After our sailing antics (see post below), Dave spent a month in Perth interning at a wind analysis company. We managed to meet up in the middle (Teesdale) for a weekend, mostly spent slobbing in the van, battling through heather on some obscure moor, drinking wine by Cow Green Reservoir, and walking along the Pennine Way in what appeared (judging by everyone else) to be the wrong direction. It was a good weekend, but not really deserving of its own blog post.
However, at the end of Dave’s internship we had a proper trip, courtesy of a Farrow family wedding in Torridon. Our first mountain fix on the long trip north was Glencoe, where the sun was out – along with the tourist coaches and bagpipers. We soon left the crowds behind as we headed up Bidean via the zig zags onto Gearr Aonach, and Stob Coire nan Lochan. From “zig zags” I was expecting a beneath-an-alpine-lift-style slog, but they turned out to be significantly more fun in an unlikey-secret-passage kind of way. It was absurdly hot and we found ourselves sheltering in the shade of every suitable rock for a drink. At the summit we watched a mountain rescue helicopter collecting a search team from the next top, then descended down the Lost Valley (we had been contemplating adding Sgreamhach to the day, but we’d only started at 11 having driven up from Glasgow, and still had a 4-hour drive to Torridon to go).
Unfortunately, by the time we’d washed all the sweat off, most of the drive was in the dark, but we did have dinner watching a spectacular sunset over the Grey Corries from the Spean Bridge Commando Memorial, and the full moon lit up the landscapes (and deer) around Glen Shiel and Lochcarron as we passed through.
The next day we did the classic traverse of Liathach – a complete contrast to our previous ascent, which had been unrelentingly grey and drizzly. It was very warm and windless again, but much of the steep ascent was in mist as we climbed through the cloud that had shrouded the mountainside after sunrise. As we gained the ridge we just rose above the cloud into the sunshine, and watched as it all gradually cleared below us over the course of an hour or so. We had fun scrambling over the pinnacles and managed to descend with our knees just about intact. The walk finished with a refreshing dip in the river Torridon, followed by drying off on a sunny slab of gneiss while eating haggis-flavoured crisps (then hastily retreating to escape the evening midges).
Normal service resumed on Friday as we completed a damp, misty and viewless round of Ben Alligin – much the same as the previous time we climbed it, only in the other direction and incorporating a less-frequented nose ascent route (Na Fasreidhnean).
On the day of the wedding itself there was only time for a morning “stroll” – on a somewhat deceptive coastal path from Inveralligin to Diabeg. Although we’d only really intended to go halfway and then reverse, the groom was having so much fun that we carried on – over countless lumps and bumps, through a squally shower, down a cliff face, and finally back along a road containing no fewer than seven up arrows and seven down arrows, all at a pace that was more of a run than a walk. A decent warm-up for the evening’s ceilidh!
Yellow Van Mountaineering 