It’s been a while since the MMC visited the Grampian Speleological Group’s hut in Elphin. It’s a well-equipped venue that offers a fine view over Cul Mor and Suilven from the conservatory, a proper fire for when it gets dark and cold, and a good drying room. The weather on Saturday was not ideal, but nonetheless plans were made and the parties scattered.
Fiona and Bob completed a traverse from Lochinver to Elphin. Bob’s account reads “We got a lift round to Lochinver from Evelyne and after a visit to the pie shop we set off to walk to Elphin. The first 3km was along a tarred road to Glencanisp Lodge. After that it was a landrover track to Loch na Gainimh. Great views of Suilven when it decided to come out of the clouds. First problem was the sole of Fiona’s boot partially falling off. Managed to do a temporary fix with a bungee cord off my rucksack. Next problem was trying to cross the outflow from Lochan Fada. Decided against trying and went around the north side of the loch. Not too bad an alternative path most of the way. We then got hit by a heavy rain and sleet shower. Glad we were walking with our back to the wind. Down to Cam Loch and the path from then on was a bit mixed. Gey plouter [If ya dinna ken, ask Bob] back to the road. Then the rain was on again for the long hoof back to the hut. Martin saved the day by giving us a lift along the last few km.”
Martin was the only attendee to actually do any mountaineering – an ascent of Ben More Assynt in “character building” conditions. His story follows: “Laying prone behind a small cairn while the wind took my bag rain cover and sit-mat off into places unknown, I began to wonder why I had embarked on this endeavor and whether to cut my losses there between Conival and Ben More Assynt. It had all started off so well. The assent from Inchnadamph was cloudy but calm. The rain started at Inchnadamph woods and carried on until… well… it just carried on.
I was treated to spectacular views of the cliffs near to Conival when I was about ten metres from them. I slipped and scrambled up a waterfall to gain the ridge and enjoyed a soggy sandwich under a rock for lunch. Obviously that blasé attitude towards dining angered the mountain as that was when the wind picked up. I cowered in the shelter at the top of Conival for a period before heading to Ben More Assynt.
So there I was behind a cairn with what appeared to be gusts twice the speed of the forecast blasting my equipment into the mist. Eventually, the gales calmed down and I made it to the summit of Ben More Assynt. I turned round and began the descent complete with lashing rain and flesh-rending hail. Miserable, wet, cold and almost entirely lacking in views. Bloody brilliant day in the hills!”
Debbie, Evelyn, Svetlana and Pip (the Spaniel): “I don’t know what it is called but we did a loop-de-loop because Evelyn likes doing them. We walked up the river from Lochinver after the pie shop where we turned right. The river was very full, boiling, roaring, spating, which was dramatic. Saw a salmon leap out of a pool to see where the fishermen were.
The path was quite a bog trot because of so much rain before. But it was still beautiful and there was a stag roaring somewhere far away – a bit eerie.
Rain was coming in from the west, sometimes heavy but behind us, which was helpful. We grabbed a sandwich in a “tea shop” which turned out to be an old black house / sheep pen. Then across more uppy downy bits of bog. We almost got to see the top of Suilven in a dry spell. Then the path turned right again down to Glencanisp Lodge and back along a nice wee road to the toon and the Pie Shop …hooray.”
Susan Saturday activities are not recorded, but nonetheless the hot fire on our return was most welcome.
Simon, Colin and Daniel went on a speleological adventure in the Allt nan Uamh Stream cave. Dan’s account reads: “The adventure started with a tight squeeze through the downward sloping cave entrance, which drops out at one end of the surprisingly large main chamber. Our main objective was a foray into the Farr Series (explored previously in 2015 by Simon and I), which is a wonderful long, dry and spacious passage. However, the entrance (and only exit without scuba gear) to the Farr Series is a rather tight 10m crawl through a puddle. We soon discovered that the puddle was somewhat deeper today than it was in 2015, not to mention the added interest a waterfall cascading over the entrance. Nevertheless, Simon’s done this sort of thing before and he concluded that there was plenty of air space to keep both nostrils out of the water and we promptly saw his feet disappearing around the corner. Colin decided he’d rather stick needles in his eyes, and obviously I couldn’t leave Colin alone. So after lots of shouting (communication in caves above the background noise of waterfalls difficult), Simon decided to come back to see what all the fuss was about. Sometime later a white helmet appeared bobbing along the surface of the puddle… this was not looking good. Fortunately, a few seconds later and a little further back, another helmet emerged… this time it had hair (just)! Needless to say Simon was soaked and later wisely concluded that next time we go crawling though water we should wear wetsuits. Undeterred, we spent several further hours of fantastic exploring, with plenty of crawling about. Including, the Parallel Crawl, the Rift Series and various passages that lead down towards the “Mud Duck”.” Colin added “it’s amazing how much an old body can bend and twist without breaking, but I have a few scrapes and bruises where I shouldn’t have.”
Cul Mor and Suilven were hidden in the cloud and there was a stiff wind blowing on Sunday morning. Several folk just went home, and others moderated their ambitions. Fiona, Bob and Dan went to see Uamh an Tartair, where a significant river goes down a hole and pops up a few hundred metres downstream.
All-in-all a grand weekend with some great folk.
