The year AD2014 arrived in Plockton with … well, it would appear not much … until a couple of minutes later when some slightly dodgy looking pyrotechnics sparked up the bonfire on the wee island by the village.
Plockton bonfire sparked up by dodgy looking pyrotechnics
Don’t worry folks, the MMC pyrotechnic (pyromaniac?) duo responsible for famous shows such as St Andrews Day, Inverey 2013 and Guy Fawkes Night, Inchnadamph 2012 had nothing to do with this show so the assembled crowd had a slightly greater chance of survival.
Ray and Heavy at Plockton Harbour, awaiting the fireworks
Celebrating the New Year
The firework display that followed was a truly spectacular start to the year and particularly impressive given the size of the village. In addition to the 15 MMC members, crowds had gathered from far and wide to fill up the streets and watch the display that light up the pretty seaside town.
Plockton fireworks
Plockton fireworks
The party continued at the village hall with a community ceilidh. All but 13 of the group went to the ceilidh where we danced to the classic band “Old bloke with a laptop”, gave generously to the community bar and eventually staggered back to the bunkhouse before dawn.
The first day of the year arrived shortly after the party-goers had gone to bed and was a pleasant day for the hills. AndyL, Graeme, Shona and Penny TWD crossed the sea to Skye to walk over the Beinn na Caillach, Beinn Dearg Mhor and Beinn Dearg Bheag horseshoe above Broadford. Fantastic views of the Cuillin were had after a trackless steep ascent.
The Cuillin from summit of Beinn na Caillich
Summit of Beinn Dearg Bheag
The aforementioned Andy had also climbed a hill on his way over to the meet. The summit of Beinn a’Chlachain in Applecross was Andy’s last summit reached in 2013 before a late lunch in the Applecross Inn and then the short journey to Plockton.
Stag on lower slopes of Beinn a’Chlachain
Heavy and Ray also took to the hills on the 1st and enthusiastically drove all the way to the top of Kintail to clamber through deep snow up to Creag na Damith.
Evelyne walked to the seaside and explored coral beach in beautiful sunny weather, finding some lovely corals and scrambling over nearby rocks.
The assembled hungover hordes back at the bunkhouse eventually dragged themselves from their beds, and after some rehydration, caffeine intake and perhaps even some breakfast staggered into the light of day for a wee coastal walk. The views of the snow-capped Cuillin beyond the sparkling sea were gorgeous and almost enough to make one wish that more sleep and less drink had been taken the previous evening. Almost, but not quite. The hazy memories of the surreal village dance were enough to raise a chuckle and rattle a sore head. And anyway, a good view is a good view. It would be churlish to reject a beautiful coastal walk for the pleasures it gives, even if the challenges of greater things appeal, and those greater things are in sight.
Wee coastal walk
Mussels for tea
And talking of pleasures, one of the great aspects of the Hogmanay meet was the food. Everyone brought food to be shared around, which given the lack of organisation inevitably meant that there was far more food than required and the party feasted well. A roast beef dinner was hosted by the Morrisons on the 31st and the following day an avalanche of food started that continued until the 3rd when we all left. No dangerous climbing was undertaken on this meet but there was plenty of dangerous eating.
A fine minestrone soup appeared, several steak pies and Ray baked a wonderful cake. Two chilli con carnes competed for attention and some freshly harvested brussel sprouts were delicately cooked al dente, as they should be.
A raw duck of the strangest blue colour and of completely unknown origins appeared on the scene and was roasted to perfection.
Curried goose (not goose curry, as Jake informed us) was also enjoyed and a delicious banoffy pie was an excellent desert. Jen’s very fine cheeseboard selection provided a suitable after dinner snack and Andy B assured everyone that the Stilton was very nice indeed and accompanied Sheila’s port perfectly. And as if the food brought to Plockton was not enough, a large bag of freshly caught mussels was cooked up and served with a creamy white wine sauce.
Of course all this food was washed down with plenty good drink. A 5 litre can of Weissbier seemed like a good idea at the time but started off by pouring pints of foam and ended up with a glassful of thick yeasty sludge. Mr Brooks did what he does best and critically appraised any bottle within reach, and provided a fine bottle of Reserva, which for anyone unaccustomed to Spanish viniculture, means “Reserved for Andy Brooks”. No MMC trip, and no West coast Hogmanay, would be complete with out some fine whisky and, this being no exception, several bottles flowed freely.
