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| Lynne on Carn a' Mhaim |
After months of thinking my knee injury was improving and after some seriously painful physiotherapy (which continues) I’ve now been referred to an orthopaedic surgeon. That will take about eight weeks. Since my previous post I've limited myself to easy local walks and spent some time, which would otherwise have been more enjoyably spent in the lovely snowy hills, scanning a few more slides.
Happy days on a backpacking trip in the Cairngorms in May 1980 taking in Carn a’ Mhaim, Ben MacDui, Beinn Mheadhoin and Beinn a’ Chaorainn.
Happy days on a backpacking trip in the Cairngorms in May 1980 taking in Carn a’ Mhaim, Ben MacDui, Beinn Mheadhoin and Beinn a’ Chaorainn.
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An idyllic spot to camp at Loch Etchachan but alas it was too early in the day. |
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| Lynne and Morag at our evening camp |
The tent is a Saunders Basecamp which had two lovely big porches providing ample storage for wet gear in bad weather. Not that we had much gear back then and didn’t seem to be any less comfortable than now with all the modern stuff we use. The tent saw one more trip to A’Mhaighdean and Ruadh Stac Mor before being lent to my idiot boss who burnt a hole in it with a cigarette. It was only two years old.
In April 1983 we had a terrific ski tour in superb spring snow during a week of still, alpine-like weather but I can't locate all the slides of this trip. I expect they are in carousels used by Lynne who, on a voluntary basis in the 1980s, gave talks to schools about the Scottish hills, climbing history, Munros and so on. The kids loved it.
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| Ascending Lurchers on our way to the plateau |
The rucksack is a Karrimor Jaguar weighing 1kg which is about 300g lighter, roomier and far more comfortable than my GoLite Quest. It is still in excellent condition which I doubt the GoLite will be after three or four years, let alone after thirty years! Clothing? An old M&S jersey, an old shirt and Rohan Superstrider breeches. Certainly we carried down jackets but, looking again at these slides, I’m more convinced than ever that for the most part, and with some notable exceptions, we just don’t need all this new stuff that’s being thrust at us. Not everyone will agree of course!
Up on the plateau where, shortly after this photograph was taken, we met Swiss ski-tourers who fed us some Swiss (naturally) chocolate and simply raved about the scenery. We sunbathed above Loch Avon and all was right with the world.
Tomorrow I may try a day in the Ochils before Friday's physiotherapy - the popliteus muscle needs some attention. Oh, and I'm building a Lancaster Bomber (model that is!) and as soon as the snow disappears from its roof, I'll need to get the top-box off the motorvan before it goes for a service. And I need to get round the blogs to find out what you've all been up to.
