2001 was a notable year because it was the 30th Easter trip. Some people had attended all of them. Phil found the perfect place for us to stay at Kinlochmoidart on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. This was the first time for many years that we had all been able to stay in the same place. It’s a very grand building split into several vacation rentals on 20,000 acres (actually quite small by the standards of some of these estates). We took the whole place and there was a record number of attendees. Of course there was a cake to note the occasion.
The Foot and Mouth outbreak was in full swing while we were in Scotland. It had not penetrated the Highlands. So all cars had to pass through disinfectant baths on the way north. We were held up on the A 82 as just beyond Tyndrum. I cannot say that it was effective, but it made everybody know that the government was doing something. We also had to have our boots disinfected at Logan Airport on our return to Boston. As we drove south we could see and smell the smoke from fires as dead animals were being burned on farms. Very distressing.
Betsy and I were in the servants quarters. It had a non-working dumb waiter, but it had a huge kitchen and eating space. This was the first year that we cooked a main course – lasagna, with a vegetarian option. The kitchen in the servants’ quarters was great for preparation, but we needed to supplement the Aga cooker by using ovens in the main house.
There are not many Munros nearby, but there are some that can be accessed from the A830. There is also not-too-difficult access to ferries for Mull. Also the area is one of the more remote.
The house is about 2/3 of the way between Corran Ferry and Lochaillort on the A 861. Access by road from the South is OK, but can be long. The drive is much shorter when using the Corran Ferry, but there can be queues. Access from the North is easy enough. It’s a left turn on to the A861 off the A830 road to Mallaig with about 16 miles of this splendid road. Somewhere along this road a joker had altered a sheep warning sign to look like an elephant warning. It was still like that in 2009.
Our Munro bagging was done fairly early on I seem to remember. We did the two summits near Glenfinnan on the Sgurr nan Coireachan to Sgur Thuilm ridge. Harry Potter fans are always happy to see the Glenfinnan viaduct, but I’m not sure that the stories had become popular in 2001. There was another group that went to Gulvain on another day. Betsy and I did something else I’m sure; we did not include it in our records.
There was an abortive attempt at Càrn Mòr Dearg from near Inverlochy. It resulted in Betsy and I being left behind and me giving Phil a dressing down for forgetting us. I feel bad about that, but he doesn’t seem to be scarred by it. That whole day was a disaster. Betsy’s crampons fell apart on a massive ice sheet. We ran into Dave Kee and Bob Muir around there and stayed with them. Dave and Bob had somehow also separated from the main party. They had reached a high point and scratched a message for the others in the snow. The four of us retired to the Inverlochy hotel for tea and cakes; very classy in among the Mercedes, Bentley and Rolls-Royce owners. Our dirty boots and hiking clothes lowered the tone of the place I’m sure. In the end nobody reached a summit on that day.
Other trips included an excellent day trip on the ferry to Tobermory on Mull, a visit to Strontian and a hike to castle Tioram. We also visited the “Singing Sands”.
