So...T'was Saturday afternoon, and the weather forecast said "Go West" young man. The outlook is sunny.
Now, followers of my blog know of my undying, yet sadly misplaced trust in the met forecast. The next day was to be no exception.
Therefore, the rucksack was duly packed and I headed off to Lochearnhead, with only a slight detour on the way, stopping at ASDA to purchase a flask that was smaller than the welders gas cylinder that normally accompanies me up the hill. I also had a new bit of gear to try out. I had been to LIDLs and bought a 2 piece trouser and top creation for wearing below ones ski suit. I can now testify that this bit of kit works really well and keeps you nice and toasty. The only downside is that it comes in black with blue deco on it. Had it been black and red, it would pass admirably for a 'Spiderman' costume and saved me a good deal of cash come fancy dress parties.
Then, Saturday evening, it seems the highlight of the week was to be a disco in the village hall. Now, having watched "Little Britain" on tv, I had a fair idea of the sort of evening this would turn out to be, so feigning extreme exhaustion, I decided to pass on the winter social event of 2011.
Sunday morning, with Digger the dog in tow, I set off for Glencoe, so sure of the weather that I never took heavy waterproofs, despite the early mornings lashing rain and knowing that the nice girl on BBC would not cheat on me yet again. (would she)...
So, after a quick coffee stop at Glencoe Mountain Ski Resort for coffee, and checking on the progress being made in digging out the banking to site their Microlodges, we arrived at the parking area. OH JOY...
The 1st view of Stob Coire Raineach
It's funny how the dog seemed delighted just to be out on the hills again, regardless of the lack of visibility, so off we set in the clag, map in hand as it seemed as if it was going to be another of those typical Scottish days.
Then at around the 1,500 feet region...bliss.
Like the parting of the seas...
We quickly made the bealach, and decided to go for the summit of Stob Dubh, the higher of the 2 tops. Luckily as the weather had cleared, we never made the mistake of assuming the 1st cairn we arrived at was the intended Munro, as the real summit is in fact another 20 minutes haul further along. (and a good climb higher).
Looking behind us, a braw sight. The Aonach ridge (also known as the 'brown trouser ridge' was in fine sight.
The Ridge
After a quick snack at the top, we descended back to the bealach and set off to the summit of Stob Coire Raineach. There, I suffered a doubly whammy of unhappiness. The first was that the top itself was rather uninspiring...and even worse, I opened my tupperware box and my eggy rolls lived up to their name, and promptly rolled off down the hillside, rapidly followed by a big black lump of Labrador. Him having 4 wheel drive, reached the lunch well before I did...
Is it just me, or is that bu**er grinning??
So, hungry and deflated, it was time to head back down, stopping only for a wee while to watch the SAR chopper across on the 'brown trouser' ridge, either carrying out a rescue or dropping off a family-size pack of Andrex.
We then stopped of at Tyndrum to have a chat with a site owner there before heading back to Lochearnhead and a cuppa with fresh scones. Digger got neither of these.
As it was now dark, I decided to head back down to Fife, and the pub, leaving Cathy to weed her garden. Yep, you read this right. She was going to pull weeds whilst wearing her head torch. (and I thought I was stupid).
It's now Monday night and all the varnishing has been completed on the 2 Microlodges in the shop, so just the doors and roof shingles to do, then they will be heading out to the mountains.
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