Fannaichs and the Grampian Alps

Aberdeen is currently grey, grey, grey. It seems as if the North East does not reward its people for enduring the long winter with its short, dark days. A colleague of mine, Kuno, was here for science and Munros and a local colleague of mine, Christian joined in for some outdoor action. The forecast was wintry and so it was a pleasant surprise when we woke up under blue skies in the Aultguish Inn, one of the unique Highland Inns. The others are the Cluanie Inn and the Crask Inn plus and then of course Young Roddie's place, the Cluanie Inn plus the Kingshouse in Glen Coe. The Aultguish is run by an Italian chef and his Scottish wife. It is far away from anyway apart from Munros. The food is excellent and I remember some oustanding Oxtail cooked up by the chef himself. The only downside is that the kitchen closes at 8 pm (ish) as the owners have to serve the thirsty hillwalkers waiting for a pint. Here is Kuno in front of the Aultguish on Saturday morning/

Plan A was to scramble over An Teallach and then to stay in Shenavall bothy. I am hesitant to use any bad word against the Mountain Bothy Association which do a fantastic job in maintaining bothies but closing Shenavall on the May bank holiday weekend is less than ideal. Having said that these guys also need to find some free time to do their much appreciated work. So we changed plan and walked up to do some hills in the Fannaichs. Here are Kuno and Christian walking up the glen under blue skies...

 ... crossing rivers ...

 ... and then ascending the hillside under not so blue skies.

We reached the summit of Sgurr nan Clach Geala and then walked around the corrie to ascend Sgurr Mor. On our way we managed to have a good luck at the buttresses on Sgurr nan Clach Geala which host oustanding winter climbs including Skyscraper buttress and several great looking gullies.

 The clouds lifted for a while and snow and spring go well together.

 Here is Kuno approaching Sgurr Mor.

 Again a period of fog, snow and hail on the descent. We managed to drift off the wrong side but soon corrected our course to reach the bealach. A long way down over another hill. Here are Christian and Kuno leaving the snowzone.

 Day two was supposed to be worse and for that reason Christian had left the night before. So Kuno and decided to follow the coast and then head towards Aviemore. We had a good view of our plan A, An Teallach, which did not materialise the day before. A lot of snow had fallen over night.

 Onwards to Gairloch and its beach...

 ... via Slioch not in the best light for photography.

We drove to Aviemore where we stopped in the Old Bridge Inn for some food. I had a grilled sea bream with potatoes and a salad for £15. Great quality cooked with the odd wee twist, good service and not too expensive. Suitably fed we walked up to Corrie an Sneachda for Kuno's first winter climb. We chose Jacobs ladder.

The neve was solid all the way and the cornice was almost non existent. Brilliant condition. I had one rope and sling which are shown in the next photo with Kuno sitting in a comfortable bucket seat below.

 On the way to the car we saw one of the Cairngorms reindeers which patiently endured me taking a photo.

A good outing but the cold can now really go please... unless it brings Skyscraper buttress in condition on a day when I have time to climb it!
HW

Upside down in Loch Faskally

Ana and I decided to start a new hobby which is sea kayaking. The only problem with that hobby is that the sports instrument is over 5 m long and does not fit inside our flat. In the Brookbank catalogue I noted a Trak T1600 folding kayak for a rather steep £2600 and soon after a T1600 appeared on Ebay. Without much thinking I put a maximal bid in and by Sunday I was the proud owner of a nearly new T1600 for a very good price. It arrived on a Wednesday in a large roller bag weighing 29 kg. Here is how it is assembled: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS37AK2fISY. I practiced it once in Ana's corridor (not recommended) and put it together in less than 15 min on the shores of Loch Faskally. Surprisingly slick. Especially the hydraulic jacks that tension the hull are great engineering. A Brompton for the water. Here it is...

 ... and here are Giulio and Ana sharing the other paddle in the inflatable Costa Dundonia. I came up with that tasteless name after too much wine at a dinner party.

Here I am paddling the Trak. I can not compare it to other Kayaks other than the Costa Dundonia but it seems fast and seems serious. After paddling upstream to see the bungee jumping and down the Loch I practised edging up to the point where I found myself upside down in the waters of Loch Faskallie, staring a perplexed trout right in the eye.

As I had not practised any Eskimo manoeuvres I got out of the kayak and managed to get in relatively quickly helped by Ana and Giulio. The bilge pump, purchased just hours previously, did a good job and soon I was paddling back looking somewhat sheepish. We packed it all up - again no problem - and went for a soup and apple pie to the Moulin Hotel, one of the best places in Scotland to have food and a pint after the great outdoors.

HW

Scotland in the twilight

Scotland is a dark place in winter. But a full moon or red skies at dawn and dusk give some reprieve from the drabness. Here the full moon...

...in action lighting the region from the Mither tap to the North sea coast. On the horizon the lights of Aberdeen and the North sea.

South of Aberdeen is Dunnotar castle. Its shilouette contrasts the reflections on the North sea.

