Members' reports 2022-23
Sheena McKie, 25 September 2022
With very poor weather predicted we decided on a very modest start to the season with a leg stretch on Ben Venue. Great to be back out together again with the usual banter of past exploits and characters making the summit coffee and rolls a right good laugh !
Seven out on a grey day.
Sheena McKie, 3 October 2022
A quick scoot up to the North West Highlands. Weather not always ideal but we had great fun climbing Meall Chean Dearg. Bit driech up top but still a really good mountain.
Club weekend, Muir Cottage, 28-30 October 2022
Great weekend folks. Just brilliant seeing everyone again and realising nothing had changed. A few walking wounded and a few absent friends but it was great fun. Congratulations to Stas and Sue becoming Grandparents again, hearing the news today.
Big day on Saturday: Carn a Mhaim - Ben Macdui - Derry Cairngorm.
Great to see everyone this weekend and all looking so well. Great to hear everyone's chat, which true to form was as entertaining as ever, missed that. A couple of photos from the weekend. On the hills with Alex Haken and Alan Forsyth. Rather windy up top today but not as much as our room was last night. And congratulations to Stas Burek & Susan Burek for getting a new club member for the future.
Had a great time at my first Club meet, thanks for making me feel so welcome. Big day bagging Derry Cairngorm with a couple of other wee hills thrown in for good measure and great company on the day.
Just one photo from the weekend from me. Aqua-man wringing out his socks after the ‘swim’ part of his triathlon…… he wasne very happy!
And now for something completely different !!
A group of us rounded off the weekend with a visit to His Majesties big house in the country, Balmoral.
We did the circuit of Queen Victoria’s Cairns which were commissioned to commemorate the marriages of her children.The largest, a perfect pyramid was erected in memory of her husband Albert.
We visited 7 of the 11 cairns and of course the pyramid.
About 2hrs 30mins and over 1000ft of ascent.
Roll and sausage and coffee in Braemar rounded off a nice day.
An interesting and enjoyable excursion.
Tommy Lavelle, 4 December 2022
Out with Stas and my mate Jim today, In Glen Orchy, Corbett, Beinn Mhic Mhonnaidh. Started off drizzly then got a wee blast of snow up top,but not too bad in between.
Alex Haken, 4 December 2022
A’Chrailaig and Mullach Fraoch-choire today from Clunie. A fairly good covering of snow from about 700mt upwards. A strong cold wind as well.
Ben Ledi, 2 January 2023
George Hamilton: Sunshine, ice from summit to car park, 14 year old son saying "yeh that was good fun dad" then helping to wash the dishes without being asked. A good day on the hills with the cairn ban is such a spirit lifter. Hope to see you all at the next club Sunday walk.
Iain Kent: Great day out today guys. Thanks for waiting for me. Another step in the right direction for me and JCC.
Alex Haken, 14 January 2023
Slioch today with Colin Henderson a proper winters day. What a slog out!
Alex Haken, 15 January 2023
Fionn Bheinn today. Heavy snow overnight made hard going. Between knee and waist deep for the final couple of km up to the summit. Sun came out in the afternoon though so not a bad day at all
George Hamilton, 15 January 2023
Schiehallion today, snow, sunshine, spindrift, wind, just an all round fabulous winters day.
Alex Haken, 16 January 2023
Meall Chuaich today. Minus 5 deg C at the car. Sunny most of the day (except the 30mins we were on the summit!)
Club weekend, Aviemore, 24-26 February 2023
Sheena Mckie: All alive and kicking......just !
Club February Burns supper. Brilliant effort by the committee with special thanks to Stas for all his work.
Brilliant night with brilliant people !!!
Stuart Mckie: Sgor Gaoith today. A great day after yesterday’s weather.
Alex Haken, 5 March 2023
Another 'ice-climbing weekend for rookies' in Rjukan, Norway.
Alex Haken, 19 March 2023
Not even 10am and stood on top of Ben Macdui. Camped on top of Carn a'Mhaim last night!
Alex Haken, 8 April 2023, Mullardoch
Our home for tonight!
