Part 2

(get out the maps for this one guys, I have now been from the very south of England – Plymouth on the Gibb trip – to the very north of Scotland!)

Dinner Meet: Gairloch

The end of the year EUMC celebration always takes the form of a trip to a stunning location, Saturday full of outdoor activity, followed by quick showers at the campsite and on to a posh dinner and night of revelry and dancing! Then Sunday… well for those capable of movement various activities ensue. This year the meet went to the small fishing village of Gairloch on the northwest coast. Unfortunately, Saturday was a bit gloomy, but still managed to go for a nice walk out to a waterfall in the hills, then beach rugby for the rest of the afternoon! Everyone polished up nicely for a yummy dinner at a nearby hotel. Various ‘forfeits’ – dares basically – were assigned, I was lucky enough to be assigned to take part in the piggy back race in which I am proud to say my partner Ian and I were the champions (though unfortunately only overtaking once the 1st 2 pairs in the lead took a nasty spill… everyones alright though!) There were many hilarious assignments, though most involved inside jokes that probably were only funny to those in the club! We ended dancing the night away before exhaustedly passing out in our tents. Some brave souls ventured down to the beach for daring dips in the sea, but I opted out of that chilly endeavor! Sunday turned out to be gorgeously sunny, and I, amazingly hangover-free but after quite a bit of lounging about in the warmth (do check out the pics of this morning, my fav of which shows me as the true Scottish girl I have become: laying in the sun looking a bit rough after a late night with irn bru in one hand and an oatcake in the other!), was able to go climbing with a (small) group of other likewise blessed. It was a great day of climbing, apparently others enjoyed more lounging and a day on the sunny beach – quite a good hangover cure if you ask me. After a quick pack up we were back in the mini buses, most for the journey back to Edinburgh, but some, including myself, with a different destination ahead…

Inverness and Clashaidy

My good friend Lyndsey lives in Inverness, and has a summer house way up north – Clashaidy is the exact local, but nearest actual ‘villages’ are Tongue and Bettyhill on the map. We were dropped off at Inverness, spent a nice night with her lovely parents in Inverness before heading off north in the morning. The journey was quite interesting, train to Lairg, then from there it was a post bus trip for me, lyndsey, and sarah, and hitching for rozzy, craig, and tom! And when I say post bus, I mean the little van that delivers the mail… : ) yes yes, we heard all the local highland gossip, mostly consisting of some horse parade or show(?) that was coming to a nearby town and everyone was excited to go see! After about 3 hours we made it to the house, actually at the same exact time as the hitchhikers! They lucked out and happened upon a very nice man who took them up simply because he was exploring and hadn’t been up to the north coast in a while! He dropped them off, had a cup of tea, and was off – amazingly kindhearted! Only in the highlands they say : )
We spent the next 3 days exploring the sea cliffs, doing a bit of amazing climbing, and enjoying the awesome location and comfy house (quite posh after tents!). More of my guy friends arrived later in the week and it turned into quite a fun occasion! I had to return to Edinburgh on Wednesday night, sadly, to move out of my flat before the 1st of June. Luckily I was able to catch a ride with my friend Chris who also had to be back, along with some others who had to work. Moving out was quite a chore (and very sad saying goodbye to my flatmates…), but I was able to accomplish it all in a day and by Thursday night I was comfortably ready for my flat hopping. I’m currently residing in my friend Malcolm’s flat, and let me tell you it is VERY interesting moving from a flat of 12 girls to that of 3 boys… some parts are better, far more laid back and chill, but then that bites you in the bum when laid back turns into lazy – I struggled with not becoming a nagging house mom, but then came to and realized a) I shouldn’t be anal and b)it’s only for a couple weeks! I’m actually having a lot of fun with the boys now, and I just tell myself when I give up and have to clean (just cause I can’t stand it anymore) its just like earning my keep ; ) haha.
But now I’m getting ahead of myself again – after the quick return to Edinburgh for moving out we were off again on Friday for…

Skye Meet

Ok, so I always though before, my favorite place in Scotland was Glencoe. Mind changed after the trip to Skye, most definitely! The blessing of great weather helped quite a bit, but honestly this was the most amazing place I’ve ever been to. It’s an island off the northwest coast of Scotland. It is also the home of the Cuillin Ridge, the best mountaineering ridge in Britain. We stayed in the Glenbrittle campsite just at the base of the ridge. Saturday I went on an awesome walk up a small ridge leading to one of the Cuillin munroes, Sgur Banadich (don’t hold me to that spelling) but it means roughly Smallpox Mountain in gaelic, great name huh? The walk was great, a bit of a chore going up scree to the start of the ridge, then scrambling over and up to the top of the munro. Absolutely fantastic views!!! On the way back down we stopped and went for a swim in a waterfall, a bit chilly but amazingly refreshing! Sunday we drove about an hour to a coastal village called Elgol where we walked a bit to some great sea cliff climbing. Best belay views ever, looking out over the sea to islands beyond, perfectly sunny day! We went for a swim after too, brrrrrr cold sea! The next morning (note morning I mean 3 am) 6 of my guy friends attempted the Cuillin Ridge. This was very scary for me, worry wort extraordinaire! The ridge is the best mountaineering sight in Britain for a reason. It is extremely exposed, worse than the worst bits in the Anoach Eagoch ridge in Glencoe that I did in the fall, and there are also a few bits that you have to climb and many parts you have to abseil. The weather over the ridge is also extremely tricky, as the mountains tend to catch bad weather off the sea. It’s actually quite evil looking. Towering mountain peaks with dark clouds constantly hovering over them even when the rest of the sky is blue! Soooooo my crazy friends had to attempt it. The weather looked alright, so they went for it…. To be continued….
I spent the day being lazy (haha what contrast) laying in the sun in my sleeping bag till 2 in the afternoon before getting an energy burst and going for a nice run along the coast. People did various things and then met back up at the campsite to head to the Sligachan Hotel Pub, near where the ridge ends and where the boys would be – apparently around 9 earliest. We had a very yummy dinner, and I enjoyed a point of Skye Ale and even tried some Islay whiskey, which took my mind off worrying before it was suddenly 11 and I was quite nervous… We decided they might have come down early and just headed back to the campsite…
Which they had. They made it ¾ of the way before the weather moved in and they were too knackered to continue, plus it would have been dangerous if the mist came in as they were getting to a tricky navigational bit. They had come down and managed to hitch a ride back to the campsite and had been there since 9 but had no way of reaching us lol. They were on the ridge for 18 hrs though, quite a feat! I was so proud, I don’t think I could even manage that! Scary!
The next day was our last, and happened to turn to bad weather just then so we packed up quickly in the rain and were back in Edinburgh by 6 pm. Great trip! I definitely want to return to Skye someday.
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