Dylans first Munro (Beinn a' Chaorainn)

We've been so busy with Christmas we've not really had much of a chance to do anything other than walk the dog and watch Christmas films so it came as a bit of a relief to get the chance to get out.

We thought it would be a busy on the hills so we tried to choose a quiet one, but also a fairly short one so we could take Dylan, he really needed to burn off that Christmas excess! We settled on Beinn a' Chaorainn, an accessible Munro just east of Roy Bridge. It had another smaller Munro just beside it which we could add on if Dylan (and we!) were still feeling sprightly after the first. It was a wonderfully crisp and frosty morning down in the glens and the forecast said we had a 70% chance of a cloud-free summit so we were hopeful for some great views from the top. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, the summit was in cloud, freezing cloud. It cleared slightly to tease us with some views but Dylan was more bothered about his frozen eyebrows and playing near the cornices.

We didn't stick around at the summit to celebrate Dylans first Munro and carried along the ridge and descended down in to the glen and followed an icey path down the Allt a' Chaorainn back to the van and home for tea (we're still on leftovers - sprout lasagne tonight, delicious!).



--Matt

Creag Meagaidh - Raeburns Gully

For our first foray into winter climbing Rick and I decided we'd start on something easy but quite long so we chose Raeburns Gully on Creag Meagaidh, a 360 metre 3 star grade 1. A long walk in eventually got us the the bottom of the gully and we made it 30 metres up before we decided we wanted our crampons on, a lesson learnt for next time.

After that it was straight forward enjoyable ascent on good snow, tiring but good fun and it felt quite serious with the dramatic cliffs on one side. Rick's wife Anna was slightly worried that we'd be appearing on the next episode of channel 5's "Highland Emergency" but we made it to the top in one piece.


Visibility was poor on the summit plateau and we (I) had a few navigational issues but Rick had it all sussed out, I think I'd probably still be wandering around up there if it was up to me. A great day was finished with a long walk back out again with sore feet (my boots are from ebay), and then topped off by the staff in the Spean Bridge Spar shop not selling us beer because we didn't have any ID! Proves I've still got my youthful good looks I guess.

--Matt

Am Bathach

I needed to blow the cobwebs away after some 12 hour days working down in Yorkshire so I headed up Am Bathach in Glen Shiel, a lone corbett surrounded by Munros. The weather didn't look great as I set off but I had an expectant Dylan with me so I could hardly turn back without getting out the van.

I got about half way up the hill in good time, the weather looked good and Dylan was loving the deep snow although he looked a bit hurt when I laughed at him when he disappeared in a deep snow drift, until I did the same and his eyes lit up mischievously. I stopped to take a photo halfway up and Dylan took the opportunity to wrestle with both my gloves and fill them with snow. Fortunately I had a spare pair, unfortunately, my spares didn't match and were both left handed gloves so I spent the rest of the day with one cold hand.

We had a short steeper icy section just before we got to the start of the summit ridge where things got a bit easier for the 1.5km to the summit. Up on the ridge the snow was different, it was the type that you think will hold you until you transfer your weight on to your front leg, then, all of a sudden you drop another 6 inches. Hard work.

We sat down for lunch at the top, Dylan had eaten his lunch already so I had to split my sandwiches with him, thankfully he was off playing in the snow when I smuggled my KitKat out my bag. We headed down the northern side of the hill to the bealach, Dylan was sliding down as he chased the snow rolling down the hillside which looked like fun so I joined him. I covered about 200 metres height in a minute or so by sliding down on my bum with Dylan hot on my heels (and crashing into my back when I tried to curb my speed).

That was the walk done, or so I thought. I had a 30 minute slog through knee deep snow to reach a path, it wasn't all knee deep, I managed to find a few bits which where waist deep. Dylan took the sensible option and followed my footprints until we could make it back to the path along An Caorann Mor.