Sunrise from our summit camp on top of An Riabhachan this morning
Sheena McKie, 9 April 2023
We were out last night so a not so early start on the Ptarmigan Ridge on Ben Lomond. Considering getting out of bed was a challenge two hours to the top was more than acceptable. Freezing up top right enough !
Sheena Mckie, 25 April 2023
Walked in to Alltbeithe with Stuart and Stas. Changeable weather, lovely one minute Baltic the next. Started with An Socath then on to the two other unpronounceables. Brilliant few days, we had a great time.
Alex Haken, 7 May 2023
Summer on Beinn Liath Mhor & Sgorr Ruadh today….
20dec C and sunny!
First day out in the hills this year that I just wore a t-shirt all day.
May weekend, 12-14 May 2023, Ullapool
Sheena Mckie: Absolutely brilliant day on An Teallach and great to see some of our walking wounded back out high on the hill. Everybody was absolutely buzzing after a great day !
Iain Kent: Amazing Cairnban day out. First two Munro’s since my hospital visits. Thanks to the Cairn Ban Mountaineering Club team getting me to the top.
John McGill, 21 May 2023, An Teallach
Ullapool, alternate weekend for Alex Haken & I. Neither of us was available last weekend, unfortunately our weather was not quite as good. An Teallach, including its Munro tops yesterday.
Diane Langkley, 29 May 2023
Munros Cruach Ardrain and Beinn Tulaichean from Crianlarich. Well trodden paths, several people but plenty of sunshine and excellent scenery.
Diane Langley, 30 May 2023
Corbett Meall Dubh today, no people, no paths. Middle ground would be good!
John McGill, 2 June 2023
Aonach Eagach today with Liam.
Ian Collinson, 2 June 2023
Not exactly hilly but a tremendous trip to Tiree this week.
Alex Haken, 3 June 2023
Well, that was one of the most brutal days in the hills I have had for a long time. 25deg c and no wind on Gulvain today.
A couple in front of me turned back for the same reason. All I could do was put one foot in front of another…. Onward and upwards…. Think I have officially been in Scotland too long. Have forgotten what ’good weather’ actually means! Ps. Who put the trig point on the wrong summit?
Iain Kent, 3 June 2023
A wee overnight camp and then Sgurr Eilde Mor at 7.30am followed by Binnean Beag. Munro’s 182 & 183. Only 99 to go Totally burst in the heat.
John McGill, 4 June 2023
North top on Liathach on Saturday. My favourite area in Scotland, just superb.
Stas Burek, 7 June 2023
Epic weekend on Skye, with stunning weather. Saturday was a marathon day, Sgurr nan Gillean via the Pinnacle Ridge. Awesome scrambling and climbing, I started to worry when we finally topped out at 9pm! Back at the Slig in the dark.
The In Pinn on Monday. Perfect weather, and stunning views over the whole of the Ridge.
Somehow the weather gods have been smiling on Scotland over the past few weeks, and we certainly made the best of it.
With Robert, Jochen, Pete and David, from GCC.
Walking the Outer Hebrides, Stuart McKie, 23 June 2023
Our plan for 2023 was always to include a long distance unsupported walk, the question was where. After our long trip to Australia earlier in the year somewhere in Scotland was the general idea. After much debate we decided on a twelve day trip walking the length of the Outer Hebrides from Vatersay in the south to Stornoway in the north. We had a few other points of interest we wanted to visit along the way and our total mileage would be around 180 miles.
Taking advantage of our travel concession we got the bus from Glasgow to Oban then onwards by ferry to Castlebay in Barra. The total journey time was roughly 9 hours. We were met at the ferry terminal by friends who live in Castlebay and we stayed with them for the first two nights of our trip. Starting at Vatersay the weather was damp and overcast but this was the only day of poor weather and the subsequent days were sun filled and midge free.
Few points worth noting re kit:
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We purchased ‘Kilos’ sleeping mats which although slightly heavier than others proved to be worth every extra kg. Super comfy and warm.
