Creagan na Beinne

On a cloudy (500 metres cloud base), calm and mercifully dry day, seven of us chose this gentle hill for today's Corbett bagging exploits. Some are pictured on the summit.

Others went up Glen Lyon to bag Meall Buidhe.

One slightly insane member of the club went up into the cloud to bag the entire Ben Lawers ridge. The ghost of Culdees must have got to him! He got as far as Ben Lawers - four Munros.

Our own ascent was uneventful, subject to the obligatory sinking up to the hips in snow episodes (mainly Margriet). The only other inhabitants were a large herd of red deer and a pair of Black Grouse. Later we saw a friendly stalker who explained that the gunshots we'd heard were simply a check that the guns were working. We assume the pheasants laid out on a table bore no connection.

We were jokingly accused of chasing the deer away, but I think we beat them towards the stalkers and it was a group trying to learn ice axe skills in a safe place that scared the deer.

Adjournment after our 18km stroll (750 metres ascent, 7 hours) to the Kenmore Hotel located Bill and his newspaper and tales of his near demise in the local woods. A most pleasant indulgent interlude.

Then back to Culdees for hot showers and a cramped dinner.

The weather forecast is great for next week. But not for tomorrow. So we'll probably hit the road to Timperley earlier rather than later.

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