--Matt

Father Christmas comes to Invergarry Lodge

Well it's been a busy week up at Invergarry Lodge. Matt has been down to Yorkshire on a work trip, and finally made it home on Tuesday despite numerous problems with snow and ice at Inverness airport. We have taken Dylan to his final puppy class of the year where he was awarded his rosette and certificate for passing the 'puppy foundation assessment', which came as a nice surprise to all of us! It was the Christmas bash so we all had lots of fun with 'pass-the-bonio-filled-parcel' and 'musical dogs', all washed down with our first mince pies of the year, which went down extremely well.

We've got lots of great snow on the hills up here, in fact the Nevis Range may even open for skiing this weekend if there is enough on Aonach Mor (see www.nevisrange.co.uk to find out the latest information). Yesterday we decided to head down past Roy Bridge to do a short walk at the bottom of Creag Meagaidh. The snow down there was amazingly dry, so that you could see every single crystal, and really powdery. Despite numerous attempts at making snowballs, it just wouldn't work so we gave up and concentrated instead on throwing it all over Dylan the dog, which he seemed to find quite amusing.

The festive season seems to have crept up on us this year, so I am now making up for lost time by throwing myself into Christmas crafts galore! Last night I went along to a workshop for making cake decorations, and came back proudly showing off my very own Father Christmas creation. I won't give up the day job but it wasn't too bad for a first attempt:

Luckily I also won a snowman version in the raffle afterwards, made by Helen who is a professional cake-topper creator (see her wedding cake topper creations at caketops.co.uk) which will take pride of place on the Christmas cake my mum is bringing up here for Christmas.

And to cement my festive spirit, I'm staying in today making Christmas tree decorations from sparkly felt... and I might even treat myself to a mince pie while I'm at it!

Jen x

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It's been snowing again in Invergarry!

It's beautiful enough here at any time of year, but the snow seems to have a magical effect on the scenery and it is just stunning right now. Instead of writing any more, I'll just show you some of the photos I've taken this morning, none of which really do justice to the actual experience but were the best I could do with very cold fingers and an impatient dog!

Needless to say we're all enjoying the snow, especially Dylan!

Jen x

Dillon the Lovesick Dog

I'm just a Labrador puppy
My coat is shiny and black,
I'm only eight months old
And I'm rather a mischievious chap.

I live with Matt and Jenny,
In Scotland by the Loch,
Surrounded by woodland walks
I'm such a lucky dog.

I had some friends to stay,
They came from way down south,
Two glamorous blondes,
They made me drool at the mouth.

Tia is so much a lady
She just oozes elegance and grace,
But if I make any advances
She soon puts me in my place.

Lily is something else
I fancy her so much,
I follow her everywhere
But eventually have to give up.

They call her Lily the tart,
We romp and play all day,
I think she's stolen my heart
And soon she's going away.

She takes me into the woods
And shows me the ways of the wild,
I'd do all I could
For my Lily to stay a while.

She's such a competent swimmer,
I want to swim like that,
Retrieve sticks from the water
And take them to Jenny and Matt.

Today we went to Loch Lundie
Lily was magnificent,
I so much wanted to join her
But was too frightened to make the attempt..

I wanted to show her how brave I was
And launched myself off the side
I found myself swimming like Lily
But she took it all in her stride.

I think I'm in love with Lily,
She'll be going home quite soon,
I wish I had all my bits in tact
I'd show her a thing or two.

Jules

Sgurr a' Mhaoraich

The Exiles (Jen's walking/mountaineering club) are visiting and the "Mountain of the Month" on Nick's calendar at home is just down the road so we took the first good weather day to seize the opportunity.

The early start turned into a late start, the late start soon turned into an even later start which included a cooked breakfast.

The glen was looking stunning and the walk looked like it might be called off altogether as we had numerous photo stops (Nick is a very keen photographer). It got even worse when the we came upon about 20 stags standing around in the middle of the road, and we spent at least 20 minutes listening to his* camera beeping and clicking as we crept along the road.

The walk sets off straight up the hill but I don't think anybody noticed as we were all admiring the surroundings - and Jen had Lilly the golden retriever to pull her up most the way - I think she is planning on training Dylan to do that as well! After a few small patches of snow and ice to negotiate we were soon at the first summit of Sgurr Coire nan Eirichean.


Most of us were happy to sit here sunbathing and have an extended lunch before heading back down. Although we kept saying we weren't bothered about getting to the very top, Jen and I decided we'd leave our bags and run across the ridge to "bag" the Munro and catch the others up on the way down. We soon made it across the ridge and after a few icey-scrambley bits and a fine view we were back to pick up our bags an hour later and raced off to catch everyone up.


We had an amazing day out although I wasn't sure about Dave at first, he kept going on about it been "gneiss" and "schist" - it took us a while to figure out he was commenting on the rock and not the walk!

--Matt

*in Nick's defence, it wasn't just his camera clicking away, we were all at it.

Loch Quoich Munros

Our friends Steph and Richard are up for a visit this week, they have done loads of walking in the Lake District but none in Scotland so we headed out to bag us a couple of Munros. The short drive from the hostel was full of promise - blue skies, still Lochs reflecting the mountains and amazing autumn colours, unfortunately it wasn't the same story down by Loch Quoich where the cloud was already beginning to come in.


Richard set a good pace that soon got us up into the cloud and up to the first Munro, Spidean Mialach. Jen and I have done these two hills before so we told them how good the views are from here and what they could have seen if it was clear.

As we headed up towards to second summit the cloud began to clear and gave us some views. From here it's not far through some quite deep snow to the last Munro, Gleouraich, which was teasing us with some lovely views of the neighbouring peaks peeping through the clouds. It was Jen's turn now to set the pace as we headed back down towards the van/pub/hot meal.

Oh, and I'd like to take this opportunity to say hello to the blog's second biggest fan (after my grandparents) - Hello Steph's dad!

--Matt

A Spooky Witches Trail

The motivation for cycling has returned this week with Jen saying she wanted to have a go at one of the red runs at Leanachan forest. I haven't done the "10 Under the Ben" route but Jen was adamant that there isn't a better time to do the Witches trail than on Halloween!

We got to the top after a lung busting ascent with Jen telling me that it all seemed a bit too easy. I managed to convince her that we should stop for a few minutes and enjoy the view of the North Face which is looking great covered in the early snow.

The trail is named after a local witch, now I didn't see any witches but there was definitely some loud cackling and shrieking coming from Jens direction as we took off down the route. I could tell from the massive grin on her face that she was enjoying herself. After stopping a couple of times to check she was OK (and let her catch up!) I got told off for stopping as it puts her off and I should get a move on. Charming.


Anyway, we both had a great time and now Jen knows that the reds aren't too hard we're ready to get out and tackle some of the others in the vicinity. Maybe next year we'll dress up as witches and celebrate halloween properly!

--Matt

Smashing Pumpkins!

Last night we got into the Halloween spirit and went along to the Invergarry Hotel to join in all their spooky festivities, which included a pumpkin carving competition for the children. Of course we couldn't resist having a go ourselves, and they even created a special prize for the best adult entry for Matt - see his winning 'gangster pumpkin' below. Mine was a more traditional affair and looked pretty good in the dark, so both will be proudly displayed in the hostel until they begin to wither.

We also had a go at the pub quiz, we didn't do particularly well but we did manage to avoid the booby prize for coming last, probably due to the fact that we were allocated an extra team member at the last moment, so thanks for the help Albert!!

Jen x

Snow Fun on Aonach Mor!

With business now slowing down for the winter, we just couldn't resist giving ourselves a day off to go out and play in the snow we've had up here this week.

After a brief detour into Fort William to pick ourselves up a couple of brand spanking new sledges, we met up with our friends Mark and Gail and headed up Aonach Mor on the Nevis Range gondola. Despite Matt being sceptical about the amount of snow at the bottom, as we emerged at the top of the gondola we were delighted to see masses of the stuff - perfect for our sledging plans!

