19 October 2008

A Cairngorm tree braves the elements

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 winds became the first challenge of the day. All parties headed off towards the Chalamain gap, made “interesting” by slippery rocks and gales.

From there, Bob MacDonald and Moira Baptie walked down the path to the Lairig Ghru. They stopped for a bite at a sheltered spot and checked if anybody was planning to head over to Glen Einich. After traversing round over Carn Odhar and south of Carn Eilrig, Bob carried on down into Glenn Einich. Rob Murray and Douglas Adams caught up with him and all continued down to the Am Beanaidh river which they managed to cross after finding a bridge, rather conveniently. They reached Coylumbridge by 2.00pm.

Allan McConachie and Annette Turnidge left the main group before reaching the Chalamain Gap and proceeded west through the Eag a’ Chait. They descended to Rothiemurchus Lodge and followed forest tracks to Coylumbridge where Allan consumed a dram or two or three. No wildlife seen.

Fiona Duncan, Ray Harron, John Henderson, Flora Hunt, Leigh Watt and Heavy Whalley also caught the Lairig Ghru north of the Chalamain Gap and headed north towards the Coylumbridge hotel via Rothiemurchus forest. Andy Brooks, Graeme Morrison and George Sim took a detour via Loch an Eilein while Natacha Mihajlovic and Simon Willatts walked back in a north-east fashion towards Loch Morlich and the Sugar Bowl where Simon’s car was parked for the day.

Also present that day were Paul Chappell, Mike Coxon, Joanna Cross, Sandra Doull, Andrew Mainwaring, David Strathdee, Alastair Wren and Ros Wright, who made their way to the Chalamain gap. What exactly happened afterwards is not clear, but all eventually got back to the Coylumbridge Hotel, presumably following tracks similar to those previously described.

All in all, this turned out to be a fairly successful outing considering the forecast. The rain did not persist and visibility was good most of the day. The wind made for difficult walking even at low level, however the social was good: 26 members and guests jumped on the bus despite being informed that the choice of venue had been changed at the last minute. Thanks to everybody for attending and special thanks go to John Henderson, who is always diligent and ready to endorse many roles apart from his own as Club Secretary.

Natacha Mihajlovic

Next Bus Meet: Glen Affric