Beinn Iaruinn

After a business trip to Inverness, I was hoping to nab Gairich on the way back down but inclement weather put paid to that. The cloud level was sitting at about 850m and so I scratched my heid, wondering what I could do. Glen Roy sprang to mind as I hadn't done anything up there and the long and winding road brought me to the bottom of Beinn Iaruinn. I remember the SMC book saying it was straight up. It was. However, the good thing was the rapid height gained and looking over to the glen, I could see the Parallel Roads stretching the length of the glen, as well as future hills. Once past the steep ascent, I made my way round the coire rim to the large cairn and sat just out of the wind. It was a nice place to have some food and relax. I reversed my route but came down the stream-bed, between the Graham, Leana Mhor. I didn't know it was a Graham, otherwise I would have tagged it on. No matter, I'll be back into the area to mop up in future years.

Beinn Damh

I'm not sure how many WalkHighland meets there have been since I attended the very first one at the Tarf hotel but this was only my 3rd time en personne. It may have been the fear of having to share my Highland Park or falling prey to the seemingly prevalent norovirus bug at these meetings but I was determined to get along and meet old and new faces. Having completed Slioch the previous day with Pete Tindall, Jupe1407, Sunny Speyside and sun (sic), we were indeed blessed. As were many others who described the conditions perhaps no more eloquently than Graeme D, when I asked how he was getting on by mobile phone. "Porn, hardcore porn." I was hoping he had left the house in Perth - thankfully he had. Anyway, what occurred to me during the evening's aperitifs and digestifs was that some fowk preferred to be called by their avatar. Take Tina Bonar for example. A fair damsel? Na na, some bloke fae the East coast with his lovely Colleen. Alan was ScotJamie and Jupe1407 was in fact John followed by his birthdate. He was either looking good for his 606 years or he had some terrible form of gigantism/progeria and was in fact 5. I've set the scene. So, having decided to do Liathach, Beinn Eighe, Beinn na-h-Eaglaise all on the Saturday, I found myself on Beinn Damh with Ewan, Sunny Speyside's loon. We decided he should be called 'Sexysue'. We said adieu to his mither as she headed for the Graham and Ewan led us up the first 550m at full whack. At 551m, Ewan's young energetic zest gave way to inexperience and the older statesman took up the reins  . We stopped at 600m, with fantastic views back over to aforementioned hills and Beinn Bhan to the West. The climb up and around the 1st peak was straightforward, with a biting wind. Once we headed over towards the coire wall, we were struck by the majestic North-west face plunging away before us. With Maol Chin Dearg behind in the distance, it was a beautiful view. We pushed on to the summit and took tea and nourishment. The view from the summit was stupendous and I think Ewan had been spoiled the day before and that day. We decided to reverse the route but go back down the other side of Toll Ban. As we approached that summit, we happened upon 3 young blokes. One of them announced that he wasn't suitably attired i.e he was wearing jimmies and joggy bottoms. Thus, Ewan and I were introduced to a man called Fanny. Unfortunately, Fanny was accompanied by Fanny Twa and Fanny Thra - hills in Winter claes are not for boys wi jimmies n joggies and one 20 litre rucksack between 3. I did not admonish as I think my expression said it all. Ewan and I pushed on and down the ridge which was good fun but did require careful footing and ice axes. As we levelled out and got back on to the track, all that remained was to look back and see where Fannyoola and troops were. They had seen sense and descended after us, especially as the snow had moved in. A celebratory half at the Torridon, a sublime burger and I was on my way home with the 230 mile journey ahead of me. A rather enjoyable two days in Torridon. I look forward to the next trip to see old and new faces, irrespective of name.