free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Had half a day available so nipped down to Glen Spean to climb Beinn a Chaorainn. We'd done Beinn Teallach on a previous occasion and left Jack behind after he blotted his copy book running off after hares!
No I don't mean we left him behind on Beinn Teallach - we left him behind at home and took just Tess as being a girl she's impeccably behaved
unless she finds something dead to roll on but that's another story.
On this walk Jack seemed to have learned appropriate hill behaviour
No running off after hares!
Loch Treig and twin peaks of the Easains on right
Monarch of all he surveys
Most solicitous
Waiting patiently while we did the usual faffing with cameras
View from top to Creag Meagaidh with glimpse of Loch Laggan
Summit cairn
The poles in that last shot are Moira's as I'd left mine lying where we stopped for lunch and by the time I realised I didn't have them I couldn't be bothered going back. Reckoned it would be easy enough to find them on the way down - which was very stupid as how often do we retrace our steps exactly on the descent?
The way down
I kept thinking I might be seeing the rock we sat on a bit off the path but there were so many likely looking rocks it was like looking for a needle in the proverbial haystack.
But I didn't reckon on my trusty sniffer dogs.
After pretty much giving up hope of finding my poles I saw the dogs circling and wagging their tails furiously a bit off the path. On going over to investigate what all the canine excitement was about...... there were my poles right at the point they were doing all the tail wagging!
Jack certainly redeemed himself that day!
What sticks in my memory from climbing Beinn Teallach is that we didn't start until mid day so stopped for lunch not far into the walk on the edge of a plantation. I'd left Jack behind (for chasing hares at Drumochter and not coming back for 20 minutes!
) and had just brought Tess. Tess is a mobile waste disposal unit and eats literally anything. She has a cast iron stomach but the side effects are not good for the atmosphere in the car on the journey home
so we buried our banana skins in a conveniently placed bog and kept her on the lead so she wouldn't dig them up and eat them.
Beinn Teallach summit
On the way back down after climbing the hill Tess headed for exactly the spot we'd had lunch, located the correct bog and dug up the banana skins!
The other thing I remember about this day was the clegs being a nuisance - all the worse as we were in shorts!