Being heavily pregnant, Gail couldn't join us for the sledging so we left her in the warmth of the Snowgoose restaurant and trudged uphill to the top of the Quad Chairlift. My feelings of trepidation were increasing as we climbed higher and higher, especially when I realised I didn't actually have a clue how to sledge. Luckily I had Matt with me, helping me understand some crucial 'sledge science', such as "the deeper the snow, the steeper you need it to be", and "you're lighter than me so you'll probably take off". As I said, crucial.

Luckily all my fears were forgotten when we reached the top and found some pristine knee-deep snow on which to christen our new sledges, and it was all downhill from there!

We had great fun trying to dig ourselves out of the powder at the top whenever we fell off, and it got even more interested towards the bottom as we tried to avoid the large rocks poking out of the snow, and the various ditches which the sledges seemed to be magnetically attracted to.

After a while the fun ran out for Matt when he slid over a rock and broke his sledge. We had a few attempts at tandem sledging but it is somewhat harder than doing it by yourself! We were soon drawn back to the warmth of the Snowgoose, where we joined Gail for lunch and beer before heading home. Definitely a successful day out, measured by the fact that I was still pulling snow out of my pockets on the way home.

Jen x

Invergarry Lodge loves the Snow (It's Official!)

We got everyone together at hostel to have a vote to decide whether we love the snow or not.

The results are in - the dog did, the chickens definitely did not, the cats where unsure, the cows weren't allowed to vote because technically they don't live at Invergarry Lodge, the guests this morning did, Jenny does and I do. 4 ayes, 1 nay and 1 abstention - it's official. Now we just need to find time for a day off so we can get up in the hills and enjoy it properly.

--Matt

Invergarry Lodge goes autumnal!

Well, it must be well and truly autumn up here in the Highlands - the tourist trade has more or less dried up, the leaves are turning beautiful shades of yellow and red, and I have an odd sort of looming sensation which must mean our first tax return will soon be due. Rats.

It has also become seriously cold up here, and we've been piling on the woolly layers and blankets in our attempts to stave off the cold. I have also taken up knitting, and so far have produced a gorgeous pink scarf which is only about 2 feet too short, and a lovely grey woolly hat which might fit a child somewhere between the ages of 5 and 10. Apparently I should have used patterns. Now they tell me.

We've had some entertaining times this month with a brief visit from Matt's cousins Ralph and Bill from the U.S. We took them to Urquhart Castle and Inverness, and also managed to fit in a walk down Glen Nevis (see Ralph's attempt to conquer the wire bridge of doom) and a flying visit to the Ben Nevis Inn for lunch before they left, but I think they most enjoyed the whisky and cask ale sampling session in the local pub the night before. Sorry Shelley for propping up the bar so late!

In other news, Dylan the puppy has had his manhood removed in his neutering operation this week. We thought it was quite funny until the vet mentioned that we'd have to refrain from giving him any exercise for 10 days. 10 DAYS!!! Do they not know how much energy this puppy has and what he will do to the house in 10 days with no exercise?!!! The fun really started when they also revealed he'll have to wear an enormous lamp-shade round his neck for the duration, to stop him from pulling the stitches out. So not only do we have a hyperactive puppy bouncing off the walls, we now have a clumsy 3-foot-wide puppy bouncing off the walls and knocking over everything in sight, including us.

On the plus side, we've got lots of visitors lined up between now and Christmas, and now that the hostel trade is quitening down we are hoping to have more time to get out and about in the hills doing what we love best.

Jen x

Honey, I broke the dog.

Jen and I were trying to get some work done but the dog would not leave us alone, he was desperate to go and see some of the snow that had fallen up on the tops during the night. I volunteered to take him and left Jen with the mountain of paper work.

The afternoon was getting on so we headed down to Loch Quoich for a quick run. The glen looked stunning - autumn colours coming through, blue skies and a dusting of snow on the tops. We had to get up to about 650 meters to get to the bottom of the snow level but it was pretty sparse. Dylan wasn't sure what to make of it so, like everything else, he ate it.


After throwing a few snowballs and posing for a photo, we headed back down, a nice run only interrupted by Dylan not wanting to cross the 3 streams we encountered and him nearly getting run over by the post lady when we got back to the road.


