Milehouse Cottage BBQ  Meet, 19-20 July:- 

A total of 13 KMC members and friends met for the BBQ at the LSCC Hut, Milehouse Cottage, near Kincraig.

The following walks were completed:-

Saturday
Sgór Gaoith – Angela, Scott, John & Frank

Càrn an Fhreiceadain – Wendy & Ian

Carn Sgùlain & Meall á Bhothain – Allan

Loch Insh Nature Reserve & Frank Bruce Sculpture Trail – Jan, Moira, Jackie & Len

Sunday
The Sow of Atholl – Wendy, Jackie & Ian

The weather held fine for the Saturday evening and so we were able to both cook & dine outside, a thank you to Allan for the firepit & wood which kept us toasty and for collecting up and bringing down the road the missed kit that was left behind (especially John’s whisky).

The accommodation at Milehouse was to its usual high standard and thanks to Maurice & Maggie and Allan for using their respective camper vans and ‘easing the squeeze’ in the bunkroom.

Camping Meet, Lochranza Campsite, Arran 21st / 23nd June

Arriving earlier ferry Friday Len climbed Mullach Brae another of his wee hills

Saturday Allan and Margaret walked part of the Coastal Path at Lochranza

John, Len and Frank on Saturday from campsite walked up Gleann Eagan Biorack to Loch na Davie then onto Creag Daughter path leading too Caisteal Abhail and back down the path to North Glen Sannox Bridge, then getting the bus back to the campsite.

Saturday night we all had a good meal at the Lochranza hotel and later went to Allan and Margaret’s van for drinks

On the Sunday Len set off for the Holy Isle.

John & Jean continued onto a wee camping trip on the mainland

Margaret and Allan had a nice wee walk round the shore line

Thanking Allan for his hospitality on Saturday night.

Good weather a great weekend and great company.

Len was the only one to rough it!

Day walks - May

Members have had a couple of walks in May.

John and Frank walked from Tyndrum to Victoria Bridge via Glen Kinglas.

Allan, Tom and Ian walked from Balquhidder to Beinn Stacath and Creag Mhor.

 Beinn Stacath and Creag Mhor

Looking towards the Killin hills

Muir Cottage, Inverey, Meet, 17-19 May: 

Eight members of the Kyle Mountain Club visited Muir Cottage at Inverey for a three night visit. This excellent cottage is the club hut of the Cairngorm Club.

Our evening meal on the Friday was joined by a lady from Liverpool who was taking part in the TGO Challenge – a coast to coast walk.

Following a beautiful day on the drive up, unfortunately Saturday dawned cold with heavy drizzle. At 11am the temperature was 8 deg C!  Previous trips to Braemar have always been blessed with great weather.

On Saturday only Ian ventured to the hills; he ascended the Corbett Sgor Mor (813m).  Apparently he had a day with minimal views.  

John, Frank and Stuart did a walk up Glen Ey.

Moira, Jan, Colin and Chris became tourists and visited Braemar Castle which proved to be most interesting. 

Braemar was full of heavily laden and damp hikers taking part in the TGO Challenge. 

Sunday morning dawned slightly more promising than Saturday but still damp. 

Stuart and Chris headed for the hills; namely Carn Liath (818m).  Thoughts of proceeding further were thwarted by the cloud level descending. 

John and Frank walked up Glen Dee towards White Bridge.

Moira and Jan did a low level walk and Ian decided to abandon his planned hill. 

Colin headed for home.

As on Friday and Saturday a very pleasant communal meal was enjoyed by all present. The cottage has an excellent stove with an ample supply of firewood which made for a very comfortable place to pass the evening. One aspect of the cottage was that on all three evenings we could watch a parade of red deer passing by. Also red squirrels were often seen in the grounds.

The weather on Monday morning having not improved much we all decided to head for home.

Despite the poor weather the weekend was enjoyed by everyone and we all agreed that a return visit to this cottage is a must.

Wild Camping trip, 3rd/4th May; Shiel Hill, Galloway Forrest.

Joe and I decided to celebrate the start of May by having a wee camping trip into the hills of the Galloway forrest.

Our destination: Sheil hill on the left, the Merrick in the background

 We decided to re-visit the scene of one of our earlier camps, Shiel Hill.

 The weather started ok but.......

......... later on turned rather wintery.

Inver House Croft, Achnasheen - 12th / 15th April 

Arriving at Achnasheen Friday around 4.30pm it was discovered that the local hotel could not feed us on Sunday evening as they were fully booked. Back at the hut a fire was set then a quick trip to Loch Carron in order to establish that the hotel there was ok for food on Sunday night. Back to the hut for our evening meal in the lounge area we had drinks with usual discussions before retiring to sleeping mats upstairs with room cold due to icy wind.

Saturday morning was very windy and bitterly cold, John and Frank set off to climb Sgurr nan Ceannaichean and Moruisg taking 7 hours to complete. Len and David walked from top of Loch Sgamhain to Cnoc na Moine a 600 metre hill and after travelled to Kinlochewe having coffee and carrot cake. 

Sitting in café David spotted a car leaving the petrol station next door driverless, and changing into Superdave dashed from cafe before opening car door, jumping in and pulling on brake handle and stopping car before it reached the road. Woman driver was very apologetic for error and bought David a coffee. 

Good night back at hut with plenty coal and wood used on fire and after our evening meal a couple of drinks to help us sleep. 

Sunday morning again very windy and cold as we all travelled to park near Loan before walking to Carn Breac a 678 metre hill talking 5 hours. After returning to the hut for a short rest break Len drove us to Lochcarron hotel for an enjoyable evening meal. Another good fire set before drinks and chat back at hut before going to bed.

Monday morning we rose early, lit fire with mostly wood, and after breakfast tidied up the kitchen, lounge and upstairs sleeping area before departing at 10am. John and Frank travelling home with Len and David going to Coulags for a linear walk to lunch at a bothy before meeting their wives 3.30pm at Achnasheen railway station and onward trip to Applecross and Skye.

Kyle Club Clear up Carrick Hills

Ayr’s Kyle Mountain Club completed a scheduled litter pick on the Carrick Hills. Rubbish was gathered on both sides of the road along a distance of about 1.5km (between the cattle grids either side of the view point). This included 24 bags of general rubbish, plus several other items too big to bag. Amongst the haul was an alloy wheel (with tyre), several other tyres, two car doors, electric scooter, pogo stick, garden strimmer, 6 Amazon Prime cool bags with cool packs!, a hand gun, syringes, a tow bar that took two people to lift, £10 and a 1p. 

A trailer load of dumped tree pruning were sawn up and removed. 

The event proved to be good morning's work to celebrate the Annual World Day for Physical Activity.

Many thanks to South Ayrshire Council for providing bags, picker grabs and collection of the load.