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The night before, Tuesday, the MWIS forecast for the Wednesday used words like “Considerably buffeting”, “Movement tortuous”, “Lightning” “Blizzards” & winds up to 50mph! In the pub (Taigh Ailean Hotel, Portnalong) everyone told me the In Pin would be cancelled – and I believed them. I kept the rendezvous on Wednesday at 08:00hrs but Geoff had gone home by this time. I only turned up to be polite and fully expected to be sent away again. But no – it was all systems go, this time with new companions including the guide, Graeme Paterson of Sky-Hi (
http://www.skyehi.co.uk/)
The weather was pretty much as forecast – crap! For the umpteenth time this year I could tell I was on what would be a phantasmagorical walk/ climb on a clear day. Great walking, great views (at least at lower levels) great scrambling. Graeme was good company on the way up and I could tell he was checking us all out. An excellent guide; we all arrived at the foot of the pinnacle feeling confident and ready to go. Goodness knows why people, in the right circumstances, go ahead and do something which scares them half to death! Something their fear should make them quit! I don’t know how I did it but I did. Very scary, very exciting, very enjoyable. For the most part we were too apprehensive before the climb and too elated after it to get any decent photos. By the time we got back to the cars we were caught in the worst downpour I have ever seen in my life!
There are loads of good pictures of the In Pin on “Google Images” My own are below.
An utterly fabulous day out – it’s now Friday and I still feel a bit elated! I fully intend to do it again on a clear day.
(I’d recommend Graeme and Sky-Hi and also the Skye-Walkers hostel in Portnalong.)