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In true Enid Blyton fashion it was an escapade full of fun, tinged with excitement and anticipation, and concluding with a happy ending knowing we had used the “school hols” to the full. The only things missing were the warm summer days, homemade lemonade and junket. Readers hoping to identify which of the group played the role of Timmy (the dog for the non-cognoscenti) and who was “a real brick” will remain unsatisfied.
Optimism was the order of the day as we left the ski-lift car park with an MWIS of 20% and wintry showers in the backs of our minds. Along with Keith S, Louise, Laconic Surf and Londonwalker we plodded up the track below the pylons. Jealous eyes were cast upwards as, at one point, the ski-lift lurched into action and the seats began to move. We were less enthusiastic after Louise told of one guy who had tried to sneak a late-afternoon ride on one lift only to find himself stranded in mid-air – it had only been the engineer getting the system ready for closing down.
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- Creise and Stob a Ghlais Choire
Soon enough the ridge of Creise and Stob a Ghlais Choire came into view as we began a traverse round Coire Pollach to gain the shoulder leading to Meal a Bhuiridh. Then the hard work began.
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- What's the Mastermind theme tune? - Approaching Menace - with Beinn a Chrualiste in the background
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- Slopes of Meall a Bhuiridh get steeper
Two guys who left the car park shortly after us kept a judicious distance behind all the way to the final slopes when, as the snow conditions improved, they cruised past. Grateful thanks at the summit meant they avoided being cast as Blyton baddies.
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- "Bring me your huddled masses yearning to breathe" - on Meall a Bhuiridh
We were treated to snatches of views across to Creise and back across Rannoch, but it was no place to linger for a picnic with sherbet dips or ginger beer. So, across the bealach to the ridge of Creise we went.
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- Things get a little steeper climbing out onto the plateau of Creise
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- Keith and Louise emerge
Masses of powdery snow blown deep into the chimneys and little gullies up the final slope made life a little interesting but the final plateau was broached without incident. There followed a pleasant high-level stroll to the summit with ever-changing views to the south and west as clouds drifted past in air that was surprisingly still. The almost monochrome landscape down Glen Etive and across towards Ben Starav (in the cloud somewhere) had a haunting sense of power that reminds you how thin the line can be between comfort and discomfort up here.
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- Looking south west into drifting clouds from plateau of Creise
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- Round to the summit of Creise
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- It's those huddled masses again - on Creise
Rejoined with the guys who followed us up, we did the normal back-slapping, hand-shaking and photo stuff before returning to re-ascend Meall a Bhuiridh. Tiring legs briefly had to object to a third climb of the day but soon enough the final descent lay before us.
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- Leaving a beautiful but desolate place - Stob a Ghlais Choire from Creise
At this point elegance, style or decorum left us. Fortunately, for everyone’s sense of pride and self-respect cameras were largely left in bags or pockets, as we all tumbled our way through the snow. When one person suffered the humiliation of a laughter-accompanied waist-deep disappearance, or a headlong sprawl, they could inevitably return the favour on the perpetrators moments later.
Still smiling, we reached the snow line then the descent alongside the final line of pylons. Headlights sparkled on the A82 and the lights in the Kings House stood out across the valley. A little longer and we may have needed head torches – but that only meant we had used the day to the full.
It was definitely “Five have plenty of fun” and “Five on a hike together” but gladly not “Five go to demon rocks.”
More of the same next time out please.
