Six months since the last Caberfeidh Munro Baggers 'meet' up in Kinlochleven and we were back together again at last...well some of us were anyway. It is now becoming the norm for these meets to be slightly bereft of numbers from the original interest shown, but never bereft of fun times and belly laughs from those that do attend. Poor Angus had to sacrifice his attendance so that he could go to Tenerife with his long suffering wife for his birthday (if he gets what she asked me to recommend then he is a lucky boy indeed)...Poor Mike caught a full on dose of something nasty (not manflu as we first feared) and erred against spreading it amongst the troops...Poor Paddy injured his shoulder and could only attend the after hill drinking this time...Poor Justine appears to have done something nasty to her Achilles ligament...Poor Louise had to work!!! There were the usual amount of others that said they might come but didn't bother to book...but as they don't normally come anyway we can't really count them as missing.
These events usually involve meeting up on the Friday night in Kinlochleven, all booked into the Tailrace Inn, having a bucketful of alcohol, doing a Munro or two on the Saturday, having another bucketful on the Saturday night, then realising that none of us are fit enough to do any walking on the Sunday!!! Normally the entertainment comes from within the group (the town is usually dead) but this time the pub booked a disco as it was so close to valentines day, for the Friday night. Given the call offs we suffered, and the necessity to go into work on Friday, I was unable to make it down on the Friday night as planned (a full attendance would have seen me bust a gut to get down that road, but the thought of driving all that way so late in the day was not putting me in the best of moods). Instead I arranged to leave Aberdeen early on the Saturday morning and meet the last two attendees (Paul Ruby Murray and Frank Kerr) at the start point of the walk in Glencoe. We had planned to attempt Sgurr Eilde Mor on Saturday but the forecast for the area was terrible...so we abandoned that plan and went with the Sunday plan instead...Buachaille Etive Beag!!
I arrived at the start point at about half past nine, after stopping at the green welly for a breakfast roll, to find quite a few cars already there. I had texted Frank with the directions to get here from the Tailrace Inn last night...but had forgotten to add the most important thing "if you reach a bridge with two arches either side of it then you have gone too far", as I thought even they wouldn't miss the car park by that far...apparently I was wrong!!! A frantic call from Ruby at 0940 asking if they should be as far along as the King's house hotel confirmed that I should have added that final line to the text. Once they had performed a u-turn at the king's house hotel it only took them another five minutes to reach the proper car park...where I immediately pointed out the obvious signs I had told them to watch out for as they drove by...like the large beehive shaped cairn on the left of the car park!!!
After the usual round of friendly greetings we got changed and ready to start our day properly...until we clocked the hat Frank had chosen to wear!! Talk about over compensating for being a baldy...he had adopted the last of the mohican look through his hat instead. Admittedly it looked well warm but that wouldn't save him from a slagging...even worse when he admitted that his burd (that's Scottish slang for girlfriend) had bought it for him!!
We set off up the obvious path (behind that blue van) to follow the rights of way to Lairig Eilde, before heading off up to the bealach along the newly renovated path. The views back down the glen and of Bidean nam Bian to our right were absolutely stunning...oh wait...they would have been stunning if we could have seen anything through the mist all around us. Instead they looked like this>>>
On days like this, with no views to be had, you are grateful for the company of some good friends to keep your spirits up. Unfortunately I had only Frank and Paul for company today (oh you guys know I'm joking!!)...
There was a large group of walkers ahead of us on the path to the bealach throughout our ascent...all adorned in winter gear, ice axes, helmets, crampons...and I started to fear that this was going to be a second trip in a row that the elements would win out as my companions had slightly less than ideal gear on for the conditions. But Frank and Paul are a resilient pair and convinced me that they were more than capable of following me up the snowy slopes. We agreed that if anyone felt things were getting a bit dangerous, or visibility decreased too much, or we just felt things were less than safe enough to allow us to continue that we would about turn and head back down. There have been way too many deaths on the hills already this winter, without us adding to the statistics!!
So off we set in pursuit of the group ahead of us, hoping to catch them before the bealach...now I don't know if they slowed down, or we dug in even harder in pursuit, but we caught them by the bealach and no mistake!! Whilst they dithered as to which Munro to attempt first we motored on past them and headed for the ridge towards Stob Dubh, taking a bearing south-west from the bealach. As a team we discussed the conditions, the risks that could face us as we gained height, and decided to go for it (obviously agreeing to assess it again if conditions worsened). Thankfully the wind that was forecast overnight never materialised, indeed the conditions (apart from the mist) couldn't actually have been any more conducive to perfect hill walking. I told the guys of the best way to approach the ridge ahead, stay away from any edges is always a good start!!
