May Day bank holiday weekend is the traditional island meet for the MMC. The location this year was the Isle of Rum, the biggest of the group of four islands that make up the Small Isles. Rum was for much of the first half of the 20th Century known among west coasters and islanders as the forbidden isle. This was due to it being in private ownership as a sporting estate and with a policy turning away people who did not have permission to be there. During the 2nd half of the century the island passed into the ownership of the Nature Conservancy council who later became SNH. They had…

The irony of Joe Glennie telling anyone to ‘hurry up’ is rich indeed, but this has been an honour afforded to me these past few weeks, as memories of the MMC Hogmanay meet recede and Joe harries me for the report. Apart from upsetting Joe (a difficult, yet satisfying endeavour) it does of course mean that no-one remembers what actually happened and your addle-headed author can pen what he will with little fear of recrimination. So here follows that which was recorded in the Book of Climbs. If it isn’t there, then it won’t be here and I certainly can’t remember. The last day of the year was also one…

Venue: Strawberry Cottage, Glen Affric Location: West end of Loch Affric, Grid Ref: NH 132 206. Glen Affric is a very special and beautiful place. A natural nature reserve and a site of special scientific interest. The glen has a real wilderness feel although, fences and buildings show that it has been inhabited for a long time. the hills will always be there, but Strawberry Cottage allows you to linger for a while and get the most out of your experience. Long days are the best, the hills deserve to be savoured and many of the fantastic ridges are not really accessible to the day tripper. Facilities: 12 beds with mattresses and pillows…

A good crowd of 17 people made it to this ever popular venue at Strontian. Most to them being retired or only part time workers several made a long weekend of it with much activity on the previous days as well, while Heavy fretted about the lack of workers to pay his pension. Alan and Fiona kicked off their long weekend with a visit to Mull on Thursday. They had a short climb up the Graham Cruach Choireadail finding it very windy but sunny and with great visibility. They spent the evening in the hot tub at the Isle of Mull Hotel enjoying the views of Ben Cruachan on the…

This is the long weekend and Rum is always a popular destination. We will be camping (Kinloch Village Campsite), £6 p pn, but there are eight places available in the camping pods, approx £40 for the weekend. Pods are first come first served and I will cancel the reservation if there are not enough takers a couple of weeks before the meet. If you have not been there before Rum offers excellent walking, with several Corbetts and lesser hills, superb rock climbing and it’s great for wildlife too. Climbing on Rum can be affected by breeding birds, so have a look at Mountaineering Scotland’s bird breeding information before you finalise plans Getting there…

This meet is based at the Ariundle Centre Bunkhouse in Strontian (Google Maps). OS Landranger sheet 40. This offers the Ardnamurchan peninsula, rock climbing on Garbh Bheinn and numerous Corbetts in a remote part of the country that we do not visit very often. It is also well located for kayaking on Loch Sunart, Loch Shiel and Kentra Bay and Loch Moidart. In addition there is a lot of local history and natural history and also plenty of opportunities for mountain biking. The bunkhouse is very comfortable and has a restaurant next door for those not wishing to cook. Price to be confirmed but probably £40 for the weekend. There…