Martha, Perry and Hyuna headed up early on the Friday for the Corbett of Meall a’ Phùbuill from Fassfern, a steep ascent but with a reward of good views of neighbouring mountains including Gulvain. The lure of securing a bottom bunk in the hostel saw a particularly speedy descent by some members of the party.
Alison opted for two Marilyns and a Hugh close to Mallaig (“great wee hills; lots of rock; great views into Knoydart”), whilst Fiona M cycled up the Cona Glen to do the Graham Stob Mhic Bheathain.
Garbh Bheinn at Ardgour saw the visit of two groups – Bethany and Kai ascended it via Pinnacle Ridge and had an excellent day, whilst David and Melanie combined its summit with the neighbouring two Grahams.
The arrival of Kenny, Kate and Emma Y at the bunkhouse – a new location for the club – completed the magic dozen meet attendees for this long bank holiday weekend.
On Saturday, we woke up to drizzle and low cloud rather than the originally forecast sunshine and great views. Kate and Emma had a look at the Rois-beinn group but the dreich weather made them opt for a coastal walk at Morar instead.
Alison and Fiona sat for 3 hours in the Glenfinnan car park watching unfolding chaos and having very expensive insipid coffee. They saw the steam train before embarking on their bike and hike up the Corryhully Munros. Fiona addressed a painted stone littering issue on the summits and lugged two rocks decorated with vegan slogans and unicorns back to the bunkhouse.
Kenny, Melanie, Kai and Bethany went to Eigg for the day. Melanie walked up An Sgurr, and so did Kai and Bethany before also visiting Massacre cave. Meanwhile, Kenny cycled to the other side of the island to do the Marilyn. A run in with briars and a barbed wire fence significantly delayed his descent and required a frantic cycle back to the ferry where he arrived with just minutes to spare. Unbeknownst to Kenny, the spiky obstacles had also ripped his pants on both legs from bum to knee which left them almost with more hole than pant (and the risk of a public decency charge) and was only brought to his attentions several hours later back at the bunkhouse.
David bagged the two Corbetts of Beinn Odhar Bheag and Beinn Mhic Cedidh.
Martha, Perry and Hyuna decided to combine the Corbett of Sgùrr an Utha with the Graham of Glas-charn – on paper a sensible idea but in practice a day that none of the participants will forget in a hurry. Relentless mizzle, countless false summits, bog, tussocks and ankle-breaking holes, topped off with a final battle through shoulder-height tick-infested bracken metres from the road made for a link-up that would have made even Claire H proud.
A sociable evening was had by the group, including the revelation that one member routinely takes his own frying pan on meets as “hostel frying pans are no good for tofu” – never let it be said that EMC isn’t a cosmopolitan club!
On Sunday morning, with no intact walking trousers and no hills left to do in the area Kenny retreated to Boat, whilst David and Melanie returned to Edinburgh. Emma drove south as well and ran up to the Gaick pass on her way home.
With a slightly better forecast, Kate tackled her penultimate 3 Corbetts with her support team of Hyuna and Martha. The forecast turned out to be over-optimistic but made the day into a good navigational challenge, and the sighting of a ptarmigan and an amazing rainbow softened the blow of absent summit views. This trip was only made possible by Perry G’s taxi service (with a smile) to and from the Rois-beinn group. And now Kate has only got a single Corbett left to do!
In between his taxi fares Perry did the Corbett of Braigh nan Uamhachan, where the cloud still shrouded the summit but there were good views of neighbouring Streap.
Fiona bagged Gulvain as a bike and hike, continuing her progress with Munro round #3. Alison went up Creag Bhan. After a hideous approach she was relieved once she was back on solid ground and had the afternoon to chill out at the bunkhouse.
Kai and Bethany embarked on a jog of the Silver Walk which started out very promising but turned to absolute garbage; scratched by shrubbery and eaten alive by dozens of ticks they bailed and had a more enjoyable afternoon at White Sands.
On Monday, Hyuna, Fiona and Alison went climbing at Black Rock, Arisaig, whilst Bethany and Kai had a fab run on Craig Meagaidh.
Despite the gruelling Graham experience on Saturday, Martha, Kate and Perry followed Fiona M’s excellent suggestion for a short walk on the way home and went up Creag Dhubh from Roybridge, a delightful wee hill.
Martha
