A change of venue this year in place of the usual trip to Inchnadamph Lodge. Acheninver bunkhouse was previously an SYHA hostel that is now in its second year of private ownership.
A short walk and a narrow bridge provide the access and everyone had read the joining notes, and were therefore well equipped with head-torches and batteries, managed to find it in the dark.
The forecast for Saturday was cold, windy and showery. Nothing daunted, the majority, (Robert, Andy, Jan, Bea, Ben, Joe & Sheila, Alistair, Carol, David, Jake, Drummond, Al and Katie set off in two groups for the circuit of Ben Mor Coigach which is immediately behind the hut. The weather was a bit better than forecast so despite a few sharp wintry showers good views were to be had for most of the day as the cloud stayed above the tops. They returned shortly before sunset, looking only slightly wet.
Evelyn opted for a low level walk and explored the area around the hut and the beach. A diversion to the Iron Age broch found the path blocked by a large herd of Highland cattle, with even larger horns. Finding that her interest in Iron Age archaeology was suddenly waning she decided a diversion to the cafe for some cake had greater appeal.
Colin relaxing – the calm before the storm!
Colin and Simon decided that getting cold, wet and blown on somewhere up a mountain was not the adventure of choice for the day and decided to go kayaking instead. You can still get cold, wet and blown about but at least you do it sitting down. A bouldery launch was followed by a wind assisted paddle along the east side of the peninsula to Ruigh Coigach. This was quite scenic in the sunshine and a large and spectacular waterfall cascading down the cliff from a height of about 60′ soon became a destination. Unfortunately putting down one’s paddle to take a photo, just as a savage squall hits you is not always the best idea. A support stroke with a camera proved ineffective and Colin found himself swimming. A slick rescue operation (ha!) swung into action and Colin was soon back in his boat. Unfortunately a lack of co-ordination meant that this didn’t last long and he went over a second time. As they were a bit close to the rocks by now a tow was required before a second and permanently successful re-entry was completed. This required a pumping operation to drain the boat and the ‘close encounter’ required to ensure stability would have given a cliff top observer cause to dig out binoculars. In the absence of sheep with binoculars, Colin somehow managed by accident to video much of the activity – no doubt the edited highlights will appear somewhere!
View from Simon’s boat
The evening saw the now traditional Hallow’een fancy dress party on the theme of movie characters. There was a very suave James Bond, a stunning Maid Marion (surprisingly this was not Joe), a woodland elf recycled as Peter Pan, Mini Me, a scarecrow and captain Jack Sparrow amongst others. The Invisible Man was said to be present but no-body saw him. Festivities continued into the small hours aided by a copious supply of daiquiris and white Russians.
Sunday as usual is less well documented but Simon, Robert and Drummond ascended Stac Pollaidh which looked magnificent in the low autumn sunlight, while Joe ran it in a little over an hour.
And so ends another excellent weekend.