 |
2012 Archive Stories and pics from |
|
|
2012 Archive Stories and pics from |
January (New Year) Day Trip to Dollar Law
I picked up Gordon and went to Cathcart where we met up with Mark and James. No one else turned up so we set off in one car for Moffat, where we met Steven and Heidi.
We then set off for the car park at the Megget Reservoir where we found Cornel, Gilbert and Hamish ready for the walk. Robert arrived straight after with Jif .. a Collie and one time mountain rescue dog .. and quickly got ready for the walk putting on plenty of gear as it was a strong wind.
We walked along the road to Craigierig farm and set off up the track. We soon came to a smaller track heading for Greenside Law and set off for its summit. The wind got steadily stronger and before getting near the top, Heidi decided to turn back. The rest of us made the summit to be buffeted by the wind. We decided that we would head down to the next track and make a decision about continuing.
As we descended, we found that we were getting sheltered from the worst of the wind and continued on the track up to Notman Law. We found a relatively sheltered spot and stopped for some lunch before heading up to the summit. Although still windy, we continued on the track as it was to some extent in the lee of a ridge.
Before long we had to go on to the ridge to gain the summit of Dollar Law. The wind was coming from the side and made for difficult walking. We all made the summit and I tried taking a photo but the wind made it difficult to steady the camera and when I checked it at home, it was very blurred.
We then headed back along the ridge to Fifescar Knowe. Once there, we started down to the glen for the walk out to the road beside the reservoir. We had a break when we reached the road for Christmas cake before walking back to the car park. As we got nearer the car park we passed a group in front of a wood who were pheasant shooting.
Heidi had walked along the reservoir when she had got back down, and had only arrived back at the car park 10 minutes before us. We got changed and, apart from Robert who was heading home, we made for the Tibbie Shiels Inn for a drink and chat before heading back up the road for Glasgow.
It was a good turnout for the first walk of the year, and despite the high winds I think we all enjoyed the day.
Bob MacDonald
Bob and I headed for Fort William on Friday afternoon .. we hadn't planned any hills for the Friday, but did each manage a large slice of carrot cake with our tea and coffee at the Crafts & Things coffee shop just outside Glencoe village. We weren't expecting anybody else to join us at the hostel in Banavie .. a new record low number for a club weekend? Our plans for the weekend included the Munros on either side of Loch Treig and Cnap Cruin, a Graham in the same area. Unfortunately, the weather forecast wasn't good ...
On Saturday morning we headed for the car park at Fersit and set off south along the western shore of Loch Treig, protected from the strong wind by the long northern ridge of Stob a' Choire Mheadhoin. Some impressive water spouts were being whipped up further out over the loch as we started climbing. When we reached the top of the ridge at 500m, it was clear that the Munros were not on the cards that day as we could barely stand in the strong wind and had another 600m of ascent to go to the first summit. Instead, we quickly dropped down on the north-eastern side of the ridge to a dam where we could cross the Allt Laire. We then headed around a forest toward Cnap Cruinn, our backup plan for that day. We chose a steep route towards the summit, but on the eastern side of the hill we were protected from the worst of the wind and weather (intermittent hail storms). The cloud base remained fairly high and when the hail and rain was not blowing through, we had great views to the Easains, the Grey Corries and out towards Laggan dam. It was a hard, but very enjoyable day.
Over a pint at the Moorings Hotel, we looked at the mountain weather forecast for Sunday. I had to double-check the date, because it was essentially a description of the weather we had been out in all day. We decided that Munros were probably not a good plan for Sunday and settled for a walk along the Caledonian Canal. The weather actually turned out better than expected, with much lighter wind and only a drizzle to accompany us on our canal walk.
Despite the low numbers and the weather, it was an enjoyable weekend. We joked that this must have been the first weekend in a long time where everybody did the same route on each day!
Cornel Brozio
