| |
Christmas trip to Callander
5th-6th Dec 2009
Alan, David, Robert, Jim, Joe, Lucy,
Laurie, Derek, John, Moira, Pat, Shug, Kenny L, Kenny McKay
The running party of nine teamed up at
Ardvorlich on the south Loch Earn road in dreich rain with low cloud
shrouding the hills. Glimpses of snow patches disappearing into the
mists promised extensive snow cover higher up. Spirits lifted as
familiar and some new faces started to get acquainted. It was great to
see Shug back in action and looking fit after ‘resting’ for a lengthy
spell. He had brought along Kenny McKay as our latest member who appears
to be capable of giving the old lags a good thrashing (on the hill!)
John Donnelly appeared in more suitable attire this time (see members
page) although his pal Moira appears to also have a penchant for pink.
It was good to see Lucy again after her worth in the kitchen had been
proved at Knoydart earlier in the year (she has been known to run as
well!)
There was little pretence at running as we
soon reached the snow line and our hillshoe clad feet went through a
continuous soak/freeze/warm up cycle. There was a knee deep burn to wade
before we stopped below the cloud to plan our route. It was obvious that
Ben Vorlich was beyond us so we opted for the Corbett to the east of the
track.
Alan showed his leadership skills by setting a
compass bearing to a point at which he had 'cunningly planned' (thanks
Baldrick!) that it would appear to the others that they were lost.
Kenny L rose to the opportunity and we managed to navigate by map and
compass across the arctic wastes to our summit of Meall na Fearna. After
summit photos an exhilarating run took us to down to the south side of
the pass. Blunderbuss (and mapless) Anderson was restrained from leading
the others back up into the clouds and the correct route through the
narrow pass was discovered. Another enjoyable soaking session of soggy
paths and burn wading took us back to Ardvorlich where we discovered a
path leading up a series of waterfalls in spate.
Meanwhile Pat and chums were happily ensconced
in a hostelry in Callander oiling up for the Man City game. Survivors
of the snows headed straight to the bunkhouse for showers and to let
Derek get to work peeling his 'butternut squash'. With the wine
uncorked we were chilling out enjoyably while Kenny L (off duty from his
day job in the Kama Sutra in Suchiehall street) and his skivvies
produced a first rate veggie curry with full accompaniments.
Man City beat Chelsea so it was a happy but
incoherent bunch that finally appeared under the long suffering
supervision of young Robert (phone childline Robert!). Joe disappeared
to bed, never to be seen again and we moved onto the highlight (for
some!) of the evening – the Postman Pat quiz. Only strenuous efforts
to keep him focussed on the actual question we were on and not the
question two ahead kept the quiz from dragging onto the following day
and David revealed the true state of private dentistry when it became
obvious that he had misread the main constituent of dental amalgam at
college and we surmised that the entire population of west fife were now
walking about with tin teeth. By this time there was no great urge to
return to Callander and we had enough booze in to enjoy the remainder of
the evening.
After a night where the snorers slept better
than the others a few appeared bright eyed at breakfast but most of us
looking decidedly hung-over. Joe made an appearance to prove to some
that he had actually been present on the trip and Derek and Kenny L
whipped up a delicious Spanish omelette and instructed Pat on how to
make a pot of tea. Attempts to thwart Alan’s efforts to collect the
money for the weekend were made by Pat who had unaccountably handed his
over to a barman in Callander and Laurie who had helpfully given Alan's
list of who had paid to Rosie to chew on overnight!
After farewells Lucy went off for a 27 mile
run up to Balquidder and back (she seems quite normal when you speak to
her!), Shug and Kenny M headed south to Glasgow, Jim and pals headed
off for home via another pub or two while the main group geared up for a
run up Ben Ledi. The weather was much better today and as usual our
running gear attracted looks from the many walkers on the track. Higher
up the windchill increased and we had to don all our extra layers before
we re-entered the cloud. Luckily, apart from the icy path the snow was
soft and we reached the summit without incident. For variety we opted to
return down the north ridge and into Stank glen where Kenny L fell in
love with Mr Refill and pranksters Anderson and Jabbers were soon up to
their usual tricks with Laurie throwing up last nights lager and Derek
chewing on some unmentionable part of Laurie’s anatomy. Roll on next
year!
Alan
|
|
