Blackrock Cottage
20-22 March 2009
by Tracy, with photos from Lynn
Seven intrepid ESTC members spent a wonderful weekend at Blackrock Cottage. Undeterred by the Saturday low cloud, the Sunday hurricane force wind, and the temptation of a Mother’s Day lie-in, we were determined to brave the elements and enjoy the great outdoors.
Faff to walking ratio was particularly high, resulting in a late start
on both days. Saturday saw Ian and Francesco attempting to skin up to
the pisted slope (singular I’m afraid) at the Glencoe ski
resort, only to wimp out and eventually buy a lift ticket. Snow
conditions were, by all accounts, very good even if the runs were
limited. The initial cloud lifted at lunchtime to provide a great
day’s skiing.
Meantime Tracy, Alan, Lynn and Audrey set off for the Buachaille Etive
Mor, Alan managing to ground his car and exhaust manifold in the car
park before we even started the walk. At this point visibility was poor
which was just as well – if I could have seen what I was
attempting I’d have headed straight for the Kingshouse Hotel.
One scree slope climb, lost Audrey and a death defying ice climb later,
saw Tracy, Alan and Lynn summit Stob Dearg. The clouds lifted to reveal
the ridge in all its glory – AWESOME. We continued along the
ridge, following our mighty leader Alan, until mutiny in the ranks saw
Lynn take the unusual decision to follow the path down. Why take the
path when there’s an extremely difficult scree slope to
navigate, thought Alan? All got down safely eventually, and we even got
a lift back to the cottage from the newly found Audrey.
Sunday’s gale force winds saw the intrepid seven, now joined
by Ross, head for a forest walk in Killin. Deprived of coffee all
weekend, Lynn opted for the pub instead. Ross led us on a lovely Sunday
afternoon walk, made all the better by two lengthy picnic stops.
Most memorable moments were:
- Francesco staying up most of Friday night to cook his Mum’s famous genuine Italian crème caramel dessert
- Eating Francesco’s crème caramel dessert on Saturday night with strawberries and cream
- Lynn’s proposal of marriage to Francesco on tasting said dessert
- Eating Francesco’s creme caramel dessert, strawberries and cream with porridge on Sunday morning
Key lesson learnt from the weekend – ensure Francesco (or his Mum) goes on all ski club trips and gets to cook dessert!