Last month was the Knoydart Foundation bunkhouse in Inverie. This month it was the Loch Ossian Youth Hostel by Rannoch Moor. Both are out of the reach of the motor car, both are new venues for the club and both proved to be lovely places to stay with potential for future meets to be held there. Luckily the weather was better for this meet than the last and as a bonus we were treated to the company of a number of people who had never been on a Moray Mountaineering Club weekend meet before.
Malcolm, Illona, Sue and Faye arrived on the Friday lunchtime train, getting to the hostel by 1pm. Malcolm took advantage of the time and proximity to a Munro to get a cheeky bag of Beinn na Lap. He then took a walk up hills further east the next day along with Lucy, Kevin, Nicholas, David and Steve.
“A brisk walk east along Loch Ossian, then up the east along Loch Ossian,then up the north shoulder of Sgorr Gaibhre. Nothing difficult – but nothing to see either. Sky and ground a uniform white. Bit breezy on the summit, but no challenge other than map and compass to stay on track. Lunch on the summit, then off to Carn Dearg. Met 6 or 7 coming the other way which simplified the navigation to following footsteps in the snow. Aside from the odd foot disappearing into holes, a pleasant but not too challenging day.”
Evelyne walked around Loch Ossian on Friday and teamed up with Faye to climb Beinn na Lap on Saturday. No views were had from the low cloud but a few Ptarmigan were spotted along the way.
Brad and Katie cycled in from Loch Laggan on Friday and Brad described his Saturday adventure with Katie, Joe, Sheila and Illona in the Book of Climbs:
“The morning was a rush. But a rush that lead to a pretty epic day all in all. After a terrific blur of porridge making, pot washing, lunch making and backpacking stuffing, we (literally) legged it for the 8.30 train to Rannoch. The plan was to take the train out follow the ridge back, but the plan was vastly improved by a brief coffee / tea / bacon buttie stop at the station cafe.
We followed a track with Illona and Sheila, with the plan of splitting up at the oppurtune moment when the climb up the hill looked easy enough for the three souls suffering from a ‘mild’ hangover. The climb was pretty full on (for me) but two hours later, and after a few chocolate and marzipan breaks, we bagged my first Munro! Couldn’t see much but it felt invigorating to get to the top. The cloud cleared on the way down and we were treated to some spectacular views over the loch. Amazing day.”
Brent climbed the same hills and Malcolm & co but in the opposite direction, cramming in the ridge that Brad & co took to give a good long day out:
“Up early for the breakfast melee. Twenty people trying to cook in a 4′ x 4′ area – such fun! Up off the track on my own to Peter’s Rock and the ruins of the old Corrour shooting lodge. Cut up the hill through thick snow to Sron Lechd a’ Chaorain along the ridge in white out conditions to Carn Dearg. Glad to get there as the constant peering had me seeing rocks moving! A long slog over to Sgorr Ghaibhre meeting some of the others on the way to Sgor Choinnich and down to the loch. Sore feet walking back to the hostel but a great day.”
Andy, Bob and Fiona made a horseshoe traverse of Leum Uilliem, described in the Book of Climbs as follows: “It would have been a fine day if the cloud had lifted. It, of course, broke up, as we descended.”
Sue partook in one of her customary low level but long and adventurous weekend walks…
“Friday afternoon walk around Loch to see house owned by “Tetrapak” family. Saturday followed railway line to Loch Treig then south to bothy at Loch Chrerain. Weather drizzling on and off and a few dead deer littered about but otherwise a good walk. Detour on way back to Creaguaineach Lodge, where paths go off to Spean Bridge and Fort William. Lots of frogs on this part of the journey. Followed new track uphill to hostel and back by 6pm” Sue then followed a circuitous route around Meall na Lice on Sunday, stopping off at the ruin of Lubnaclach for lunch.
Dan elected to take to the pistes, also recording his adventure in the big red book:
“Up early and rushed off to Corrour Station to meet Sheena, Donald and Brian off the train from Tulloch. Discovered that in my haste to avoid the melee of the breakfast rush I had left my ski poles behind – d’oh! Oh well, will just manage without. A few hundred metres along the track was a 1.5m length of plastic pipe – perfect! After a short bog trot we put skis on and headed up the north west ridge to Beinn a Bhric. A short descent in white out led to the bealach and then a short climb to Leum Uilleim. The climbing was now rewarded with a fine traverse / descent towards Corrour to within a few hundred metres of the station before the snow patches ran out. A good day out.”
Sunday dawned absolutely beautiful. The sky was crystal clear blue, wisps of cloud clung to the loch and the hillsides before burning off in the sunshine. There was not a breath of wind and the loch was a perfect mirror. Time was constrained by the railway timetable but with weather like this it would be a shame not to go high. Most of the group elected to climb Beinn na Lap. Even some who had already done so this weekend – they had reached the summit but not seen the views, and what views they were. With the almost complete lack of wind, OS maps 41 and 42 were spread out fully on the summit and names could be given to many of the hills.
The white crown of Ben Nevis dominated the northwest while Bidean nam Bian rose above the jagged ridge of Aonach Eagach. The unmistakable pyramid of Schiehallion was in the east under an azure sky, south of the great hulk of Ben Alder.
The day was also a test of modes of transport. Dan left the hostel in his ski boots and was skinning up the moment he reached snow. Joe elected to walk in lightweight walking boots with ski boots in the rucksack. Dan got to the top first, Joe lagged behind several non-skiing walkers. Both enjoyed an excellent ski descent. There was the occasional gap in the snow where with enough momentum a couple of metres of grass could be skied from snow to snow. A shallow gully was followed to the deer fence where the skiing finished, due to the fence, not lack of snow.
The walkers and skiers met up at the hostel and a group dip in the loch followed (for some) before everyone departed for the station.
Malcolm left the hostel early and climbed Leum Uilleim, taking in the excellent views from the summit that had eluded others who had been this way the previous day. He then took advantage of the favourable timetable and the cafe at Rannoch Station and caught the train there for lunch before nipping on the northbound train to meet everyone else as it passed Corrour.
A large group of people spilled out onto the platform as the train ground to a halt at Corrour Station, to be replaced by the assembled tanned, smiling faces of the Moray Mountaineering Club. The mist, cloud and view-less summits of Friday and Saturday were forgotten under Sunday’s crystal clear sunshine and the views of Loch Treig and the Easains were savoured as the train sped north.
Report by Joe
Photos by Dan