Inbhirfhaolain
Glen Etive
22-23 September 2000

Present: Steve R, Steve E, Bob P, Cathy H, Jeremy W, Pete & Helen I, Grant

Friday night only: Jo L, Catriona P

Saturday night only: Mark L, Valerie C

Friday night

The monster-loony whisky drinking sect had one of their infrequent gatherings, but appeared not to have lost their touch as they demolished the best part of a bottle of 15yr old Dalwhinnie. Bob tried to pull the wool over the eyes of the most experience duo (Steve R and Jeremy) by trying to convince them that the pish he had in his plastic pop bottle had been decanted from his own bottle of 15yr old Dalwhinnie ….. Holes in this story soon came to light when the colour and taste of both exhibits were closely scrutinised. However, the inability of Steve R to scrutinise anything by the end of the evening was evident as he tried to lay claim to Steve E's boots!

Saturday

Steve R was the first to bounce out of bed in the morning to head off fishing, but had crashed back into it before everyone else was moving!!! Although things looked a little damp, Jeremy, Steve E, Catriona, and Jo headed up the road to Dalness and started on the Lairig Gartain track before heading up into thick cloud and mist onto Stob Dubh (Buachaille Etive Beag). At the summit, and after lunch, there was a break in the cloud affording views to the south and Ben Starav, which Jeremy had intentions of climbing the following day. The weather was changeable over the next couple of hours, with frequent stops for hats on, hats off, jackets on, jackets off. On Stob Coire Raineach they again were graced with great views into Glen Coe with the Aonach Eagach ridge being plainly visible. The low cloud descended again. A short period of 'panic' ensued when Jeremy disappeared from sight, who later said that even with his name being called he had was so disorientated in the mist that he couldn't work out which direction the calls were coming from! As they dropped from the wee Buachaille back onto the Lairig Gartain and below the cloud level, the views to the south opened right up, with the light reflecting off Loch Etive looking particularly impressive; Scotland at its most beautiful. Back at the car, Catriona and Jo headed back to Edinburgh (Jo had a 10km run on the Sunday) whilst Jeremy and Steve E headed back on foot to the hut. The Edinburgh-bound pair spotted the yellow peril hurtling en-route to Glen Etive.

Pete and Helen, put off by a bad forecast, wandered around the Glen Etive forest, whilst Bob forced Cathy and Grant up Stob Dubh, a Corbett on the east side of the glen. Steve wandered half way up the "wee Buachille" in order to cure his hangover.

Saturday night saw the arrival of Mark and Valerie, freshly returned from a week in the sun in Majorca. It was a quiet night compared to Friday, with the main highlight being Jeremy's trying to explain the nature of his job, summarised below:

"blah, blah, blah ……….. MIDDLEWARE …………. blah, blah, blah ……………JAVA blah, blah, blah …………… CUSTOMERS SOLUTIONS……………… blah, blah, blah ……………… TECHNICAL SUPPORT …….. blah, blah, blah……………………. "

Even Pete, who knows a fair bit about software/IT was completely lost with Jeremy's techo/sales talk. Bob, on the other hand, being a real technophobe, could only assume that Jeremy was in the coffee distribution business!

Sunday

Sunday morning saw the traditional rush for home. The Ilieves being shortly followed by Bob, Cathy and Grant. The remaining hardy souls were determined to do something, although the skies were overcast. They all headed for Beinn Trillichan, and despite the threatening clouds and the long trudge up the steep uneven ground, they were rewarded with reasonable views from the top. Mark insisted on returning via the "Slabs", just to have a wee look.

JL & SR