Kinlochewe week
19th - 26th June 2011
By Jan U.
For the second year running, we went to a shooting lodge in Kinlochewe. Kinlochewe is perfectly situated next to the Torridonian mountains and near to a stretch of beautiful coastline.
Some of us were crossing off our Munros. Others were bagging the Corbetts. A few were hillwalking for pure pleasure. There were no major incidents save a couple of navigational errors. One group tried to descend down a scree slope off Benn Eighe in the mist. Having never previously heard a scree fall, I thought that we were descending near a river.. until the ground started to move!. I will be going back in good weather to bag the one that was within 50 m but had to be abandoned due to rain and wind. The other navigational mishap was on Ruadh Stac Beg which was eventually climbed on the second attempt.
Apart from hillwalking, there was lots of cycling (including the families), rockclimbing at Raven’s crag and of course the customary visit to Poolewe gardens. Pam also managed to walk the 26km from Poolewe to Kinlochewe through man high tick infested ferns. One of the highlights for the children was the wonderful playground at Torridon complete with wooden squirrels and a pirate ship.
There was no yoga this year. Instead, Graeme gave a talk and showed a DVD about Mahler in his later years. We learnt about Mahler’s rather tragic life and how that was reflected in his symphonies. Unfortunately, Graeme’s slightly sexist portrayal of Mahler’s wife Alma, was not received well by many of the girls in the group!!
Towards the end of the week , some left and Clare’s friends arrived for her final Munro. Despite the grim weather towards the summit (calm and sunny at the bottom) we had a fantastic day climbing Benn Alligin - Clare’s final Munro. Well done Clare!!
Hills climbed: Beinn Eighe, Liathach, Fionn Benn, Slioch, An Coilechan, Meal Gorm, Glenn na Muica, Benn Alligin, Meall a Ghibhais and the evasive Ruadh Stac Beag.
The food was wonderful. No one wanted to go out for food on the “rest” day, preferring to eat “leftovers”! The menus for the week (for posterity) were: Chantal’s amazing buffet, tomato starter / fish pie, fajitas / poached pears, squash risotto / chocolate pots and vegge pasta / fruit salad.
Thanks again to Chantal for organising the whole week and to all those who bravely offered to lead a team of cooks for the night. Thanks also to the tea fairy (you know who you are).