Reports from Helvellyn were of snowdrifts 1500 mm deep, and some avalanche potential. But on the opposite side of Patterdale, the less-frequented Place Fell offered an ascent on more scoured windward slopes, (i.e. on the mountain’s western side) a lesser elevation avoiding the deepest snow, and a pleasant circuit of… Continue reading
The Lakes of Vens looked impossibly beautiful. High in the mountains at 2400 metres the three blue-green pools lie in a hanging valley surrounded by sensationally jagged ridges, overlooked by a small Club Alpine Francais refuge. We spent most of the afternoon failing to take good enough pictures, and were… Continue reading
July and August came showery and uncertain. In July Angela and I were steered by the weather to the east of the A9 where the vast plateau of A’Bhuidheanach Beag and Carn na Caim is notable chiefly for its emptiness. Even in clear weather, the navigation should not be under-estimated.… Continue reading
Continuing our club tradition stretching over 20 years, May Day is often the time to take a step off the beaten track, in a wee tent or a cosy bothy (before the midges awaken…..). Watching deer from the front door, red squirrels on the track, gathering wood in the gloaming,… Continue reading
Some pictures of a couple of days at Easter. Steve’s Munro list took us to Glas Tulachain and Carn an Righ — the Hill of The King, followed by the Beinn a’Ghlo circuit. Boisterous northwesterly weather often means short sharp squalls of rain or hail which quickly… Continue reading
Thomson Holidays don’t include the Highlands as a winter sun package; but with miserable weather flooding in across the North Sea, the forecast was there for the north and west. Paul and I drove to Glen Shiel before finding a hill which met our criteria: something new with blue sky… Continue reading
WEST COAST TOUGH NUTS Downwards, we made our weary way in the bright afternoon. Already, the low November sun had cast Loch Creran into a black fjord-like shade, where its waters pointed seawards to Lismore, Ardgour, Mull, and the West. The conversation was mainly about how two relatively lowly west… Continue reading
Scramble – high plateau – big summit. Repeat. (in spades). First on Saturday came Little Brother. From the Cairngorm ski centre car park we scrambled (once again !) up the Fiacaill Ridge. After paying our respects to Cairn Lochan, it was an amble across the edge of Coire an t’Sneachda… Continue reading
“And the dawn comes up like thunder………. “ Not in Mandalay; …….but in Glen Shiel. And as the light climbed into the sky, likewise we climbed to the airy ridge. The ridge uncurls itself in front of your feet. A green serpent. Miles after mile after mile of it. Generally… Continue reading
Scratch the surface of Beauty, and Terror may lie , not very far below. High in the Appenines, Lago Santo Parmenese sits at 1500 metres. The Rifugio Mariotti stands at the waters edge, gazing across to 300 metre cliffs and the Appenine crest…… an idyllic scene which echoed for me… Continue reading
