I awoke to the alarm at 7.10 on Saturday. It was pitch black and pouring with rain.
I went back to sleep.
Two and a bit hours later Nigel banged on the door- the weather was fine and almost everyone was going up Beinn Trilleachain. I considered jumping into my hill gear and going with them, but decided breakfast was a better idea, and I'd catch them up. I had breakfast, made pieces, filled a flask, got on my boots... and it started pouring again.
I went back to bed.
An hour later, the rain went off. I got up. I decided to go for a low-level walk down Loch Etive taking pictures. I got ready, went out and took a couple of snaps.... and the rain came on.
Yes, I went back to bed.
I finally rose some time later. The keenest of the ascenscionists of Beinn Trilleachain, Colin and Sara, had returned. Unfortunately, Simon W had slipped and taken a tumble on the descent. There was concern as blood was coming out of his ear, so Scott and Chris W driven up to the Bellfield in Fort William with him.
Luckily he returned a few hours later with a few manly scrapes and scars, but no serious damage: the bleeding was from the ear, not internal.He could not recall what had happened, but later in the evening it came back to him. He had slipped, slithered on his backside down a granite waterslide and banged his head when he came to a halt.
He may be more upset when he discovers that none of the party had actually topped out on the hill- they'd only reached the subsidiary top above the apex of the slabs. (Unusually, I'd had time to read the Corbett book carefully between naps.)
Several of us went out for a wander down the lochside. The pier has been repaired for use taking out logs from the current tree-felling, with much improved forestry roads serving the pier. We met Davy and Frank who'd gone for a stravaig down the loch, but had not quite made it as far as Cadderlie bothy. We turned back at the woodland below the slabs as night was coming in.
We descended by the N ridge without incident, and, using the bridge, made it back to the cars as night was falling.
Bothy stravaigers note: a sign at the bridge informed us that Kinlochetive bothy is now no longer "open"; it's being regularly used by a youth charity, Venture Scotland, "almost every weekend" and for "week long courses".
And so home, dodging loads of deer on the Glen Etive road.
More pictures here.