Im not sure that we could have chosen a much wetter weekend
for a long overdue trip to Glencoe, it rained and rained….and rained and so the
latest editions to the cottage, the shower and drying machines, were a very
welcome find. Less so was the new smoke alarm which I only discovered whilst
cremating the dinner.
However, we were not going to let a bit of rain spoil the
weekend but a smaller expedition than the original munro bagging plan was
hurriedly put together on saturday morning after it dawned on us that visibility
wasn’t too great and the rain had no plans to stop. We decided on a walk from
the cottage to the nearby Pap of Glencoe. The walking was actually quite
pleasant despite the rain, if fairly squelchy underfoot however we took a wrong
turn in the woods (my fault, I suspect!) and once we had worked out where we were
supposed to be Nigel’s boot decided to disintegrate making it impossible to
continue. Amidst much hilarity we admitted defeat and our some what less than
intrepid expedition was abandoned in favour of tea and cakes at the Glencoe tea
room. It wasn’t an entirely disappointing end to the walk….
Setting off......in the rain
So which way is it, Kenny? asks Lucy
A slight problem with Nigel's boot...
Nigel's Boot!
On returning to the cottage it was decided that we hadn’t
done enough exercise and so a little run taking in a couple of laps of the
woods around the hospital lochan was the entertainment for the afternoon before
returning to the cottage to add yet more wet clothes to the drying racks
already containing lots of wet clothes from the morning. Definitely time to put
the fire on and start on the whisky before heading to the Clachaig for dinner.
Drying off!
Whisky tasting
By the following morning it appeared to be a bit drier
outside and it looked as though Lucy would have a good day for her race in
Aviemore which she had left very early for so we drove to Mamore
lodge and started a walk from there having found some alternative footwear for Nigel. It was a steady trudge to up to Loch Eilde
Mor, along the side of the loch then up to Coire an Lochan then up to our
target of Sgor Eilde Beag at 956m (no idea if it’s a munro or not?) At the
higher level the wind was very strong and hailstones were blowing through but
the weather cleared long enough for us to take that all important summit photo
before closing in again.
From there it was steady descent back down the hill and
along the wide landrover track back to Mamore Lodge and to finish a lovely
relaxing weekend with tea and cake back at the cottage.
