Glen Coe is always a wonderful place to visit with striking big hills for walks and scrambles, and in fair weather, climbing. Unfortunately for us Storm Ashley was on its way and Friday was extremely wet and blustery from mid-morning, meaning most of us missed out on an early get away. Fiona and Mike were already in the hut and did a dawn raid on a dry curved ridge before curling up and people watching from the hut windows. Martha and Hamish made it out on a run in the windy but dry(!) Pentlands before leaving Edinburgh.
We splashed through the rain to meet in the hut in the evening with those with misplaced walking boots (me and Doug) getting soggy feet en route.
Saturday was the day to be out. The weather gave us a bit of everything – wind, showers, hail (for those on Bidean) and sunshine, making for a classic Scottish Autumn hill day.
A large group (Anna B, Bethany, Hamish, Helen, Keith, Sarah, Tim D and Melanie) set off together from the hut with Hamish opting for Beinn a’Chrulaiste while the other headed up curved ridge, all choosing slightly different return routes, with Anna opting for a down scramble.
Doug and Alex W had the longest day, missing the start of the zig zags up Bidean and ending up climbing a gully to ascend. They had absolutely fantastic Brocken spectres and hail, as well as sunshine. Nearby, Claire H made a surprise appearance in the Lost Valley, making a beeline for the elusive Munro Tops to the north of Stob Coire Sgreamhach ending in a gully full of loose choss that resulted in a sensible retreat to colin caterpillar cake at the hut.
Meanwhile, Martha, Mike, Fiona and I headed up Meall a’ Bhuiridh from the ski centre, and across to Creise. Here we split up and Martha and I jogged on to the two Munro tops before taking the West Highland Way back to the hut in our t-shirts in the sunshine, while Mike and Fiona made the most of the chips on offer at the ski centre. We had an impromptu dip in the River Coe near the hut and were enthustically chased, dripping, to the hut door by a labrador. Over in Glen Etive, Emma and Kate met up to ascend Stob Dubh.
The evening in the hut was characterised by far too much macaroni cheese (thanks Hamish for organising and executing!) with salad, followed by delicious apple crumbles (thanks Allan S for donating the apples) with a selection of accompaniments and chocolates (Garam Masala ‘mouse droppings’ and jaffa cake gin were hits!). A brilliant meal that had Hamish characteristically slumbering in his seat, and resulted in much macaroni cheese for lunch the next day (sorry we pressured you into cooking more pasta Hamish!).
The forecast the next day was pretty poor (wet and very windy) meaning a soggy dash from hut to cars. Claire took part in a bouldering comp on the way home, out-climbing many, but not the small children, while most of us headed to Callander on the promise of a “weather window”. Lo’ and behold the weather window arrived and we had a great low level wander to see the Bracklinn Falls in spate, and see the autumn colours from Callander Craig before Storm Ashley chased us home.
Rhi W
