19 October 2008 Following our President’s prophetic words “We’ve been having a fairly good run of weather on bus meets since January, so don’t miss out on this one! (That’ll jinx it)”, one can only wonder if Ali might be a bit of a psychic [Ali says: No, just e-vil, mwahahahaha!]  Gale force winds and a severe weather warning for the West led us to cancel our bus meet in Assynt for a low-level walk in the Cairngorms. The coach arrived at the Sugar Bowl car park just before 9.30am as the wind picked up. Shortly after crossing the river, it started raining, soputting waterproof clothing on, fighting against 50mph…

Sunday 21st September 2008 This is a short and sweet account of what was a long yet pleasant traverse across the Corrieyairack Pass from Garva Bridge to Ft Augustus. Another disappointing turnout, with just 17 attending (What’s going on people?), although in mitigation a large group of regulars were away in Morocco. Most folk followed the old military road built by General Wade in 1731. A picture of this engineering genius adorns one of the rooms in the well-restored Melgarve bothy along the way. To be absolutely honest, this was a fair trudge of about 30 km, and we cast envious glances at a group of mountain bikers as they…

Sunday, 19th October 2008 O.S.Map(s): 15 Est. time of arrival: 9.45 am Time of departure: 17.30 pm Leave Elgin: 7.00 am Assynt has an impressive array of outstanding mountains: Ben More Assynt, Conival, Canisp, Quinag Breabag – names to conjure with. The rock in this area is predominantly gneiss, on top of which sandstone hills have weathered to create some of the weird and magnificent shapes typical of this region and on a clear day, this is an area where you like to linger as long as possible. We’ve been having a fairly good run of weather on bus meets since January, so don’t miss out on this one! (That’ll…

Sunday, 21st September 2008 O.S.Map(s): 34/35 Est. time of arrival: 9.15 am Time of departure: 17.30 pm Leave Elgin: 7.00 am The traverse along the ancient Corrieyairack road (built by General Wade in 1731), will begin at the old barracks and former Inn at Garvamore and finish at Fort Augustus.  The distance will be approx. 30kms and towards the western end there is a steep ascent in 12 zigzags, where the 775m road summit provides magnificent views, before the equally steep descent to the Allt Lagan a’ Bhainne bridge.  Continue down Glen Tarff high on the west side of the deep tree-lined gorge of the River Tarff to Culachy, and…

Sunday, 17th August 2008 A very windy day saw a total of 15 members and 3 guests turn up for this traverse, thus justifying the use of a 25 seat bus. All parties started their walk from there in “moist” conditions however strong gales very quickly pushed the malevolent drizzle away to reveal some good views. All made their way to Carn Ban Mor and then divided into three groups. Moira Baptie, Anne Carter, Lydia Davies, Fiona Duncan, Paul Hope and Bob Weeks headed north to complete a traverse over the long ridge of Sgor Gaoith. Cloud and wind accompanied most of the way which caused many a stumble and…

20th July 2008 A party consisting of nine club members and a guest turned up for this meet and the use of cars proved successful on this particular occasion. Ali Erginsoy, Graeme Morrison, Graeme Bartlett, guest Richard, Lydia Davis, Flora Hunt, Natacha Mihajlovic, Mick Greenshields, Bob Weeks and John Henderson parked vehicles at the end of the road past the Lochinver hotel and walked along the track to Glencanisp Lodge and Suileag. They crossed the river Abhain na Clach Air at the north end of Loch na Gainimh before heading south towards the hillside of Suilven. The party stopped for lunch at the foot of the hill. Despite a steep…

Sunday, 17th August 2008 O.S.Map(s): 36/43 Est. time of arrival: 9.30 am Time of departure: 18.00 pm Leave Elgin: 7.00 am Traverses are what bus meets are made for! Here then is a superb opportunity to bag some of those out of the way hills that are otherwise just that bit too far. There are several points for disembarking the bus: The Gliding Club airfield and Auchlean are the most useful.  From there, the ridge consisting of Carn Ban Mor, Sgor Gaith and Sgoran Dubh Mor is one option, finishing off at Coylumbridge. Another, longer but most rewarding route would be to carry on from Carn Ban Mor across the…

15 June 2008 Despite a very favourable weather forecast and the chance of a trip to the Adventure Capital of the UK, there was a very poor turnout of only 18 people (which included 7 guests) for this bus meet.  On the day, the weather was warm and dry, with scarcely a breath of wind, although there were occasional very light snow flurries at the top.  Early cloud on the Ben lifted to provide one of only 36 days in the year when the summit is clear. No one brought their mountain bike to have a go on the fearsome downhill course at Aonach Mor, but one group opted for…

Sunday, 20th July 2008 O.S.Map(s): 15 Est. time of arrival: 10.00 am Time of departure: 18.00 pm Leave Elgin: 7.00 am Is it a Munro? Is it a Corbett? No, it’s Suilven! A contender for Scotland’s finest peak, Suilven is a favourite with hillwalkers, scramblers and photographers alike. And for kayakers (yes, I mean you GG), there is the added bonus of it being accessible from the main road via Loch Veyatie. With the holiday season in full swing, attendance for the July bus meet has been poor in recent years, so to avoid making a big loss, this year’s meet is being organised as a self-drive event. All those…