Here the full moon again.

Further down is St. Cyrus Nature reserve, one of my favourite viewpoints. A full moon and a lonely ship anchored on a calm night.

A bright night with views towards Montrose in the distance.

Same spot but another night.

Night gives way to dawn with red skies just before sunset. Near Broughty Ferry.

Even more red in the skies here at St. Cyrus.

In Dundee the best viewpoint is Dundee law here at dusk with a view towards Broughty Ferry. Only two of the high rise buildings are still standing and the oil rig is in the North sea now.

Later with a view towards the West. An opening in the sky allows some light to shine through.

Earlier in the evening swans on the Tay...

... and here Broughty Ferry castle a wee bit later with the moon above.

Finally the river Esk near the stones of solitude.

Dedicated to DL who loves the Scottish full moon than few others.

HW

Limekilns, Elie chain walk & spring!

Spring arrived in Scotland last week with temperatures above 20 degrees. At the weekend it started to drop but still looked fine and so Robbie and I decided to visit a place where I have never been before: Limekilns. It is essentially two large, presumably quarried limestone blocks. Here a photo of the Western side in the shade with good VSs and HVSs. This photo was taken with the EUMC out in force.

 Here is Robbie earlier on climbing DTs. 

 After cruising two HVSs I felt good enough to try Elgin's Crack E2 5c. The start is bouldery and the foot holds are polished so whilst I got to the first break I realised that it was too much for the first trad outing of the season.

After that a lunch in the Elgin hotel and onwards to Elie with Scotlands only (?) via ferrata. Here is Robbie tackling one of those stainless steel chains.

Quite exciting for via ferrata newcomers in places. Back on a path with good views over Elie and the golf course...

 ... shown here...

 ... and with the daffodils already out.

 On the way to Dundee and in Broughty Ferry I also took a few photos to document the first foray of spring. Two trees on a ploughed field near Fettercairn...

 ... swans in Broughty Ferry ...

 ..., Broughty Ferry harbour...

 ..., and the castle on the banks of the bonnie Tay.

It all makes the sudden end of winter with all its adventures more bearable. And all of a sudden I saw a giraffe swimming in the Tay (hang on, the 1st of April was yesterday).

HW

Cluanie Inn Munros

Mike and Roger are Munroists from Oxford and we meet once or twice a year for an outing. This time we decided to stay in the Cluanie Inn, a perfect place for doing Munros as there are Munros in all directions from the front door of the Inn. On Saturday the 18th of March 2012 we decided to do the South Glenshiel ridge. Here is Mike during the ascent in initially soggy conditions ...

... and here he is on the ridge proper which had snow cover from 700 altitude metres upwards. The clouds started to lift and fantastic views appeared. There are few better views than Munros with just a dusting of snow.

The ridge is roughly 14 km with 7 Munros. The snow cover was just cosmetic and did not reduce our walking pace which was essential as time to darkness & dinner was limited. 

On the Northern side there are steeper corries with some winter climbs and the cliffs sometimes appear on the rim.

Here a look back in the direction of the five sisters of Kintail.

Some good views also over the Munros to the South with Knoydart being on the other side of the loch...

... and some more great views a bit later.

The ridge drags on but is beautiful but there is never too much ascending. It is like a set of waves.

Here are Roger and Mike again doing the last third...

... with obligatory bum glissades.

 

We descended at dusk and followed the long landrover track to the Cluanie for a good meal plus beers. The Cluanie Inn is very much recommended with excellent food, good beers and a famous whisky collection.

Mike and Roger still smiling the morning after.

We decided to climb A'Chralaig and Mullach Fraoch-Choire with a start from the Cluanie but on the Northern side of Glenshiel. Good views higher up over the South Glenshiel ridge.

We reached the summit which is connected by a beautiful ridge to 'Mullach', the second Munro.

A few trickier steps or easier steps made tricky!

We were also treated to a 'mauvais pas', a wee exposed scrambling problem. Mike and Roger had developed a great fondness for those 'mauvais pas' since the one on the A'Cir ridge on Arran which was highly entertaining.

We had a brief period of graupel but then the views re-appeared. Here is Roger with a dynamic body position ... 

... and here is Mike...

... and here are both on this bit of the ridge.

On the way down heaven opened and it snowed higher up and rained lower down but at the end the blue skies returned once again.

HW

Spring & Kirrie Hill

A temperature of 16 degrees was forecast for Dundee and so Wattie, Brian and I decided to climb at/on Kirrie Hill to start our summer season. Kirrie Hill is probably the most user friendly of the Angus sport climbing venues with easy access, tons of routes between F5-F6c and the best micro-climate in Scotland. When I arrived in the car park (near the Camera Obscura) a cool Westerly was blowing but in the quarrie it felt like Spain. Here a video without music (but some banter) to show some of the climbing:

The location is here: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=339187&y=754582&z=115&sv=339187,754582&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=825&ax=339187&ay=754582&lm=0
HW