First of all, a warm welcome back to the club for Dale. So, 16 members headed off for Glen Carron knowing full well that the weather was not going to be kind. The remnants of the Caribbean summer hurricanes were heading to the west coast of Scotland on the Sunday afternoon. So, with this in mind several members opted not to go up high.
A new bus driver, Matt, needed some guidance on how to pronounce some of our Scottish hill names and villages. Anyway, his sat nav got us safely to the main drop off points on time.
First off the bus, at Achnasheen, were Ray, Malcolm, Tom, Diane, Dale and Colin. Colin had brought along his bike, so he headed off towards Torridon before turning down past Loch Coulin and re-joining the road back to Achnashellach, where he cycled down to Coulags to get picked up. Colin described the conditions as “wild and windy” and dry until about 14:00. However, he benefited from some lovely autumnal colours in the forests.
Colin’s adventures
For Ray, Malcolm, Tom, Dianne and Dale their main target was to climb Fionn Bheinn. Ray took a small detour to include Creagan nan Laogh on the very windy route towards the summit of the munro. The advantage of tackling this munro was that the group could descend quite quickly and get back to the pub stop (The Ledgowan Hotel) before the worst off the afternoon weather set in. As expected, no real views from this summit due the low cloud. However, the descent was made easier by a new path (and a path to the windfarm). Anyway, all were safely back to the hotel by 14:00 and spent a relaxing afternoon waiting on the rest of the bus group to arrive.
The next drop off point was Achnashellach Station where Graeme, Dottie and Andy got off. Dottie and Andy took the low level walk along the Coulin Pass before joining the path which ran around Beinn Liath Mhor and Fuar Tholl. Again wind and rain, but a very enjoyable walk. There was also plenty of time to walk the 3 miles from Achnashellach to rejoin the bus at Coulags. Graeme took a relatively low level circuit from Achnashellach around “some hills” to Coulags (and briefly met up with the Coulags group) before having an afternoon tea stop at the bothy. Graeme commented that he was almost blown off his feet a few times in the morning and then encountered the afternoon rain (“soaked to the skin” – despite wearing wellies). The afternoon tea stop at the bothy is an interesting point because … the bothy was locked in the morning due to the stag culling season.
The final drop off point was Coulags where Sean, Graham, Bill, Graeme, Gordon and Ken get off. The main aim of the group was to get to the bothy, enjoy a relaxing lunch and have a wander around. Before arriving at the bothy, there is a new, small hydro electric scheme. On arriving at the bothy and noticing it was locked, we still had a short bite to eat using the bothy as shelter for the wind and the rain. We then headed up the path to the bealach. Ken went as far as the lochan and then returned to the bus (a wise decision). Graeme zoomed ahead to take in the munro Maol Chean-dearg. On reaching the bealach, the rest of the group decided to walk around the hills (Munro and Corbett) and undertake some adventurous river crossings. There was some map reading and sat nav work as the path disintegrated. It was quite blustery and wet in the afternoon, but the group finally made it back to the bus by 16:30 (wet and cold).
Lunch outside Coire Fionnariach bothy
Wellies and a wetsuit required
So, a very welcome pub stop, allowed us all to dry out a bit and look forward to some better weather the next time.
Please note that the next bus meet is the Christmas Meal meet, at the Grant Arms Hotel, Grantown on Spey. Bookings are now being taken – so look out for an email!