He hasn't moved since we got back and was even reluctant to get out of the van, looks like we might be in for a quiet evening for once.

--Matt

The Aonach Eagach

We where heading back up from a trip down south for a wedding (congratulations again Chrissie and Andrew) and decided to spend a couple of nights in Glen Coe, it's not far from the Hostel but we wanted to prolong our holiday for a bit longer.

We hadn't seen a forecast but we awoke to what appeared to be a pretty good day so we decided to have a go at the Aonach Eagach ridge. The Aonach Eagach ridge is listed in at least 3 books we own and is described as either a very difficult walk, a grade 2 scramble or a Mod grade rock climb depending on which one you read. Whatever you decide to class it as, it is definitely one of the great Scottish mountain ridges and a great day out.



Jen has done the ridge before but it was a long time ago and said she couldn't really remember much apart from the "horrible descent" back down so was happy to do it again. The ridge begins with a slightly tricky 15 metres or so down-climb but soon eases and navigates over and around various pinnacles along a narrow ridge. You would think navigation would be easy along the ridge but Jen still managed to find a slight detour involving a very awkward down climb which would definitely not fall under the category of "very difficult walk". We both really enjoyed the ridge and Jenny's fears soon vanished when we found a half decent way down at the end of it.

After collecting the van we stopped in at the Clachaig Inn for a pint and met a few other people who we had seen (overtaken!) on the ridge. Jenny was very pleased when they told her she was very speedy and looked very confident on the ridge, maybe that meant that I didn't?

Anyway, we are back home now, there's nothing like half a dozen nights sleeping in the back of a van on a punctured thermarest to make you appreciate the 4 star luxury of Invergarry Lodge.

--Matt

Come back Matthew… Come back Jen

“Mum, could you look after the Hostel for a couple of weeks?”
“Of course son!”

How hard could it be? I had seen the pictures and read the blogs, it sounded like fun. After packing my walking boots, cycling shorts, running shorts, crampons and finger tape, a trug to collect the flowers and wonderful crop of vegetables and an egg box. I only had to brush up on my bowling skills and remember my paintbrush and canvas.
My concern was whether Harry would get on with his cousins: Dylan, Morag, Penny, Anna, Mary, Lorna, and Lara…. thankfully all went well.

I then had to get to grips with my training. It was a total role reversal having my son tell me what he wanted me to do … how bizarre to be told the bedrooms were not tidy enough and the bed linen not straight, it took me back 20 years.

However, I soon realised how hard Matt and Jenny work to keep the Hostel running smoothly and that it is not all play. Well done to you both.

Thankfully, I am getting better at answering some of the many questions. I now know where the colander is kept and how far it is to the pub, but sadly still failing on questions like “When does the stalking season affect the Loch Quoich munros?"

What made the experience fascinating was the unexpected: Waiting for the bell to ring, the horrors of waking up at 6.30am with no power, stopping Dylan (the hostel’s 6 month old Labrador) from attempting to get up close and personal with 3 highland cows, and a guest’s car lodged in the ditch, blocking the entrance to the drive. Happily, these were all resolved in true hostel fashion.

But the highlight had to be, 8am Saturday morning, I had taken the dogs out and diligently checked that all was well in the hostel, some guests in bed, some in the dining room and others in the kitchen. So I took the opportunity to have a shower. There I was, happily in the shower thinking that the ringing in my ears was water… but no…. it was the fire alarm!!!!

The 2 weeks have been fun, I have been very fortunate in having some great guests and I thank them, especially a group of proficient walkers who came to my rescue on several occasions.

Well the honeymoon period is over and Harry and I are now returning to Yorkshire (and a rest), hopefully we will be back in charge in March for the real honeymoon (and the wedding).

Thank you for letting me look after your Hostel.

Sue (Matt's Mum) x

4 Sore Feet, 3 Munros, 1 Wild Camp And Hardly A View To Be Had

**Picture Special**

The lovely autumn colours are just coming out in the stunning Glen Affric, unfortunately we could hardly see a thing on our recent wild camp.

