Banchory Veterans' Hill-walkers

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/ Sunday morning and there was barely a ripple on the water - it boded well. We took a short drive down to Armadale to catch the big ferry over to the mainland port of Mallaig and, from there, we drove a couple of miles south to the Sands of Morar, where Gordon let the dogs out for a spot of exercise before we all got on the small, passenger only ferry across to the island of Eigg and it's very distinctive volcanic rock formation. Ian tried to make a friend on the crossing, whilst John had a munch and Colin looked for land: Ken and Gordon looked after the dogs: It was a one hour crossing on a millpond and soon the island beckoned: It looks an almost impossible climb from here - and even tougher from here: Looks are deceiving, however - there is a way up and round the back - albeit with a bit of scrambling: However, I'm getting ahead of myself. First of all, the team photo at the start of the walk. By th...

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/ On Saturday, the Famous Five had planned to drive from Plockton over to Skye and catch the morning ferry to Raasay, where they intended to complete two walks, with me hoping to join them for the afternoon coastal one. I left Banchory not long before 7 am on a glorious Saturday morning - not a cloud in the sky. My plan was to catch the 1 pm ferry from Sconser and head for the north of Raasay, hoping to bump in to the others along the way. I took my time on the drive, stopping three times in all, including this photo shoot on the stretch between Ballater and Corgarff: Yes - shorts were the order of the day (and remained so for the whole weekend). My third stop was not long past Inverness, where I picked up a paper. Not long after this, I phoned Ken to check whether I should take my car on the ferry to Raasay or not. Ken enquired where I was and wondered whether I had any chance of making the same 10:30 am ferry as them? "No way...

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/ I had said after last year's trip to the Lake District that it would be my last, but Ken had put together such an attractive looking schedule for this year that I was tempted to try to make an effort to at least take part in some of it. I knew I couldn't do all 5 days, so my game plan was to join them for Saturday afternoon and Sunday and Monday activities. So the Famous Five - Ken, Ian, Colin, John and Gordon - plus dogs - set off without me early on Thursday morning. They had planned to go over the Lecht but a sudden cold front arrived and they had to make a last-minute detour via Huntly, as the Lecht road was closed with snow. Their first destination was the Torridon area and they completed a three and a half hour walk on Thursday afternoon before retiring to the comfort - and a healthy selection of real ale - provided in the Torridon Inn. Here's a few photos of that day, provided by Gordon, John and Ken respectively: ...

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/ Great idea of CK's in the pub on Friday night to go for a walk up Scolty yesterday - what a glorious morning it was. Four of us made it along - John McW, Andy M, CK and myself. I forgot to start the app until after we crossed the Dee so the stats are not quite right. We had a little pause on the way up and took a slight detour on the way back as well, so here's how it all looked according to Adidas MiCoach ( http://www.adidas.com/uk/micoach/ ): We took the shorter, steeper route on the way up and John set off at a cracking pace, but crucially, still sporting full fleece and layers. About half way up he stopped for a breather but he was obviously overheating and he fainted as he rose to get up again. We stopped for a while to let his head clear before setting off up the hill to the top for the traditional team photo: Visibility was terrific - here's the view of Banchory and beyond from the top of the tower: It was a...