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