Very grey on the first summit (Tom a' Choinich).

Quick photo for the next North Face catalogue

The obligatory cake stop half way along the ridge

A sneaky peak of the views we could have had

It cleared up as we made camp...



....but soon got dark

The easier ridge we followed the second day, before heading back to Invergarry Lodge.

A great little trip, shame about the cloud on the first day but it gives us an excuse to go and do it again someday. Not so many problems with the cloud on the second day but it was a race against time as the rain was threatening, but we made it back to van (just) before it hit us.

--Matt

A Wet And Grey Skye

The great thing about living up here is that you get the pick of the weather, the rainy days you stay in and do the hostel work, the nice days you get out and about. Unfortunately, it doesn't always collide with having a baby sitter for the hostel.

My mum is here, ready, willing and trained up for any eventuality so we took the opportunity to get away for the night. We had some climbing planned on the Cuillin but the weather wasn't playing ball when we got there so we decided we'd get on the tourist trail for the day and get something done the next day before we came back.



We had a nice day cruising round the shops, galleries, beaches and fish and chip shops but were itching to get something done in the hills. Unfortunately they'd disappeared from view completely by 3 in the afternoon. A restful night in the van, two cups of tea and bacon butties didn't help the weather to improve dramatically for the morning and we where torn between getting wet in the hills and, er, staying dry in the van. The van won, and we were back on the tourist trail before heading home (via some more fish and chips).

To summarise our trip, we'd recommend Portree harbour for chips and Grumpys in Plockton for Fish, but that's only if you can't get to the one at the top of the locks in Fort Augustus.

Weather is looking better for tomorrow, better work off these chips!

--Matt

A nice day out shopping...

...or at least it was for Jen, luckily for me she dropped me off in Glen Nevis on her way. She got to go shopping without me standing behind her asking if it's time to go home yet (not conducive to bargain hunting apparently!) and I got to play on some rock for an hour or so.

I thought I'd wander around the boulders having a bit of play but I soon realised having a guidebook would have been handy. I found out on the Internet before we left that there was supposed to be some easy stuff just near the road but everything I found was either really easy or too hard for me (mainly too hard). I had always wanted to have a look at the Scimitar Boulder and I knew where it was so I headed in that direction. I thought I could make the approach more interesting by heading up Scimitar Ridge, a shortish scramble about grade 1/2 according to Mr Cicerone.


The scrambling wasn't hard but it was nice to be out in the Glen again, the breeze was easily keeping the midges at bay, just a shame I didn't have anyone to talk to when I had a sit down at the top, still, at least I didn't have to share my cake. It's not a challenging scramble but a handy one to know about as it will be easily do-able in the wet and gives good views across the Polldubh crags to the west.

As you descend from the top you come past the Scimitar boulder which looks amazing. I had a little play on it and will definitely be back with a mat and maybe a spotter (Jen) to tackle the harder problems.


In other news, one of our chickens appears to be some kind of genetically modified variety as we have had 3 double yolkers this week. Is it a bird?, is it a plane?...no it's SUPER-HEN!

--Matt

Stob a' Choire Mheadhoin and Stob Coire Easain

Or "This Yin" and "That Yin" according to Hamish Brown.

My friend Mark was planning to get out a bag these two hills, the forecast wasn't great, I was expecting a slog in the rain at worst, at best a slog through cloud but I needed the exercise so we headed out, besides, it gets me out of the hostel work for the day.

The ridge sets off at an easy angle and height is gained by a couple of steep steps, the first one even required the use of hands as well as feet. The summit of the first Munro eventually crept nearer, when we got there we both agreed it was lunch time. The weather forecast was completely wrong and we had great views across to the Grey Corries, I think I even got a bit of suntan! The second Munro is easily reached from the first with a small descent and ascent up a rocky ridge. The views from this summit where even better, you could see past the Grey Corries over towards The Ben, the Mamores, the Aonach Eagach ridge, and into Glen Coe. If you looked the other direction, I'm pretty sure I could see Jen slacking off at the Hostel.


