Fri 22 – Sun 24 October 2021

October 2021 saw the first Dundee Mountain Club ‘proper’ hut-based meet since the dim and distant past of pre-covid days.

For this auspicious meet around 20 of us headed to the Glencoe Ski Club hut at Bridge of Orchy, scene of some memorable DMC Christmas meets.

The hill weather forecast was not great for Saturday but often it is worth heading out in case things are not quite as bad as predicted. Unfortunately Saturday turned out to be one of those days when the weather was possibly even worse than the dismal forecast!

Despite this, hardy groups set out to tackle various hills including: Beinn a’Bhuiridh, Beinn Mhanach, Beinn a’ Chaistel, Beinn nan Feran and Beinn Inverveigh.

I think most of these walks got to the (a?) summit but by mid-afternoon everyone was back in the hut, cold and soaked to the skin. Two methods of warming up were tried. Group A repaired to the Bridge of Orchy hotel for hot chocolates and cocktails, group B stayed in the hut and learnt a new French card game about gorillas eating mosquitoes.

Dinner was a fine three course meal of seasonal pumpkin soup, spaghetti bolognese followed by lime and ginger cheesecake. Hallowe’en themed after dinner entertainment was a pumpkin carving competition, definitively won by… someone.

Sunday’s weather did not deter us and a few more hills were bagged: Beinn an Dothaid, Meall Taibh and Beinn Donachain. But probably the best use of the weekend’s weather was a long overdue revisit to the rapids of the River Orchy myself.

All in all a great weekend despite the weather and looking forward to many more.

• Report by David Matthews