Etive Beag, high above Glen Etive, with a fine view southward. Ducking below some crags we gained the Lairig Eilde path and were soon at another watershed.

A short distance further on we met a guy in shorts, coming the other way, the rain streaming off his cagoule. “How was it at the top?” he asked. “Cold, wet and windy, same as here” I replied, somewhat puzzled, and asked him where he was going. “Buchaille Etive Beag, that’s it over there isn’t it” he replied, pointing to the col on the south-east ridge of Stob Coire Sgreamhach. I realised he was assuming we were bagging Munros too, and pointed out the location of his day’s objective, looming above our heads. “I’ll just do Sgreamhach instead then” he said, “I need that one too.  Where is the summit?”.  He didn’t produce a map so I gave him brief directions and off he went.

Sad really, and a bit worrying. There are a lot of them out there.

Andrew G