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With Stretch having promised to be the far side of Rannoch Moor on Sunday, I was confident of a good days' weather on these 2 ski lift scarred Munros
. I arrived at the Glencoe Ski Centre carpark full of enthusiasm with Radman, Webby, Jackie and LazyHungarian, only to have that bubble burst when I realized I had left my jacket back at the bunkhouse
. I dashed back to the bunkhouse and grabbed my jacket, drove to the Clachaig and realized I had also forgot my umbrella
- at least I hadn't gone too far
.
Therefore, it was about 40 minutes after the rest of the WH crew had set off that I got back to the carpark. I was now not so much enthusiastic as a wee bit p1ssed off. It was challenge time: beat those less forgetful sods to the summit of Meall a' Bhuiridh
. I wolfed down a couple of cereal bars and set off up the steep initial climb on the well made but eroded path (path erosion would seem to be a minor scar when it is competing with ski tows and mountain bike routes
). The air was still and, moving quickly, I soon worked up a Clachaig scented sweat. Views behind to Rannoch Moor were good but I was more concentrated on pressing on.
As the path levelled, I did take the time for a breather and a photo or two. The ski tows were ugly but Creise had come into view and looked an impressive peak
.
I could see the route other walkers were taking - across the Allt nan Giubhas to the col between Creag Dhubh and Ma'B and along it's easy graded north shoulder. "I'm not going to catch them that way" I thought, so headed straight up the NW flanks by the chair lifts.
When I was able to forget about the ironmongery, this turned out to be a nice route on firm rocky ground next to small streams and with a little easy scrambling. I stopped for my first break by the 2 buildings at point NN 255 509 looking out over Rannoch Moor. It was cold but, in the lee of the hill, it felt like great weather for walking. A glance at the map showed just 0.75km and 250m ascent to the top - "come on - let's beat those sods
".
Half an hour over easy and increasingly snowy/frosty ground brought me to the summit where I met RadMan and Jackie waiting - "damn, too slow" I thought
. It had taken 1h15min (Monty eat your heart out
) and I was drenched in sweat, but high on endorphines. "Did you pass the other two?" asks RadMan. "I came the direct route so haven't seen anyone" I reply. Jackie is keen to get going with a 7 hour drive ahead of her so sets off to Creise just as Webby and LazyHungarian appear. I have to convince them that I did NOT take the chair lift
.
Therefore, mission only half accomplished for me (
) and I decided to take the rest of the day a bit more leisurely. The route to Creise was short and enjoyable across the narrow col and up the steep rocky path to the ridge. There was some more easy scrambling on this secton. Jackie was powering ahead, leaving me and RadMan panting to keep up - nothing like a 7 hour drive to motivate you
. The weather was such a contrast to the Saturday on Beinn a' Bheithir and there were impressive views to the west and back to Ma'B.
An easy final pull brought us to the summit of the 2nd Munro where we met some more WalkHighlanders (not on the meet) who turned out to be Jonny616 and crew [world domination beckons Paul
].
Now there was some furious map checking - surely we didn't have to go back over Ma'B
? Alas we did, as no-one fancied the river crossing and bogfest we would have faced were we to have attempted to create a circuit by descending over Sron na Creise. With a bit of cloud now enveloping the higher slopes, it was easy to get our heads down and plough on back up Ma'B. After a short break we descended the grassy northern slopes of Ma'B. As the cloud cleared again I took some more photos, now in no hurry at all. The words "Japanese tourist" may have escaped from Jackie's lips
.
We bumped into some very tame deer who seemed not the slightest bit perturbed by our and other walkers' presence.
RadMan and me now started to "joke" about getting the chair lift the rest of the way back to the carpark. With a little persuasion, Jackie agreed to see what the score was.
Me: "is it ok if we hop on?".
Glencoe Ski Centre staffer: "yes, if you pay the operator £5."
Me: "£5! Are you having a laugh?! We'll walk, thanks."
Smug jobsworth: "enjoy your walk"
All this was largely irrelevant as none of us had our wallets anyway
. Me and Radman stumbled down the steep final section back to the carpark and Jackie left us trailing in her wake. She just glided down this knee jerking bit. Must be good genes... About 20 minutes after getting back to the car we were joined by Webby and LazyHungarian. Goodbyes were said and we went our separate ways.
This was a great day with some great company - roll on the next meet
.
PS. I'm not a competitive person and am normally a slow-coach on the hills. I hope you can tell this report is written with tongue planted firmly in cheek
.
PPS. Please excuse my flagrant (ab)use of the past historic tense
.
