April
A quiet month for walking, although I did manage to get back up to the Lakes for the Royal Wedding weekend. I made my first visit to Helvelyn via Dollywaggon Pike on a beautifully clear day, the following day was rather blustery so I cut short my planned Fairfield Horseshoe and descended into Grasmere. I arrived a little after midday on the day of the wedding and for the first time in my life I found the streets of the town deserted. It was a bit like an apocalyptic scene from the movies, the buildings were all intact but not a sole was to be seen. The next few days was taken up with an ML refresher course - steep ground management, more ropework, navigation and leadership. A mini-expedition took us over to Cockley Beck and around the Crinkle Crags with a wild camp in a fantastic spot above Lingcoye Beck with views of the Crinkle Crags.
May/June
A month later and I was off to Scotland, this time the logistics required the use of the car. After a stop off in Glasgow I took a late afternoon drive up past Loch Lomand, an area I had last visited in the 1980s. By the time I reached the edge of Glencoe it was getting dark and I parked up near the Kings House Hotel, just off the A82 and headed off into the gloom to find a dry spot for an overnight camp. It was a short walk-in but fantastic to wake up on a mountain side away from it all. A quick ascent of Beinn a' Chrulaiste and Meall Bhalach (both Corbetts) before the onward drive to Kintail on the west coast. A mixture of walks were undertaken this week, starting with a circuit incorporating Beinn Bhreac and Beinn Bhuide before returning through Morvich. The spate of the rivers, particularly Allt a' Ghlomaich meant our walk from Camas-luinie to the Falls of Glomach was curtailed a mere 500 metres from our destination. Over the next two days we tackled the South Shiel Ridge in two sections and bagged a few Munros in the process.
A long drive across country took me to the Cairngorms with an overnight camp in a secluded forest. The Glen Feshie area was an amazing place to go walking and relatively quiet away from the bulk of visitors to the National Park. After a long days walk around Carn Dearg Beag and Carn Dearg Mor I headed up to Glenmore Lodge and onto Ryvoan Bothy. This was my first trip to a bothy and here I found a DofE group camped outside on the flat grass and two inebriated students staying inside. This was an eventful evening as one of them cut his hand, requiring me to administer first aid treatment and sending them down to the Outdoor Centre for further assistance. They returned after midnight even worse for wear but with the cut glued together by the accident and emergency centre. I left early the next morning and headed up Meall a' Bhuachaille, Creagen Gorm and Craiggowrie before descending into Glenmore Forest. While following the forest tracks I saw a pair of Red Squirrels playing, not something I can see at home being surrounded as we are by Greys. The next few days were spent at Glenmore Lodge on a series of training courses.
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