South Shiel Ridge (East section)

The hostel was ship shape and Jen was going to man the fort (woman the fort?) so I headed over to the South Shiel Ridge to do the easternmost 4 Munros (Creag a' Mhaim, Drium Shionnach, Aonach air Chrith and Maol Chinn-dearg) and have a wild camp - our first night apart since married life!

I sat in the van for a good 20 minutes staring up at the ridge trying to muster the motivation to set off up the long approach path, the ridge was covered in cloud but I hoped it would clear by the time I got up there. The plan was to set off late and get the Munro's bagged just before the sunset and have a little camp on the ridge. I nearly just turned around and drove home but I eventually got going, almost.... I'd forgotten my socks, luckily I had spare pair, unfortunately, as I un-balled them I realised that Dylan had got to them before I had.


The approach path eventually zig zags up towards the first summit which was hard going as every alternate "Zig" was head long into a 45mph wind. The first two summits where just a cloudy grey haze but as I approached the third... the clouds cleared, the wind stopped, the sun came out... fantastic views made even better by the sudden revealing.


I eventually made camp on a little spur on the south side on the ridge overlooking the Loch Quoich Munros. This is when I realised I'd forgotten to pack my sleeping bag and worse of all, I brought the wrong gas for the stove so no cups of tea either! I thought my pack seemed light.

I got a few hours of sleep before the cold really kicked in, I lay there shivering for a few hours before I gave in. About 3 am I put my boots back on and went out into the clag to stamp around a bit and warm up. 10 minutes later the clouds drifted away to show a bright starry night and a cloud inversion all around. I spent the next few hours playing with my camera.

View to the north

The early morning moon.

I made the summit of the fourth and final Munro for 6.30 am to watch the sun come up before I headed back down to civilisation and to our Scottish Independent Hostel.

Beats friday night TV.

--Matt

Bolinn Loop (almost...)

We had a lovely sunny Easter Sunday up here so I headed out round the local forest for a quick ride, which ended up turning into a long walk after a visit from the puncture fairy just as I was getting to the good bit...

--Matt

Vicky's Munro Adventure (**Guest Blog**)

Another guest blogger, enjoying Jenny and Matt's wonderful hospitality and beautiful Invergarry Lodge!

We ummed and aahed over when to head to the hills, and fixed on yesterday as the weather did not look so promising for the rest of the week.

I've been exploring Barren Down (Isle of Purbeck, Dorset) recently, but walking the ridge between the two Munros, Spidean Mialach and Gleouraich, is in another league.


Once I had rescued my gloves from Dylan, the ascent began - short and very steep to the top of Spidean Mialach. But the views were fantastic, over South Shiel to the north and Loch Quoich to the south, and the few spots of rain completely disappeared, never to return. There is still some snow along the top, which has drifted quite deep in places, but invigorated by my surroundings and pushed on by the wind, I scrambled on to the second peak, Gleouraich.

The descent is spectacular - you can take giant steps down the path with the beautiful Loch Quoich spread out in front of you. Nature seemed to soften on the way down - the wind less howling, the cold less biting and the gradient less steep.

So, a fantastic walk and I didn't get lost! (which is something - once went up Cader Idris and came down in the wrong valley...). Home to Jenny's veggie meatballs and Helen's chocolate truffles - nice :o)

Vicky x

Beinn Teallach, the lowest Munro ever!

The honeymoon is over and it's back to the hostel routine for us, well, it would have been if the weather forecast wasn't so good! The Inbox could wait a few hours.

Apparently I've let myself go since getting married. Dylan had also been getting fat and lazy whilst my mother was hostel sitting (she treats him too well!) so we both headed over to the Roughburn Munros to have a quick run up Beinn Teallach.

Beinn Teallach is only just a Munro at 915m and has a broad grassy southern slope that would be perfect for a quick run. We took a slight detour through some lovely waymarked forest tracks along a stream (perfect for future dog walks) to the bottom of the hill and then began the slog up to the summit. I was feeling a bit guilty at the top as I'd forgot to pack Dylan any food, but he made up for that by stealing half my cake and covering my water bladder with dog slobber whilst I was trying to set the camera on timer.


It's all downhill from here, literally. The descent didn't take us long, the gentle grassy slopes had a few patches of snow and was a bit boggy in places but was perfect for running down (minus my two falls and Dylan's one). We had a bit of a paddle in the stream to try and clean up before heading back home to the wife.

--Matt

The honeymoon period is over...

Congratulations to the Happy Couple.

There has been a week of celebrations, nuptials and partying here at Invergarry Lodge recently, I am sure all the guests would join me in thanking Matt and Jenny for allowing us to share their special day and for their generous hospitality

The newly weds are honeymooning and have left me in charge…… again. I am taking this as a complement that I did a good job last time and they promised me it would be quiet.

As well as congratulating them on their wedding, I would like to offer congratulations for their first anniversary, as it is a year since they moved to Invergarry and took over Invergarry Lodge. They have achieved a great deal in the year and I know they have many more plans for the future.

It would appear that March is a good month for Mr and Mrs Jenneson and leads me to wonder if there may be another celebration next March !!

I know that everyone who shared their wedding celebrations and all who know Matt and Jenny wish them every happiness for their future together.

Sue (Matts Mum and now Jens Mother in Law) x

Pre-Marital Bliss

Wedding of the year tomorrow, I think I'm supposed to be writing my speech or arranging flowers or something, but I managed to obtain permission to sneak off to Polldubh for a couple of sneaky routes.

Big bro mark eyeing up the HVS' on SW buttress

Mark doing Tear HS*** On SW buttress

Mark on the best bit of Pine Wall (HS)

Topping out on Pine Wall

Enjoying belaying in the early spring sun

--Matt

Orienteering Again!

We were planning a day out on the hills today but at the last minute had too many jobs to do so opted instead for another short walk around the orienteering courses at Auchterawe. Our friend Helen (www.caketops.co.uk) decided to join us, and of course we couldn't manage the navigation without good old Dylan.

We decided to give Helen the challange of navigating the way round, after a few pointers she picked it all up quickly and we were soon zooming round the course. Halfway round we became a little confused as we couldn't find the checkpoint we'd navigated our way to, despite being about 99.9% sure we were in the right place. A few moments later we found the post lying on the ground semi-buried in undergrowth and snow - no wonder we had almost missed it! With the drama over we carried on to the end of the course, stopping for the inevitable stick-throwing exercises for Dylan as we walked along the river.

Now that Helen is fully experienced and qualified at navigating our plan is to tackle the next orienteering course - physically and technically challenging, and for experienced orienteers only, according to the course information leaflet! Matt has already set us the challenge of doing it 5 minutes faster than the information suggests so I guess we had better get training Helen....!

Jen x