Culra Camp; Geal Charn. 5-7 August 2022
Culra Camp - Take 2
What a difference a year makes! Culra was more akin to Sauchiehall Street on my last club camping meet in 2022, but this year just four other tents greeted Neil and I as we arrived by bike on the Friday evening.
The night was a little damp, but comfortable, and with the cloud and drizzle lifting by morning a good day beckoned. Neil departed before the larks awoke on his mammoth round of six hills, while I was more leisurely in preparing for Ben Alder and Beinn Bheòil - having failed to re-tick them after trashing myself walking-in the previous year.
After fording the river upstream of our campsite I made straight for the Long Leachas, a cracking ascent route to reach the expansive summit plateau and in turn the summit cairn. It was here that I met the only other party that day, a point of discussion being the ruins close to the summit. A Google search upon my return home showed these to be a Colby Camp, dating from the original Ordnance Survey. It was near identical to the one I was familiar with on Creach Bheinn, which I had always (wrongly) believed was a Napoleonic War signal station.
By the time I reached Beinn Bheòil the wind had strengthened considerably to the point that walking was become difficult, though of more concern was the forecast I had now received after my phone sprang to life after receiving a 4g signal. Returning to the tents to await Neil’s return I took the opportunity to batten down for the wet and windy night ahead. When Neil arrived he quickly and sensibly took the decision to cycle out, but with a three hour drive awaiting me I decided against doing likewise.
The morning however dawned better than the day before, and taking advantage of my good fortune I broke my return cycle to take in the three TuMPS of Meall Mòr, Meall Beag and Meall Dubh, all of which provided outstanding vantage points of the hills around.
(If you want to read more about Colby Camps, visit our blog page. There is a piece there about the Colby Camp on Creach Bheinn that Steve mentions.)
Taking part: Steve and prospective member Neil
Words: Steve
Photos: Steve
Geal Charn
Five of us tackled Geall Charn and Geall Charn Bheag on a gloriously sunny but breezy Sunday. We parked just before Dorback Lodge and followed the track up on to the shoulder leading to the summit then continued on to the lower top, admiring great views of Ben Avon and Beinn a Bhuird as we went. Somehow we managed to split into two groups, and May and Calum went off to investigate the feature shown as "The Castle" on the map. Ewen, Erin and Catherine headed west and picked up the track back that runs past a picnic hut which was looking good in amongst the heather, which is just coming into bloom. A very pleasant day, topped off with a stop at Nethy Bridge' cafe on the way out.
Taking part: Ewen, Catherine, May and prospective members Erin and Calum
Words: Catherine
Photos: Catherine and Erin