Whilst we where enjoying the view and our second lunch some low cloud crept in up the valley behind us and we decided to get moving. Back down the last ridge, then descend straight down to Coire Laire and follow a boggy path back to the Vanbergini. A good day out made great by the unexpected good weather.

As an aside for any history buffs, I was just checking the spelling of the hills in my Munro bible and found out we went pass the house where Rudolph Hess was held captive during the war.

Other Invergarry headlines this week include Dylan learning to swim, our chickens laying eggs and Dylan nearly drowning (but he's alright now).

--Matt

A bicycle made for two....

The latest addition to the Invergarry Lodge arsenal is a bicycle made for two. Early tests show it's easy to use as long as Jenny stays at the rear and I promise not to try and ride no handed. The latest test run through the village have proved that cycling up hill is no easier with two, especially after stopping for cake. Unfortunately, being at the front stops me from checking that Jen is actually pedalling - lets just say I have my doubts.

In other news, Jen the little forager has got her eyes permanently open for free food these days and decided get her hands on some of the mushrooms that are all over the forest floor. As well as bagging another load of Bilberries, we ended up with this lot.


We didn't really know which ones where poisonous or not so we ended up with quite a collection which we tried to identify when we got back. The white ones in the middle are definitely poisonous, the clue is in the name - deathcaps. The ones we could identify (chantrelles, oyster etc) we used in a special recipe - Cheese-on-toast-a-la-Jenneson - simply delicious, but there wasn't "mushroom" for dessert!

We also found time to take Dylan the wonder dog to the Lochaber Agricultural Show. We thought it would be good to get him socialized with other dogs and after a poor start (hiding under the van from a terrier for 10 minutes) he got a bit braver and made some friends.

He even insisted he enter the pet parade, unfortunately he didn't win (probably because he needed the toilet mid-parade) but it was a valiant effort and he got a rosette for taking part and he celebrated when he got home.

Anyway, now the hostel is quietening down a little as soon as this weather sorts itself out we can start having some big days out again.

--Matt

Jen Conquers Ben Tee

Our friends Rick and Anna were up in the Highlands on holiday last week so I took the opportunity to sneak some time away from the Hostel and get out for a day's walking. I've been living up here for 4 months now and still hadn't found time to get up our nearest mountain, Ben Tee, so it seemed like a good opportunity to tick it off.

We set off at around midday and drove down to the forest at the end of the lane so that we could avoid the half hour slog along the road on our return. After parking the car we set off through the forest, marvelling at all the beautiful mushrooms that have started springing up all over the forest floor - also made a mental note to get myself a decent mushroom-gathering bok soon. Some of them (i.e. the bright yellow and red ones!) looked positively poisonous!

The waterfalls in the forest were quite full and looking rather spectacular after all the recent rain here. We soon left them behind though and were heading up onto the forest roads with lovely views of the glen. The path then took us away from the road and through more pine forest, and we were beginning to feel that we would never reach the end of the forest, when finally the view opened out before us, with Ben Tee towering away in the distance. The next hour or so was a bit of a slog as we slipped and slid our way over the boggy ground and started to climb the lower slopes. Just as we were beginning to get seriously fed up with the wet tussocks beneath our feet, the ground suddenly solidified and small outcrops of rock appeared. It seemed like a good place to stop for some lunch, so we relaxed for half an hour in the semi-sunshine and refuelled.


We carried on up the easier rocky ground to the summit, having been fooled by a false summit a couple of hundred feet below. The views were spectacular and far-reaching, and we just managed to get some photos in before the cloud started coming in thick and fast, until we were completely enveloped.

Time to head back then - we returned the way we'd come, the wet tussocks at the bottom becoming even more menacing on the way down and forcing me over on an ankle on two separate occasions. We also had to be careful to avoid being shot after spying some stalkers below us with some rather handy-looking shotguns. Luckily they rode off on their 4x4 before we came too close and we finished the walk without any further ado.

After 5 hours on the hill I was rather tired so luckily Matt let me off hostel duties for the evening and I had a lovely long soak in the bath to finish off a great day out.

Jen x