There is absolutely no doubting that Buachaille Etive Beag lives in the shadow of it's more illustrious (and aesthetically pleasing) neighbour, Buachaille Etive Mor, but that should not detract from the fact that Beag has it's own fine character. I had previously walked this route in May 2011 (Blog entry; two days in Glencoe) so was fully aware that there were two rounded humps in the path (not that we could see a path today) before the ridge on Stob Dubh starts to narrow out and provide some level of exposure...especially to the elements as I remember!! Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately depending on your perception, none of this was relevant today...visibility was so poor that all you could see was white!! I had to remind the troops to stay close to each other on the ascent as it would be easy to lose ones bearings in this weather and become detached from each other. As the ridge narrowed out the rocks on either side of the path were exposed through the snow, providing us with a visible route for the first time since entering the snow zone. I erred the lads to stay between the rocks at all times to avert the risk of straying too close to the edges. I can well remember the sheer drop to the left of the ridge as height is gained. Eventually we pulled onto the summit and located the cairn at 958m. Usually the best views to be had would be to traverse along to the next small cairn on the summit (which juts out enough from the larger Buachaille to give views down into Glen Etive...loch Etive, Ben Starav and Ben Cruachan all visible on a clear day). Not much point in doing that today though...
Although the weather wasn't great it wasn't as bad as we had been expecting either. There was almost no wind at all on the summit, which in turn kept the temperature quite steady (no wind chill to decrease it further). We stayed on the summit for longer than we had probably anticipated and shared some of our memories of past trips, and a few horror stories from last nights cheezy beats disco which made me chuckle. We decided that the second Munro on the route couldn't be any harder to achieve than Stob Dubh had been. We descended the way we had come, taking even greater care on the way down as any slip could prove fatal in these conditions.
On the descent we passed some small groups of walkers, who had either started after us or done Stob Coire Raineach first, then passed the large group we had beaten to the bealach earlier. After traversing through thick patches of snow returning to the bealach we got quite a shock as we started to ascend the slopes of Stob Coire Raineach...the snow had disappeared!! It was strange to imagine that two Munro's so close together...joined by the same ridge...could have such differing conditions to contend with. I tried to explain reasons for this to the others but I didn't really believe them myself, though I did say that when we reached the summit that there would be a fair bit of snow on the other side of the cairn which proved true. So upwards we went, through wet rocks and some slushy snow, to the summit cairn of Stob Coire Raineach at 925m. This summit was only promoted to Munro status in 1997 after an OS measurement. Strangely enough, with there being less snow on this summit than the last one, we were feeling chillier than earlier on. Any gloves or hats that had been removed were quickly put back on up here. We took a few pics at the summit cairn...
Jelly McBaby playing hide and seek with Frank and Paul...
Paul being a plank...at least I think that's what Frank said, the sound was rather muffled as my hat was pulled over my ears to keep the cold out.
Anyway, we congratulated each other on a job well done...they had each added another two Munro's to their respective tally's, and I had managed to get them safely up and off despite my earlier fears at being able to do so. We descended the slopes to return to the bealach, though as Frank pointed out at one stage we actually seemed to be on a clear path on the descent (the ascent had been straight up through the rocks) and more care had to be taken as a result of the rocks being so slippy. Once back at the bealach the snow returned beneath our feet and we indulged in some gameful horseplay. Paul faked a pic of being buried up to his thighs in snow...then actually did step in a hole up to his thigh. Frank decided to make a snow angel, which I videoed but am unable to show due to the sweary content. Then the three of us decided to slide down the slopes on our rear ends...squealing like five year olds...attempting to knock each other down at every opportunity. I missed Frank with a snow ball I threw at one point (by a whisker) which would have knocked him out if it had connected.
With all the hilarity descending the slope we were back at the path in no time, or at least it felt like that. Once on the path again we returned to behaving like adults...well as best we could. It was now just a case of following the path back to the waiting cars...all in the trip took 5.25 hours (compared to 3.5 the last time I did it) which was wholly acceptable in the conditions. Now all that remained was a quick change into dry clothes and a short drive to Kinlochleven. This was our third trip to Kinlochleven with the Caberfeidh Munro Baggers, and our lowest attendance yet. On arrival at the Tailrace Inn we were greeted by our injured comrade Paddy, and Frank's new girlfriend Christine. A quick pint then off to our rooms for a shower and change before returning to the bar for some tea before the nights alcoholic intake...
