Meet Report
16th to 18th January 2004 - Pottery Bunkhouse
Always a popular meet, 18 were signed up for this weekend at the Pottery
Bunkhouse, near Laggan.
Saturday was a day from heaven. Probably one of the most beautiful
winter days ever. Bright blue, cloudless skies, and not a breath of wind made
the conditions overhead perfect. Underfoot the hills were absolutely plastered
with snow, so climbing anything at all was going to be hard work. Because of
the lack of any breeze whatsoever, the mountains were reflected perfectly in
the lochs, creating a truly spectacular winter scene.
Several went off cross-country skiing near Garva Bridge, with others
heading for the downhill slopes of Aonach Mor. Alison W, Fraser, Victoria,
Sandra and Humphrey opted for the 3 Munros above Lochan Earba but ended up
only doing two due to the very deep snow. Alan and Anne climbed Carn Liath
and Stob Poite Coire Ardair from the Creag Meagaidh car park; Richard went
off Grahaming just for a change, and Owen and I climbed Binnein Shuas. This
we did somewhat by accident. Having seen the amount of snow we had
(separately) come to the conclusion that climbing anything without a broken
trail was going to be very hard. However, some incredibly kind person to
whom I owe a very large drink had indeed broken a trail which Owen and I
decided to follow. Even with the trail, higher up, the snow was really deep
- all that could be seen of Jessie (the dog -
Webmaster) at one point was the hair along her back and the tips of her
ears.
From the summit, however, all the tromping was rewarded by some of the
most spectacular views I have ever seen. To make things even more
beautiful, when the sun started to set the sky turned the most glorious
shade of crimson and gold - in fact, it looked as if someone had started
an enormous fire behind the distant peaks. A wonderful day.
Quite a few took advantage of the Pottery's outdoor hot tub and cooked
away nicely in the bubbling water, apparently oblivious to the
near-freezing temperatures.
Sadly, Sunday was a completely different story. As far as I know,
one or two struggled up the likes of Geal-charn at Drumochter in foul
conditions. I'm also pretty sure Fraser and his gang were off Munroing.
A few opted to head home and another gang headed for Loch Ordie near
Dunkeld with Kenny and Alison climbing Beinn Duchray (spelling?).