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Water filters: had never really used them much before but they too were brilliant, and essential.
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Alpkit brukit…..bombproof and in our opinion better than Jetboils.
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Our old trusty walking poles were brilliant in the peat hags but our best bit of kit was a tiny ’Flextail’ air pump. Charges off a USB and inflates your sleeping mat in about 80 secs. At the end of a hard days walking it was just another wee thing that kept the morale up, no huffing and puffing. Brilliant piece of kit.
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We took ‘Summit to Eat’ dehydrated meals with us and have to say they were super tasty.
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The most important kit though was map and compass/GPS, we literally would have been lost without them on more than one occasion.
We stayed in the HebHostel in Stornaway on our last night. The owner acknowledged that cyclists were her main clientele and that of the few walkers to have completed the entire route many were ‘broken’. We actually felt pretty good at the end but as I said, we were very lucky with the weather !
The following morning we were on the ferry heading to Ullapool and our pensioners bus journey back to Glasgow and the end of a very grand adventure.
Taking advantage of our travel concession we got the bus from Glasgow to Oban then onwards by ferry to Castlebay in Barra. The total journey time was roughly 9 hours. We were met at the ferry terminal by friends who live in Castlebay and we stayed with them for the first two nights of our trip. Starting at Vatersay the weather was damp and overcast but this was the only day of poor weather and the subsequent days were sun filled and midge free.
The start of the walk begins on a stretch of road and leads over pretty rough terrain. Marker posts for the Hebridean Way were allegedly positioned to assist with route finding but throughout the trip we found them to be extremely random and in some sections non existent. Map and compass/GPS are essential for this walk.
Photographs say more than we could about the trip so won’t bore you with daily route descriptions. It’s fair to say that this trip is not for the faint hearted. The walking is incredible rugged in very remote areas. There is a lot of road walking which is never easy on your feet, especially carrying heavy packs and there is very little in terms of support available should you require it. We were wild camping but much of the terrain was peat hags and at times finding a suitable pitch was very difficult.
The other main issue we had was sourcing clean drinking water. We had water filters with us and they really were a life saver. Towards the end of the walk we were resorting to knocking on the very isolated houses we came across and asking for water. Have to say everyone was lovely to us and gladly filled our bottles.
On a few occasions we camped at established camp sites which had showers and washing facilities……bliss! On speaking to locals they said cycling the Islands was clearly more popular than walking them and that was clearly reflected in the real lack of any support for walkers.
We were extremely fortunate with the weather as this would have been an entirely different experience otherwise. On the peat hag sections we constantly suffered wet feet but were able to dry gear out in the sunshine at the end of each day. God knows what it would be like in bad weather.
Planning is absolutely essential for this walk. Restocking supplies can only be done on certain sections and of course you can’t re supply anywhere on a Sunday as everything is closed on the Islands. We carried most of our food and delighted in the thought that the more we ate the lighter our packs became!
We both agreed we had a wonderful time. We were lucky to experience the islands at their best and saw some wonderful sights. Two otters walked past our tent one evening and we had eagles circling above us on a few occasions too.
Physically it was a tough trip but certainly not beyond us or anyone else in the club. Would we do it again, probably not. We loved the remoteness and the sheer joy of just the two of us being out there. Throughout the trip we only saw six other walkers, but the long sections of road walking were a bit of a scunner. We will definitely go back to the Outer Hebrides but the car will be coming with us next time.
Diane Langley, 3 July 2023
62 miles along St Cuthbert's Way, Melrose to Lindisfarne.
Alex Haken, 6 August 2023
Walked into Bealach Bhearnais on Friday night and camped. 3am before we got there. Saturday did Sgurr Choinnich, Sgurr a’Chaorachain, Maoile Lunndaidh and camped on top of Moruisg. Was planning on camping in the valley by Glenuaig lodge but midge infested, so decided to push on and regain some hight. Woke up this morning to sunshine. Did Sgurr Nan Cannaichean for the sake of it and then back out to the car. So tired I needed 30min kip in a lay-by half way down the A9! Only 26 left to go now……
