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Debbie and I were booked in for a night at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel. I had booked it back in April, not long after Ailsa was born and this would be Debbie's first night away from her. She and Lucy were dispatched to my parents on the Friday evening and we got an early start on the Saturday morning, being away from Perth by 6.15am.
I had long been forbidden by Debbie from doing the Aonach Eagach ....... that is forbidden from doing it unless she was with me. Not that she feels I'd need supervised - just that this is her kind of walk! In saying that, I knew this was going to be a stiff challenge for her. It had been 15 months since her last Munro, Ben Lawers in June 2010, and pregnancy and motherhood had intervened since then to keep her largely off the hills. And then there were the effects of the life-threatening haemhorrage she suffered immediately post-delivery. In short, save for a couple of local Sub2Ks, she'd not walked on this scale for a long time.
And so I was a little surprised when she suggested the Aonach Eagach. I was thinking we'd probably do the Corbett Beinn a'Chrulaiste, or maybe Beinn Trileachan down Glen Etive.
The forecast seemed fair so we decided to go for it, taking both cars up the road. We dropped one off at the carpark down the minor road beyond the Clachaig and the Glencoe YH and drove the other car back round to the carpark by the solitary white house, just past the main Bidean carpark. We were the first car in that parking area, although within a short space of time, we were looking back down to see half a dozen or so vehicles squeezed in beside us.
In short, we had a brilliant day. The Aonach Eagach lived up to all my expectations and met with Debbie's approval too. She was dead on her feet by the time we left Sgorr nam Fionnaidh to drop down to the bealach between it and the Pap, and she took a wee tumble or two on the descent path back down to the car, but otherwise it was a stunning return to form.
I will let the pictures tell the story. They do it so much better than any words could.
This is the Aonach Eagach! Enjoy!