As with all previous trips away with the CMB team, what happens in Kinlochleven stays in Kinlochleven...but suffice to say that we managed to gate crash a Jacobite night at the only hotel in town and mingle with some strange looking locals at the bar, even having to flee for fear of retribution being handed out as a result of one of our parties antics!! Never a dull moment on CMB trips, that's for sure.
So far we have stuck to the twice yearly meet ups in Kinlochleven, February (because a number of us have birthdays that month) and August (because it splits the year up) so the next one will be the same (exact date in August to be agreed) when we will hopefully tackle Sgurr Eilde Mor and Binnean Beag to complete the Mamores (for me anyway).
The next CMB meet is being arranged by Mike for April in Killin (check Caberfeidh Munro Baggers page on Facebook for details) and there is a return to Skye being planned for the summer.
Until next time then folks, happy bagging...
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There was a large group of walkers ahead of us on the path to the bealach throughout our ascent...all adorned in winter gear, ice axes, helmets, crampons...and I started to fear that this was going to be a second trip in a row that the elements would win out as my companions had slightly less than ideal gear on for the conditions. But Frank and Paul are a resilient pair and convinced me that they were more than capable of following me up the snowy slopes. We agreed that if anyone felt things were getting a bit dangerous, or visibility decreased too much, or we just felt things were less than safe enough to allow us to continue that we would about turn and head back down. There have been way too many deaths on the hills already this winter, without us adding to the statistics!!
There is absolutely no doubting that Buachaille Etive Beag lives in the shadow of it's more illustrious (and aesthetically pleasing) neighbour, Buachaille Etive Mor, but that should not detract from the fact that Beag has it's own fine character. I had previously walked this route in May 2011 (Blog entry; two days in Glencoe) so was fully aware that there were two rounded humps in the path (not that we could see a path today) before the ridge on Stob Dubh starts to narrow out and provide some level of exposure...especially to the elements as I remember!! Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately depending on your perception, none of this was relevant today...visibility was so poor that all you could see was white!! I had to remind the troops to stay close to each other on the ascent as it would be easy to lose ones bearings in this weather and become detached from each other. As the ridge narrowed out the rocks on either side of the path were exposed through the snow, providing us with a visible route for the first time since entering the snow zone. I erred the lads to stay between the rocks at all times to avert the risk of straying too close to the edges. I can well remember the sheer drop to the left of the ridge as height is gained. Eventually we pulled onto the summit and located the cairn at 958m. Usually the best views to be had would be to traverse along to the next small cairn on the summit (which juts out enough from the larger Buachaille to give views down into Glen Etive...loch Etive, Ben Starav and Ben Cruachan all visible on a clear day). Not much point in doing that today though...
Anyway, we congratulated each other on a job well done...they had each added another two Munro's to their respective tally's, and I had managed to get them safely up and off despite my earlier fears at being able to do so. We descended the slopes to return to the bealach, though as Frank pointed out at one stage we actually seemed to be on a clear path on the descent (the ascent had been straight up through the rocks) and more care had to be taken as a result of the rocks being so slippy. Once back at the bealach the snow returned beneath our feet and we indulged in some gameful horseplay. Paul faked a pic of being buried up to his thighs in snow...then actually did step in a hole up to his thigh. Frank decided to make a snow angel, which I videoed but am unable to show due to the sweary content. Then the three of us decided to slide down the slopes on our rear ends...squealing like five year olds...attempting to knock each other down at every opportunity. I missed Frank with a snow ball I threw at one point (by a whisker) which would have knocked him out if it had connected.
As with all previous trips away with the CMB team, what happens in Kinlochleven stays in Kinlochleven...but suffice to say that we managed to gate crash a Jacobite night at the only hotel in town and mingle with some strange looking locals at the bar, even having to flee for fear of retribution being handed out as a result of one of our parties antics!! Never a dull moment on CMB trips, that's for sure.
So far we have stuck to the twice yearly meet ups in Kinlochleven, February (because a number of us have birthdays that month) and August (because it splits the year up) so the next one will be the same (exact date in August to be agreed) when we will hopefully tackle Sgurr Eilde Mor and Binnean Beag to complete the Mamores (for me anyway).
The next CMB meet is being arranged by Mike for April in Killin (check Caberfeidh Munro Baggers page on Facebook for details) and there is a return to Skye being planned for the summer.
Until next time then folks, happy bagging...
https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/media/set/?set=a.4536289092223.2155111.1440975916&type=3
