The Journey North - Stac Pollaidh - Cul Mor - Canisp - The Journey South
Ratagan
8th - 11th April 2007
We stayed at this Grade 3 youth hostel. Duncan surprised to find it updated from 20 years' ago. Now it is slightly bigger and has showers. Whilst the internet didn't exist back then, the indoor drying room wasn't necessarily an improvement. Now, when locked out of the hostel in the day time, your nearest port of call is a hotel bar 2 miles away. Unfortunately for us, when we arrived it was dominated by what Ian called "the dead hand of" the Perth Ladies Walking and Climbing Club. They were a miserable bunch; many in number and none in spirit.
After the ladies of Perth had left, we discovered one of them had forgotten her "To Do" list. We took this as proof of their deep sadness because it was a list of the Munroes (mountains over 3,ooo ft) to be done in 2007/2008. They were cold, calculating check box tickers of the worst kind. Atleast one of them was anyway.
Whilst we stayed in Ratagan Youth Hostel, the weather turned against us. Consequently we paid the customary visit to the local new build castle.
Ian & Duncan walked up Gleann Choinneachain...
This is a scrollable panorama featuring Gleann Choinneachain. You'll need the quick-time plug-in to see it (click here to get it free). Put mouse to right of this text and click Ctrl to zoom out. Click Shift to zoom in. Left-click the mouse, hold and drag to scroll around inside the panorama. Through some trick of the light (no doubt) Ian appears twice, ghostily. Mac users, sorry, you're on your own - no idea what the appropriate controls are |
...and Ian climbed Sgurr na Moraich, which is one of the Five Sisters of Kintail and its accompanying 'top', Beinn Bhuidhe. These people are Nick & Rosie who led Ian up Sgurr na Moraich:
These are views captured by Ian on his telephone whilst walking with Nick & Rosie. Firstly, looking down:
Secondly, looking up:
As Duncan was later to misquote, "We don't do these things because they are easy, we do them because they are easy to talk about after dinner...".
Duncan's entries in the Youth Hostel diaries from 1st - 3rd August 1988 were tracked down. Duncan was very disappointed that the warden (Nick) who had inspired him so much in 1988 and 1989 had moved on only 2 years earlier and also very embarassed at his immature writing in the diary entries from 1988 (there was only a single line from 1989, merely recording the fact that he had come back). The 1988 entries are here: 1st August, 2nd August & 3rd August. The warden's comments do not relate to Duncan's entry but to the idiot who wrote the entries for the day after Duncan.