2005 was the first year of digital photography for us. The standard of photos rises dramatically!
This year we shared a car with Dave Wharton and Dave Lydiatt I think. We met them at Heathrow airport having just arrived from Boston. Dave and Dave were booked on the same connection to Inverness as us. It was one of those old Fokker planes that British Midland used for a while. As you might expect, Betsy and I were very tired and asleep in the departure lounge when our friends showed up.
There is not much to say about this part of the trip, but I remember snow on Ben Wyvis as we were landing. Dave and Dave had a large-ish Toyota I seem to recall.
The accommodation was spread across three houses. Ours was about 8 miles from Achnashellach and the others in the small hamlet of Achnasheen, a short distance along the A832. The cottage accommodated about eight of us. Gordon and Janet were there, I think Clive and Di, Betsy and me, Dave Wharton and Dave Lydiatt. Outwardly we had the best place, but at first the heating system stopped working. The Laird visited us with the repair man in his green tweed suit and plus fours; all for show I’m sure.
The first night was difficult. Having been confined to a corridor the year before and since we were the first to arrive at the cottage we took our pick of the bedrooms. We had not had a decent night’s sleep for nearly 2 days. All went well, we had dinner with everybody, but it was late. Gordon and Janet arrived after dinner. Apparently they had been promised the room that Betsy and I had claimed. Gordon was grumpy and said we had to move for a particular reason. So we had to pack up and shift all our gear. It was 1:00 am when we were in bed. The following day we had agreed to be on the hills early, so at 7:00 am we were awake again for a hike with Dave W and Dave L.
Beinn Liath Mhor – first Munro of the week. This walk started well, but there was obvious cloud on the hills. Our plan was to follow the standard path to Torridon from Achnashellach station, then head up the hill at the eastern end, follow the ridge to the next col and drop down to Coire Lair, walk back through this glen back to the Torridon path and back to our start point.
Well that’s not what happened. The descent to Coire Lair is hard to find in fog and can be somewhat dangerous if the route is missed. We reached the top, but finding the way down was diffficult, so Dave W took the decision (the rest of us were followers) to drop down the much safer route to the Ling Hut and the A896. This put us miles from our car and our cottage. Dave W was also very sensitive to Dave L’s health which had not been too good.
So on reaching the road, Betsy, Dave L and I started walking westwards and Dave W hiked very quickly ahead of us and stuck his thumb out. After a few miles, Dave was able to get a lift to one of our cars and came back to pick us up.
Dave Wharton was the hero of the day, as he often is…
Every time I wear my Sprayway jacket I am reminded of this hike, because somewhere on the summit ridge I tripped and fell, landing on a rough rock and causing some damage to the front of the coat where the drawstring runs. I guess that the lack of sleep caught up with me with the result that I was not on my best form.
After our hard first day and lack of sleep we had a rest and visited Plockton followed by a trip to the “Coral Beach”. It’s not really coral, but looks that way. We bought a print that now hangs in our hallway.
I think that this was also the day that the heating stopped working and the Laird visited…
Day 3 saw us take on Fionn Bheinn along with many other people. This has been called one of the easiest Munros and one of the least interesting. Betsy and I did this by ourselves as most of the others were down the hill at the Achnashellach houses. Yet again it was very foggy and we had to use a compass to find our way.
The next day we were off to the hills again. This time yet another foggy day, but on Moruisg and Sgurr Nan Ceannaicean. Two Munros – a compass was absolutely vital.
Day 5 was fabulous. Everybody went to Maol Chean-Dearg. A splendid Munro on the best day of the week. Most people made it to the summit. There’s not a lot to say other than look at the photos.
It’s a decent walk in along Coire Fionnaraich which includes crossing a brook with a good bridge and past a bothy.
It’s not clear when we cooked, but I remember that we made vegetarian chili and it might have been on the last day. Phil carefully took the cooked carrots off to the side of his plate! He did compliment us on it though.
At some point we took a walk near our cottage. It was in a splendid location.
The whole group was able to eat at the largest of our houses. Afterwards there were the inevitable drinks and conversation.
