A selection of goings-on from the last few months, none of which seemed deserving of its own post! But I have photos and nowhere else to put them, so here they are.
First, our annual New Year trip to Scotland, this time to Mull. Staying right on the shore, we enjoyed spotting otters, sea eagles and the Northern Lights, plus a Corbett, some Grahams, a cave, some pottering and a great sunny/snowy mountaineering day out on Ben More. Unfortunately I’d forgotten to charge my camera battery and didn’t have a spare…
Next, I joined an Eagle Ski Club off-piste skiing course taught by the highly recommended Alison Culshaw, based in Chamonix. It was the coldest week of the winter (-20), but sunny and very profitable from a learning-to-ski-properly point of view.
Dave was feeling left out, so we planned a weekend in Scotland at the end of January to try some Scottish skiing. But we didn’t think there was enough snow, and reverted to Plan B (some efficient bagging of the Lawers Munros on foot). However, the van had other ideas when the alternator packed up on Friday night in Glenogle between Lochearnhead and Killin. Having spent the night there we visited the local garage, who couldn’t fix us and advised that we “enjoy our holiday” and get the AA to tow us home on Sunday. By now having wasted half the day and being stuck in Killin in steadily falling (slightly solid) rain, Lawers was out the question. Instead: brunch, then a walk back up Glenogle and a consolation Graham, Meall Buidhe. We spent all of Sunday getting home…
My birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so we invited the local duffers for a walk round the Langdale Pikes (really just an excuse for a get-together).
David came to visit us for a weekend to tick off some of our local Marilyns. We’d been up Sharp Haw on the Skipton skyline before, but our route this time (from Flasby) was much nicer, and this time we visited neighbouring Rough Haw too. As that was a short morning’s work, we headed to Ilkley in the afternoon to explore its famous Moor (it was too cold for any baht ‘at nonsense, mind you). On Sunday we visited Brontë country for a slightly grim circuit of Boulsworth Hill, Top Withens and the Walshaw Dean Reservoirs. The mist didn’t lift all day, hence no pictures…
At the start of March we visited Eleri in St Andrews. Rain and mist confined us a walk along the Fife coast path on Saturday, from which the sea was only visible when we were actually on the beach. On Sunday, we did a pleasant loop from Auchtermuchty around Pitmedden Forest. Highlights were the nice woodland, views of the Firth of Tay, a deer farm and the slightly incongruous hot tub business.
Yellow Van Mountaineering 