By Ruth
It was a beautiful evening when we got to the hut. Some of the others had arrived the day before
and gone bouldering. I was excited to be on a meet again as this was the first one I had been on
since COVID.
Over food we discussed plans for the next day. The forecast was looking good and most of us
decided to the circular route up Stob a Ghlas Chorie and Meall a Bhuiridh. Others decided to
scramble up pink rib or walk some of the other nearby munros.
We set off relatively early as Cameron, Miles and Alan hoped to do some trad climbing afterwards a
Polney Crag. Skirting round the hill was a bit boggy and after a while Cameron suggested that instead
of continuing round the base to the start of the scramble, we scramble up now and traverse round
to join the line. After some discussion he persuaded us that it was doable (which it was) and we had
a very enjoyable scramble up, stopping for a quick snack and to admire the view. While we could
clearly see pink rib for our snack spot we were too far away to make out anyone from the club
scrambling on it.
Finishing the scramble was a bit of an anti-climax as there was still a bit of walking to do to reach the
summit of the first munro, however the views were worth it and after a few photos we pressed on
towards the second one. After descending the summit and with the second munro in view I
suggested lunch but as the guys wanted to get back to do trad climbing before the rain set in later in
the evening. Eilidh and I hadn’t bought our climbing gear with us and therefore thought we would
enjoy being out on the hills rather than rush back to sit at the hut (and to be honest I was struggling
to keep up with how fast they were going).
After a nice lunch we climbed the second munro and ran into Colin and a few others from the club
who had driven up that morning and were doing the same munros as us but in the other direction
(they chose not to do the scramble down but went back the way they came). The descent was less
scenic running alongside the chair lift, thought it was interesting to see the mountain bikers going
down the tracks then taking their bike up again on the lift. We later learned that Cameron and the
others had taken the lift down so they could have more time for climbing. This provoked a lively
debate about whether or not that was cheating, and having done the descent once I would certainly
be tempted to take the lift down next time..
Eilidh and I got back at the hut at around three, where we relaxed with a cup of tea and then went
for a nice shower (one of the perks of the women’s mountaineering club hut). Cameron and the
other climbers returned just as we had finished dinner, having managed one climb before the rain
set in.
On Sunday the weather wasn’t great so Rob and I went on a short low level walk on the way back,
while the others either went straight back via a café or also did a shorter walk.