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