The Ochils Mountaineering Club

from 41 to 42 in style left Coorour station(map 41) age 41 on Friday and arrived at Rannoch station (map 42) age 42 on Monday
in the interim i had not heard any news of the outside world , flushed a toilet or had a shower
I was extremely glad of the last two when i got home !

Saturday was celebrated with an obscure Marilyn ; Meall Luidh Mor ,a glass of wine
and a rather misleading birthday picture outside Loch Ossian hostel in which i stripped to a tee-shirt to give the impression the weather was actually quite warm - it was freezing !
Sunday on the Easains - just to remind myself how hard Munros are - especially when you do those two from Corrour !

and Monday was a great walk from Loch Ossian to Rannoch - this was the best day and the walk is very beautiful - well it is on a day like today - i could imagine it being awful in winter

i had comments made about the size of my pack - but it was actually quite light as most of it was empty cake wrappers !

We had a great weekend on Rum. The rain cleared away as we arrived on Saturday, and we were left with a beautiful sunny day with the odd shower scooting through quickly on the strong winds. We pootled around a bit, walked over to Kilmory, snoozed on the rocks, poked around the ruined village, then walked back to enjoy the hospitality of Kinloch Castle, where we had hired one of the plush Oak Rooms, and were having dinner and breakfast made for us!
We set off earlyish on Sunday morning and headed up to the Cuillin. It was not raining, and the cloud was coming and going leaving the tops clear much of the time (even across the sea on Skye). It was quite windy, and the air was very clear giving great views. All 5 of us headed up Askival; at the top Jen, Freya and me headed on ahead; Dad and Viv headed back from the Bealach an Oir while we continued up Trallval and Ainshval. It was so windy on Ainshval that it was hard to walk, but the summit is mercifully close to the lip of the corrie we had ascended. Freya slept peacefully through the roaring and buffeting!
The traverse back across the bealachs turned out to be a lot easier than it looked, with very good ground underfoot, so we were back at the castle in time to freshen up for dinner.
Yesterday we started slowly, poked around 'town' a bit, visited the well-named otter hide, and took the tour of the castle, before heading back on the ferry. The rain arrived shortly before we left.
We stopped briefly on the way home to pick a bag of chanterelles, which I'm sure will be quite tasty
A really good long weekend, and we were lucky with the weather. Pictures to follow when I get a chance.

Trish took up my invite to do Sgor Na h-Ulaidh, and we met at the Cottage at 10am. This, for me, followed a fantastic night at Mhairi's Mum and Dad's golden wedding celebration party in Glasgow, so I was carrying a slight hangover!

However, it was a great day, with good company, views and weather, apart from a somewhat bitter wind on the summit briefly. Went up the side of Dubh a'Ghlinne and did a fair bit of that ridge, and then over the top and down by the steep path - including two aborted forays to steep, slimey, wet rocks, before we (with Fin's help) found the easier route.

It was a busy hill, but the others were all reversing the up-routes rather than continuing over the summit as we did. We met a chap (with three others) who had his arm in a sling (shoulder problem), and had had an operation for a new knee only 10 weeks before. Hardy man! though he was popping pain killers at the summit.

A lovely walk out, with close up and friendly meeting with the herd of highland cows and calves.

Still recovering from a cold but determined to continue with breaking in my new 4 season boots for the Alps and bagging a few Corbetts, I headed down the M74 on Saturday. The torrential rain accompanying me on my journey south stopped shortly before Abington and after a longish drive on small and narrow roads I arrived at the Forrest Lodge car park east of Corserine at 1.20pm. The estate owners there like their signposts; some of the forest roads have street signs, and hillwalkers and visitors are kindly directed to stiles and footbridges. Unfortunately I did not have time to read all the signs at the car park as one warns "walkers whose cars are found in the car park after 8pm will be considered missing and reported to the police" - or words to that effect. I needn't have worried as the direct ascent and descent of Corserine is a very short excursion indeed, unless one takes in the whole Rhinns of Kells ridge. I returned to the car park via North Gairy Top and the path south of Loch Harrow, which made for a nice walk. Stayed at the small and cosy Kendoon hostel that night, which is looked after by voluntary wardens. The current one offers everybody a cuppa on arrival and makes people very welcome, which ensures a very convivial atmosphere. Sunday saw me heading for Shalloch on Minnoch - for those of you who have not been up it, if you are into bush trekking, this is the Corbett for you. On arrival at the Bell Memorial car park, I encountered 5 police cars and was told I could go walking in the area but had to find an alternative parking space, due to an "ongoing investigation". On passing the car park later, I saw an ambulance as well and was glad I did not have an early start that day, although I don't know what happened. Followed the SMC book route past Laglanny and Shalloch on Minnoch Farm, across a ruined footbridge and up the Shalloch Burn before heading up a minor burn. There was a path of sorts but it involved slithering along and across the burn, ducking under trees and stumbling up firebreaks. Sh on M was fast becoming my least popular Corbett. The bush whacking was followed by heather bashing (loads of tasty blueberries everywhere) up to the trig point and from there a short distance SE to the summit. On the way down I decided to head for a little crag and along the forest, apparently the preferred route of the fallow deer I bumped into (and also described in the Corbett Almanac). After crossing the Shalloch Burn and waving to another lonely hillwalker heading up the crag I followed another firebreak west until I came out of the forest just above Sh on M farm - this was much better than the trudge through the forest swamp. Headed north and home after that. All in all an interesting weekend.

Elke



I wonder if the incident you saw was a mountain rescue - if there was a red corolla with lots of soft toys in the back then my brother was there !

sadly in that area mountain rescue are more involved in incidents that are not related to hill walking than those that involve missing or injured walkers

i shall have to ask him about the sign at Forrest Lodge ; he is the nearest team member to those hills , so it s likely he's had to act upon people (just camping wild)/(having sex in the car which has been left) / actually lost on the hill

Havve you done cairnsmore of cairsphairn yet ?

it involves a lot of wading through stuff provided by cows and its a lot darker colour than milk

Alison

Did not think the "incident" at the Bell Memorial car park was a mountain rescue as there were no mountain rescue vehicles and the police and ambulance men did not seem to move away from the car park.

Have done Cairnsmore of Carsphairn on a beautiful February day with cloud inversion(photos in "Various" folder). Yes, I remember wading through mud and cows pads shortly after leaving the car at the Green Well of Scotland. Very friendly cows they were too.

Better late than never - Rum pictures here

Jere Scott and Hugh Skivington reached the top of Mont Blanc on 20th July at 06.45am - congratulations to both.

Well done, Jere and Hugh. Hope the views were as good as the one we got when we were there. Fantastic to see the sun rising over the Alps.

Thanks for posting, Anne.

Jean