Weather forecast

Where we live the weather is always a topic of conversation. There are loads of sites offering weather forecasts, I'm sure you've got your favourite. I tend to go by the Mountain Weather Information Service for a reliable short term hill forecast, and the met office for a 5 day general forecast.
Here's a link to a longer term forecast that might prove useful when planning a week ahead.
http://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/Scotland/Fort_William/long.html Thanks to Cris for passing this on to us. There's a surprise, next week is forecast for rain!

More on Blog problems

A search with Google reveals that lots of people are  having problems adding comments, especially since last month  ! See this link for example.


There are two suggested fixes in this page  -

1) change the comment form style to use a "full page form". I have done this.

2) blog users should permit "third party cookies" in the browser. To do this, click on "Edit", then "Preferences" and "accept third party cookies".



Could people try this and let me know how they get on. It would be useful, if you could also say which browser (Firefox, Opera,IE,...) you are using and whether you allow third party cookies.


                                   Thanks

Blog Problems

I'd like to comment on some of the recent posts, but having technical difficulties. Ron has made some suggestions, but I'm still unable to add a comment, although I can add a new post, such as this.
It's not really a problem, I just wanted bloggers to know that's the reason I can't say "Well Done" when members provide details of exciting outings, e.g. Ron, Sarah etc !!

On Top of the Cuillin

Several years ago, I wrote a piece for the club newsletter, describing a day in Skye with Andrew, Gerry and Wesley. We climbed up the Sgumain Stone Chute and on to Sgurr Sgumain. The plan was to reach Sgurr Alistair (Andrew knew an easy route over !) but the conditions were awful - we never saw more than 10 metres all day and everything was dripping wet - so we gave up, despite being only 170 metres from the summit of Sgurr Alistair,  and descended to Coir a  Ghrunnda. Clearly unfinished business.

So last Sunday, I returned with Cris, Sarah and Graham Paterson. The plan was to do Sgurr nan Eag, Sgurr Dubh Mor and Sgurr Alistair. It meant that I missed the club walk on the Five Sisters of Kintail which is one of my favourite walks but that is Munro-bagging for you. We set off from the Glen Brittle camp-site at 8am and traversed round to Coir a Ghrunnda. Then, instead of the usual path, hugging the cliffs on the left, we followed a route up through the boiler-plate slabs and ended up south of the lochan. Then it was up a huge stone-filled gully on to the ridge and out to Sgurr nan Eag. One down, two to go !

Back along the ridge, cross over to the east side of the Caisteal, up to Sgurr Dubh an da Bheinn and out to Sgurr Dubh Mor. The scrambling was getting serious now - a succession of narrow exposed ledges and steep stony gullies but we all made it to the summit. Two down, one to go !

Return to Da Bheinn by the same route, then contour round Coir a Ghrunnda, keeping right up next to the cliff so as not to lose height. A stop for lunch and a welcome rest. Up yet more stone fields,  a dark, wet chimney, several more narrow ledges (dont even want to think about the drops !) and scrambles. Then the slope eased off a little and we were in a steep, stony gully which led us straight to the tiny summit of Sgurr Alistair. No real cairn (not enough room) - just an insignificant little pile of stones.  Then scramble along a narrow exposed ridge  down to the top of the Great Stone Chute. Sarah and Graham went off for a look at the TD Gap. Cris and I just sat down, glad of a rest. Sarah found Mike Pescod of Abacus Mountaineering at the TD Gap with a large group who were doing the Ridge Traverse. I gather she told him we were Nevis Hillwalkers - not clear whether he was impressed or horrified to find us in such a place .

Then it was down the Great Stone Chute. All I can say about this, is that I might recommend it, some day,  to someone whom I really don't like. But it got us to Coire Lagan and into tourist territory.

Clearly, a fantastic day out - maybe even better than the Five Sisters.

Lochan a Coir a Grunnda

Coruisk

Sgurr nan Eag Summit

Coruisk

Coruisk

Thanks from our guest...

