Buachaille Etive Beag
Monday saw us leave Rob and Charles behind at the hut awaiting the wheel repair man to put Robs van back together again while Malcolm, Ness and I headed to Buachaille Etive Beag for our bail out day due to the bad weather. Waiting in the car for the torrential rain to ease off set the scene of the day but soon it eased off enough for us to get our kit together and head up the path.
While we were putting crampons on at the snow line we were meet by a rather soggy and windswept fellow on his way down who warned us off Stob Dubh because of the wind and cornices. Challenge accepted, we decided we’d attack Stob Dubh first and see what the conditions were like for ourselves.
Reaching the cairn at the first top while being pelted by hail and strong winds we agreed the weather was really actually a bit horrible so agreed to turn around and bail off our bail route bum sliding were we could back to the car!
Tuesday’s soggy scramble
With some kit still dripping in the dry room and Rob returned from Fort William with a new shoe lace, he joined Charles, Ness and I on a Grade 2, 2 star scramble on Beinn a’ Chrulaiste. Charles led the way as he braved the full slipperiness of the scramble while the rest of us skirted round some of the slippier slabs. Despite the rain running off the holds the route was amazing so Ness and I have already vowed to come back to redo it as soon as we can.
Topping out, we headed to the summit for a quick snack before heading back down towards the car followed by a group dinner at the pub down the road.
Four monkeys at the Three Monkeys
With the weather refusing to clear up and some of us running out of dry kit we decided to head to the Three Monkeys indoor wall with the hope of going for a shorter walk after. It was a fab climbing wall and we all had a great session! So much so we cut the car park very very fine and had to run back. Being in town we hit a few shops then got bit and pieces for a group meal of Chicken Shawarma.
To the Lakes!
The Alex Mac committee had the cottage booked from Thursday so we decamped down to the lakes in the hope of better weather and a bed.
With the sun making an appearance we did a walk from Threlkeld – meeting fell ponies, actually stripping off layers instead of putting more on, an impromptu snow ball fight and having a good walk to round off the trip
