7th – 9th April 2017

View from the mountain (Katrina)

The weather was much better than expected for our weekend in Torridon! Saturday
was clear so Dave P, Si, Miguel and Katrina climbed Liathach; Jim and
David M scaled Beinn Dearg; Jeannie discovered new climbing routes near
Gairloch; Greg ticked another Corbett off his list; Pete, Paulina and
Ilze enjoyed the sunshine in the glens; and Niall completed another epic
bike ride. Phew!

The Ling Hut’s generator wasn’t, er, up to
producing electricity, but thankfully we’d all brought lanterns, and
with additional light from four candles (“fork handles?”) that Greg
picked up we had a cosy and well-lit night in on the Saturday, with Dan
and Diana joining us for a bevvy. Paulina cooked a delicious Thai green curry, with cake for dessert, too.

Sunday
didn’t look so good for hiking so we had a lazy morning before cleaning
the hut and going our separate ways – all destined for various coffee
and walking stops en route home.

View from the road (Niall)

Arrived mid-afternoon to open up, spent a while trying to work out why
there was no electric, gave up and went for a wee cycle over the
Bealach na Gaoithe and back.

Returned to everyone else sitting in darkness.

Further investigated the electrical issues with Jim and made a diagnosis of the problem.

No
phone signal so couldn’t get message out for late comers to bring
Candles, so collected some water from the burn (where the pipe ends
anyway) and got on with it. Some eating and planning by headlight before
bed.

Went for a cycle to Applecross via Achnasheen, while others
tackled Liatach and Ben Ailigan, very windy in Corrie Na Ba made the
bealach climb interesting, oddly calm at the summit before an
interestingly angled descent. Just missed Dan and Diana at the pub, then
returned for tea.

Greg returned from a 2 Ronnies sketch with 2 brace of candles and we settled down to tea in subdued lighting.

Sunday’s forecast was junk so most set off for home with eastern walks planned by some.

Present: David P, David M, Jim, Pete, Greg, Ilze, Paulina, Si, Miguel, Katrina, Jeannie and Niall, guest appearances from Dan and Diana.