We only had a short time at home before heading to Skye, so the washing machine was on duty immediately and our washing was soon out on the line, where it dried very quickly in the warm sunshine. Josh arrived to lodge with us for a few days; he is doing an Internship with Hibs football club for the next year and is currently looking for a flat to rent in Edinburgh. He was very pleasant company and soon made friends with the cats; I came into the back room one morning to find Josh eating his breakfast with Tom happily curled up on his lap. He stayed on after we left, and I’m sure that Tom and Flora appreciated his company.
Off we set on Sunday and met Ally, Cat, Davie, Chanel and Cornel at the Sligachan Hotel on Skye, our base for the next three days.
The high level hill-walkers proceeded to climb Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Basteir, and Bruach na Frithe on Monday. This meant that Ally only had one mountain to climb on Tuesday in order to complete his Munros; the appropriately named Sgurr Alasdair. Cat had organised two guides for the five of them. They took some excellent photos which showed amazing views of the mountains, and of really technical climbing including scrambling and abseiling; it was a tough two days but Ally was very happy to achieve his 282nd and final Munro. They all had a dram of whisky and some shortbread at the summit.
Chanel and I also had a great time on Skye. On Monday we went to the Fairy Pools near Glen Brittle, which I have long wanted to visit. We arrived nice and early, before most of the crowds, and walked up and along the River Brittle, looking for a good pool to bathe in. There was plenty of choice, as there are pools every few yards, which is why it’s such a popular area. We chose a lovely pool with a little waterfall, and it was very refreshing to get into it because it was a very warm day. The setting was just beautiful. By the time we returned to the car there were loads of people arriving and the car par was overflowing, so we felt very pleased with ourselves that we had got there early. We had lunch at Glenbrittle campsite and took photos of red deer crossing the road just in front of us. We also visited Carbost and went to the Talisker Distillery shop. On Tuesday we walked up to the Old Man of Storr although the cloud was so low that we only got a brief glimpse of the distinctive rock formation! And then we visited Portree where we bought a cake for Ally to celebrate his Munros completion, and after some searching, some fridge magnets with mountains on them to use as decoration. And we went on a boat trip, where we got a fantastic close up sighting of a white-tailed eagle diving down to retrieve a fish that the skipper had thrown into the water. The sea was rather choppy but Chanel bravely climbed to the upper deck for a better view even though the boat was see-sawing about in the water!
Back at the hotel we had a celebratory dinner for Ally’s achievement. He had already submitted his completion details to the Munro society. We had Prosecco to start with, and our excellent bartender, Christos, agreed to bring the cake to the table after dinner. He jokingly asked if we would like him to sing, and I, also joking, said yes! When the moment arrived, Christos appeared carrying the cake in one hand and his phone in the other, on which was playing “Celebrate Good Times” by Kool & The Gang! It was so appropriate and we all laughed and cheered. It was a great evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment