The weather gods decided we had suffered enough at Coruisk and so blessed the Moray Mountaineering Club with truly stunning weather for our trip to Strontian.
An assorted bunch of club members, guests / prospective members, hill walkers, Corbett baggers, Champagne drinkers and wee plastic boat paddlers assembled at the bunkhouse at Ariundle on Friday night to discuss plans for the coming weekend.
Alan was ready and primed with gallons of Champagne, a bottle of 21 year old Glengoyne and a route in mind – Streap, his final Corbett. Ben Resipol was an obvious target for a day out and a paddle around the notorious Ardnamurchan Point was discussed in great detail by the plastic boat brigade.
The main event on Saturday was Alan’s final Corbett which involved a mass ascent of Streap and a Champagne Party on top. Fiona D, Fiona C, John H, Drummond, Ella and Dave W accompanied Alan to the summit. They were joined by Graeme and Penny TWD who, caught in a certain dilemma of “must climb more than just one Corbett” and “can’t miss out on a Champagne Party” decided to do a round of the two Glenfinnan Munros before joining the party on top of Streap.
Alan kindly left the Balvenie and Glengoyne for the evening. After drinking a toast with more bubbly (cue Rum Doodle references to “More Champagne!”) the uisge beatha was cracked open. It may well be that leaving the whisky for the evening instead of drinking it on the summit is a sensible move, but never let it be said that opening good whisky and offering it round The Moray Mountaineering Club is sensible if you want to take some home… The Glengoyne had sat maturing for 21 years before it was bottled but once the seal was broken it was polished off in about 21 minutes. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all, or at least by most, and certainly by me!
As for the strange group who chose to spend a Mountaineering Club weekend sitting on their arses, I’ll let Dan take up the story:
“They say time and tide wait for no man… we therefore feared that the expedition was doomed from the start. The previous evening was spent examining nautical charts and making great predictions about timing of “slack tide”. The allotted start time was midday from Kilchoan pier. Some time after midday Bob had finally packed his boat, put his buoyancy aid, put on his go-pro, taken off his buoyancy aid, etc. Meanwhile Joe stood on the slipway with an expression of frustration!
The happy four set off with some trepidation to Ardnamurchan Point – renowned for its strong tides and confused seas. Today, fortunately, it was all a mill pond – what was all the fuss about? We drifted past the lighthouse and on to Sanna and the waiting car. A fine day out.”
With such fine weather and great views the beautiful Ben Resipol was just begging to be climbed, sitting as it does, right on the doorstep of Strontian. An all-female team consisting of two club members, Jenny and Kat and four guests, Alison, Katrina, Fiona R and Sheila set out to make a traverse of this fine hill. A full description has not yet been forwarded to me for writing up but some bullet-point notes were made on Saturday evening, transcribed below:
Boulder Babes
Drive on single track road – fuuuuck!
• Fine art shopping – £40 earrings, £3000 pictures
• Bluebells
• Bra / MMC calendar girls
• Knicker(less?) Jenny / boobs / swimming
• Fashion show
• (c) trout = mango high
• Groin + associated physio treatment
• Scramble (Fi’s first) – “forced” up on cairn
• Winge, winge, winge
• Bog + ticks + sunburn / stroke
• Gate jumping – bull avoidance
• Sheila’s driving
• Whisky tasting
• Bird – tern?
• Wild flowers, frogs, lizards
• Sheep – MEEEHHH!
• Bug on cairn
On Sunday Dan, Joe, Illona, Sheila, Kat, Jenny, Katrina and Fiona R headed for Glenuig. The former four set off for nautical adventures and the latter group walked to the point, where they all met up for a picnic. Blue skies, no wind, lovely views to Eigg, Rum, Muck, Arisaig, etc. Some of the group suggested that it was like the Caribbean but I think it was better. All eight later met up back nearer the pub at a sandy bay where the four walkers tried out a bit of paddling before (of course) heading to the pub.
John Henderson took to the hills on Sunday and his description is as follows:
“From the Hostel, I headed back east on the A861, and continued on this road to the peninsula of land looking across the water to Fort William. Having driven this road the previous day, I knew it would take a long time to get anywhere! From Achaphubuil, I headed up the forest track and then continued along the undulating ridge to the 467m summit of Meall an t-Slamain (a Marilyn). The views across to Ben Nevis should have been superb, but there was a dark cloud hovering over the Ben which prevented any classic photos! The walk was a bit of a struggle after the excesses of champagne and whisky the night before – but it was worth the effort (kind of!)”
Graeme and Penny TWD headed off on Sunday to Glen Coe where Penny was determined to drag Graeme up more Munros to tick off her list, these ones being Bidean nam Bian and Stob CoireSgreamhach. The highest summit in Argyll being a fine choice for a fine day.
A notable point is that there were more women than men at this weekend meet. This of course is always welcome in a mountaineering club when such clubs can sometimes be seen as the preserve of grumpy old men. There is one such club in Scotland, founded in 1889 but I will leave nameless, which advertises on its website that “At present the Club has a membership of around 450. In 1990 women were admitted to membership, following many debates. Their numbers are fast approaching double figures.” I’m glad to say that The Moray Mountaineering Club has a much more balanced membership and has never had such debates because since it was formed in 1931 it has been open to all. Even kayakers!
Joe Glennie, Weekend Meet Co-ordinator
Photos: Kat Mitchell and John Henderson