HWUMC

Yeah, group camp cooking can be difficult - are we bringing the gas stove we took to Yorkshire?

Food wise - some pasta, packet rice, extra veggies, stuff that's fairly quick to cook will be good. Things like that can be put in to make a group meal as well - maybe just between a few people cooking for 15 is pretty difficult on a trangia. There may be tesco or the co-op on the way up, depends where we stop for our chips.

tommy wrote:Dirty old man Wicks<cringes>

I was going to mention Jack walking about in a wet suit and flat cap ..... <Yikes>

Which image would you rather remember?

So what did you get up to? Make me jealous! (Hmmm... I suspect it may have been damp from what I've seen elsewhere)

I had a very satisfying weekend throwing stuff out - Yum!

Make you jealous? How about a traverse round the coast to Camasunary, a night in the bothy there, then a scramble over Bla Bheinn and Clach Glas, before coming back down Glen Sligachan and round to the campsite. Except it didn't exactly go to plan. The traverse took about 3 times as long as expected, so after an afternoon start I arrived almost under torches. Bla Bheinn was covered in cloud, so that although I did get to the top, I got the wrong ridge on the retreat down and ended up with a long trek back round to Camasunary. By that time it was too late to traverse back around the coast, so a bit of sleep in the bothy (no food, since I was expecting to be in camp by then), then a start under torches to get back to camp just as everyone was starting to call Mountain Rescue. Added bonus: finding out that much of my 'waterproof' kit isn't, including a new pair of boots, a rucksack, the Harvey's map, and my phone, which has water inside the screen. Total kit toll for the expedition includes the aforementioned boots, map, and phone, a soaked sleeping bag, a gaiter taken by the wind as I removed a stone from my boot, a spork presumed still at the bothy, and a pair of glasses taken by the wind somewhere on the traverse back.
Having said which, it looks like Camasunary - Bla Bheinn - Clach Glas would be a really nice traverse on a good day. Camasunary itself is a really nice bothy, with plenty of room and good fireplaces. And it's surprising how much ground can be covered between first usable light and a normal starting time. Maybe next year, I'll walk round via Sligachan if the weather's looking good for the traverse!

StrangeSandwiches wrote:Make you jealous? .... get back to camp just as everyone was starting to call Mountain Rescue.

Erm...., Character-building shall we say?

StrangeSandwiches wrote:Having said which, it looks like Camasunary - Bla Bheinn - Clach Glas would be a really nice traverse on a good day.

If you mean the Blaven-ClachGlas traverse, as described by Dan Bailey here ( http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9kvd ... t&resnum=1 ), I agree, its a classic expedition, but yes, probably saved for a really good day!

Personally, I'd have bribed someone to give me a lift round to Torrin and attempted it from there - much as I admire your attempt to do it from Glen Brittle, Sligachan & Camasunary(Did I get that right? Sounds like a full 3 day trip to me!)

Interesting

Joe - canard: an unfounded rumour or story. OED. So there you are!

My focus on work is clearly wandering, as usual.

Great work Sarah! I only knew that it means 'duck' in French.

I'm glad someone else is failing to work...

At least there's the quiet satisfaction that I did get to the top of a mountain. It wasn't actually the traverse that's in most of the literature that I had in mind, I'd hoped to come all the way up the long South ridge and continue over to Garbh Bheinn, then down. For some reason, all these route books assume you'll be starting from a car park instead of a convenient bothy!

I think that's because the scrambling/climbing is harder north to south. It's like the main ridge traverse. It's easier south to north in summer and north to south in winter.

Apparently the route finding can be very tricky and most people would take a rope and be confident rock climbers. Without a rope you can't even abseil off if you need to.

And you were the only person on the whole trip to get to the top of a peak, so I think you should be justifiably pleased with that!