Meet Report

1st to 3rd August 2002 - Dalmally

A select few - four to be precise - gathered in the pub on the Friday night contemplating the weather forecast. It really was going to clear up tomorrow, wasn't it?

Bright and early on Saturday, Sandra joined us as we were having breakfast. Unfortunately, her waterproof was still in Edinburgh ... Richard saved the day with a spare coat. After some overnight rain, things looked a little brighter, so off we all went. By this time, Sandra had joined us, and she, Fiona C, and William set off for the Dalmally horseshoe. The weather kept on coming over us - half an hour of sun, half an hour of rain (hail at one point). At the top of Stob Diamh, we had to abandon any thoughts of continuing to Ben Cruachan as the wind was just too strong, and the clouds were massing in the distance. It did look nice towards Crianlarich though - a popular refrain throughout the weekend. Lesley went Corbett-bagging up the Auch Gleann near Bridge of Orchy, while Richard climbed 2 Munros above Victoria Bridge.

Supper was a fairly brief affair in the campsite due to the lovely midges that appeared - as did Kenny and Alison, having said that they were not going to be anywhere near Dalmally that weekend. They had a good day on Beinn Sgulard.

In the pub, we retreated from the smoky bar to the 'games' room, where someone spotted Trivial Pursuit lurking on a shelf. It was only after several questions that an antipodean bias became obvious, and we discovered that it was indeed the Antipodean version. This slowed the game down somewhat, and Fiona did get asked at one point if she had missed a turn or two! She made up for it with a late rush at the end, almost catching Kenny and William. Kenny had had an easy run, despite many complaints - most of us would probably have been able to name Scotland's patron saint for example (-:

After a rather sleepness night due to some very considerate fishermen armed with mobile phones, an industrial quantity of cigarettes and some lager-lubricated larynxes, it was probably a relief to get out of the campsite on Sunday morning. Anne had joined us by now, bringing the numbers up to 8. She and Richard climbed An Caisteal and Beinn a'Chroinn in a bitterly cold wind though good visibility until hitting the clag on top. Lesley and Fiona headed for a lovely Corbett called Stob a'Choin near Inverlochlarig (behind Balquhidder), and again had good visibility, albeit with plenty of clouds around.