I loved it, I had a great day,
I found it all very well organised, met everyone at the start point, arranged for cars to be dropped off at finish and then got started on the walk just after 10am. The tops were in mist at this point and everyone hoping that it would lift, which it did. Had a fantastic day with stunning views. It was so nice to meet everyone and hear of all the different backgrounds and interests. Obviously I was a bit apprehensive of meeting everyone and whether or not I would be able to keep up but, it all went great, even although there was a variety of fitness levels it all worked perfectly. Everyone was so nice and friendly and welcomed me, I felt at ease immediately.
Then at the end of the day to have a well earned refreshment and discuss the day was so nice and relaxing.
I would certainly like to come along on walks again but due to usual time issues this may not be too frequent but I would love to join the club if this sort of membership would be considered.
Sincere thanks for a wonderful day.
Kind regards
Diane

Half way - only 141 to go!

On Sunday Ron, Jimmy and I set off to join the Glen Affric Walking Festival. We met at Morvich just after 8am. Jimmy and I had stayed overnight in the motorhome to avoid an early drive. By 8.30am we had tied the rucksacs onto the roof of the landrovers and 16 of us headed off to Killilan and privileged access all the way to Iron Lodge.

Our aim was to climb Mullach a Dheirgain, one of the Glen Affric hills. It was a clear dry day, with high cloud and a lovely cooling breeze. On the way up the ridge we stopped to discuss orchids and kestrels, and higher up watched a golden eagle circling over the ridge.

We reached our summit in good fettle and the ridge infront of us was just too tempting not to carry on. A leisurely stroll along the ridge, and a final pull of 300m steep ascent saw us on Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan, our second munro of the day, and my number 142. Reflecting on this number makes me think of many wonderful days and experiences I'd never have had if not for munro bagging. Ticking a list may not be everybodys cup of tea, but it has taken me to some wonderfully wild spots.

We continued to give us a circular walk back to the track. We are told that we passed several munro tops, but skirted round them (too late in the day for any more ascent). My GPS logged the trip as 20.9km, 1449m ascent, taking 9 1/2 hours but my legs tell me it was more than that! A quick cup of Jack's homemade soup in the motorhome before heading home finished off another excellent day on the hills.

Stob Coire Easain

Summer is here, and it's time for the silly hat. I'm sure most Lochaberites have done these two hills before, but they were new to me. The weather was excellent, if a little too hot! Super views all round.

Hillwalking in Ireland

Scottish hillwalkers will feel at home in Ireland - the main mountain range, The Macgillycuddy's Reeks is very similar to much of our own territory. It's situated just a few miles from Killarney which I used as my base.

The SMC recognise 10 peaks here over 3000 feet, and I set out to climb them over 2 days. It was quite a windy period (May 2011) and there were days with heavy rain, but I was fortunate enough to choose two days when the sun shone and the winds died down.

My first day was on a walk known as the Coomloughra Horseshoe where the main excitement is the rather exposed ridge between Beenkeragh (1010m) and Carrauntoohil ( at 1039m, the highest in Ireland). Along the way one needs to scramble over The Tooth (sometimes called Knockoughter), and the top photograph shows the connecting ridge with The Tooth in the middle, and Carrauntoohil on the left. After that it's an easy traverse to Caher and its West Top, making 5 "Irish Munros" in all.

After a few days waiting for the wind to subside I set off to do the other 5 peaks on what is known as the Eastern Reeks. Starting at Cronin's Yard (a small farmyard with a tearoom) I clambered up The Bone, to Maolan Bui, headed out to Cnoc an Chuillin and then enjoyed the ridge on the way to the aptly named Big Gun. This part of the ridge reminded me a bit of The Saddle. From The Big Gun it was only about 400 metres to the final peak, Cruach Mhor but I found it really tricky with huge slabs which all seemed to lead you out to precarious downclimbs which I didn't feel comfortable with, so it took rather longer than anticipated. Apparently the walk is much easier tackled in the other direction.

So that concluded my 2 days in the Reeks. Before that I'd meandered around Ireland, bagging the other 3 "Munros" , Lugnaquillia, Galtymore and Brandon Mountain, perched way out on the Dingle peninsula, but they weren't really very exciting.

Incidentally, Trail magazine in this month's feature claim that there are 14 peaks over 3000ft, but the odd one is just a little bump on the Eastern Reeks ridge which I passed over in any case.

The second photograph taken from the summit of Cnoc na Peiste shows the ridge leading to The Big Gun (right) and Cruach Mhor (Left) with the very large cairn , and little shrine built by a local.

Ireland is a good destination for a holiday, a bit expensive but that's improving, and weather very similar to our own. Go on, try it !!