MMC Booze (only kidding)
The 2nd day of 2014 was not quite as dry and bright as the first, but everyone was keen to get out and make the most of it. Heavy unfortunately had to return home that evening but climbed the hill opposite Sgurr a’Chaorachain before returning to Moray.
Evelyne had a pleasant walk along the coast towards Duncraig Castle in sunny weather before the rain set in. However, she never saw the castle after being put off by aggressive signs warning of CCTV cameras.
Jake and Shona also walked towards Duncraig Castle. Later at starting, they missed the initial sunshine enjoyed by Evelyne and walked through the rain, clambering over a few fallen trees to arrive at the castle. They gave the CCTV signs all due respect and continued onwards. As an aside, it should be noted that etiquette dictates that any signs refusing access to land or threatening walkers in any way should be treated with a certain degree of respect. This respect extends to farting in their general direction, or if weather, decorum or lack of intestinal gas dictates otherwise then it is perfectly acceptable to raise two fingers at them. In cases when the weather is so cold that mittens are worn, merely shaking one’s fist at the signs will do just fine. Jake and Shona looked around the castle and were amused by a speaker playing a recorded message telling them that they were being watched. After paying due respect to the speaker they made their way back to Plockton, slightly disappointed to have spent the day amongst coast and woodland and not seen any wildlife.
Andy L, Graeme and Penny TWD climbed Creag Dhubh Mhor from Achintee. It was wet underfoot from start to finish.
Graeme and Penny TWD at the summit of Creag Dhubh Mhor
A large group of eight spent the evening of the 1st pondering over what to do the next day and eventually settled on having a wander over to Fuar Tholl. Mainly because there was a general confusion on why anyone would name a hill on the west coast after a house in Burghead.
Andy B, Dan, Gary, Jen, Joe, Ray, Richard and Sheila made their way up the well built path from Achnashellach Station towards the hills that occasionally peeked out of the cloud. The weather didn’t improve much and the cloud soon descended. One member of the party fell and grazed a leg on the way up, another fell and was soaked in the river crossing.
Crossing the river en-route to Fuar Tholl
Crossing the river en-route to Fuar Tholl
The group climbed into the cloud and sleet in single file, with Jen at the front, leading to a strange notion that this could be a scene from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.
By the time it was necessary to leave the path and strike out across deep snow into a gale to reach the summit a decision had to be taken. Grumpy was sore, bleeding and couldn’t be bothered slogging into a whiteout. Sneezy felt a cold coming on and wished for a hot shower, tea and cake. Sleepy was cold and wet and, in such circumstances favoured going down and Doc agreed that onward progress was pointless. Happy bounced from one foot to the other and happily announced “Well we knew it wasn’t going to be great weather didn’t we, and we did come here to climb a hill” A statement bashfully acknowledged by Bashful. Snow White was eager to play in the snow and Dopey couldn’t decide. When Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy and Doc trudged off down the hill Dopey found himself with the upwards party through default and indecision and the choice then became that of continuing with everyone else or chasing after the now disappeared dwarfs and catch them up. It seemed easier to just stick with those present.
The steep slope out of the corrie was soon reached and it provided an ascent on surprisingly good snow. The walk from the corrie rim to summit was mercifully short as a south easterly gale blue across the hill and froze everyone’s right cheek. It was agreed that at that moment the view from the Burghead Fuar Tholl was almost certainly superior to that of the Achnashellach Fuar Tholl. A rapid map and compass assisted descent was made, in part, by bum slide and at the very end of the day a little sunshine was seen landing, of course, on a hillside across the glen.
Another sociable evening followed with plenty food and drink such party games as the cereal box game and the chair-and-cork game. These games give a good opportunity to test flexibility and agility in a competitive setting, and more importantly, to laugh at drunk people falling over.
Games
Jenny, the 2014 cereal box game champion
Feuerzangenbowle (compliments of Imke)
The weather for the 3rd was correctly forecast to be worse than the 2nd so no hill-going happened, but it was good to stay for another night and have the decadence of a whole day to get up, travel home and hang up the wet gear.
All in all an excellent Hogmanay. The next one is already booked so get your name down soon and see you all at Muir Cottage on 31st December!
Author: Joe
Photos: Andy, Dan and Heavy