Midweek Mountaineering - Culra Bothy

Continuing the midweek mountaineering …

The Ben Alder area is both remote (in terms of distance to the road) and yet rather accessible (by mountain bike). I first explored the area on a mammoth winter backpack from Corrour over the high tops to the now long gone bothy at Blackburn of Pattack then over more tops before a long walk along the road to Tulloch. This was in the company of Paul Gillies and Alan Kelly back in 1987. Further trips included visits to Ben Alder cottage and Culra bothies.

With the Gnome sitting at 210 Munros and Shamir aboot the 137 mark, an introduction to this rich seem of ticks was needed. The idea grew until the team consisted of the Gnome, Shamir, Jim Riach, my Dad, Eric Hamilton and myself. Eric had to drop due to work commitments and following a rainy drive north my Dad headed …back south !

Following a feed at the Ballinuig Motor Grill, we finally loaded the bikes and started down the track along Loch Ericht at 21:40. Good time was made down the loch until the climb up onto the moor just past the lodge – the Gnome clutch was slipping badly. We regrouped prior to breaking east and the final section to Culra. One of the reasons the bikes were so heavy was we each had a “small” bag of coal.

Personally, I was really looking forward to the fire when the bike light beam hit the side of the bothy. Opening the first door revealed a goodly number of folks already asleep ! An attempt at room 2 was no better …Shamir had a wee “whit the f@ck” moment when the third indicated no room at the inn ! We headed back to room 1 and negotiated some space although the chance of a fire was gone. Turns out, there was some coast to coast challenge / ramble thing on.

Wet gear off and stove on. The Gnome is famed for “triple repacks” whereby he appears to have finished packing only to empty the rucksack and start again. Whilst the rest of us got comfy, had tea, passed the bottle about a bit …the Gnome seemed to be having a “triple unpack” – eventually he announced he couldn’t find his sleeping tablets and popped the cork on a bottle of 17 year old Glengoyne instead.

Next morning and the weather had got worse (I am sure my Dad was sitting rather smugly back in Glasgow). The top tickers decided to settle with Carn Dearg (1034m) which sits behind the bothy and Jim a low level option. In the event, the views across to Alder were fantastic. Regrouped at the bothy for lunch and chatted with a guy who had the largest German Shepard I have ever seem (appropriately named “Wolf”).

The bike back out was a breeze other than some loch side antics which I won’t go into …but in my defence … I “nearly” made it !

GL3D

The Great Lakeland 3 Day event gets billed as one of the harder tests in Richard Askwith’s excellent book “Feet in the Clouds”. As I sit with two black toe nails and bruised ribs (after another experiment with gravity and rocks) … I tend to agree. The event is organised by Joe Faulkner and is based around his experience of longer Mountain Marathons. The total distance is roughly 75 miles with each day being approximately 25 miles plus several thousand feet of ascent.

Unlike events such as the KIMM or LAMM, overnight camping gear is transported by the organisers (who also supply bread and milk each night) and you enter as a solo – although there is nothing to prevent you from pairing up during the race.

Fellow “Westie” Shona Robertson and I joined up with Robert Monro from Shettleston Harriers for the journey south on the Friday. Day one controls were issued at registration which ensured the remainder of the evening was spent marking up maps and route planning.

From the event centre at Rydal Hall just north of Ambleside, we went over Silver Howe before heading north to Sergeant Man and over to Esk Hause then Scafell Pike. Joe had thrown in the optional control of Scafell – it would have been a shame to ignore this as assuming we completed Day 2 & 3, inclusion would mean having traversed all the 3000ft mountains in the Lakes during the event. The “recommended” route down via Foxes Tarn was ignored for the time being and the direct line over Broad Stand was taken. Being a little short in the legs,(to reverse the move would of required a “droopy” down onto a slab which sloped the wrong way) I decided not to return by this route and came back via the Tarn – slow but safe. Back at Esk Hause it was time to check out with the marshal and commence the long descent into Langstrath. The next control was at the bridge at the end of this valley at which point it was time to start climbing …again. Passing by Blea Tarn, it was a long bog hop to High Tove and finally to the summit of High Seat where the last control for the day was located. With a number of possible routes to the camp (and finish of Day 1) runners seemed to head in very different and often conflicting directions. I chose a fairly direct line through bracken and to the main road. A short road run then led to Burns Farm and the Finish.

At the Day 2 briefing, we were treated to a free beer which was in keeping with the following day which was to follow the “Old Crown” round. Whilst being shorter than the previous day it had a fierce start – a short road / track run to the bottom then the climb up the track to the summit of Skidaw, A few brave souls (including Shona and Robert) did run for a good deal of the ascent …the rest race walked as quick as our legs would allow. Over the summit the route continued over to Great Cockup (wonderful name for a hill) then another high level bog trot to Carrock Fell. If the descent down to the manned control beside the River Caldew was fast …then ascent up Blencathra seemed to take forever (maybe due to my pace). The run along the summit ridge was fantastic as was the descent back down to the A66 and the finish / camp.

Another free beer and another evening spent marking up and pouring over the map. Sadly, the perfect weather that had been with us for the first two days didn’t last and we had rain overnight. Folks milled about until it was dry(ish) before starting Day 3. The route followed a north / south line over Clough Head down towards Helvellyn (where a few of us got caught in a rather sore hail shower). Navigation had been fairly straightforward until Fairfield – a direct line up the face meant it was hard to tell exactly where on the summit ridge you were. Robert had passed me on the climb so I was surprised to meet him coming up the ridge that I was descending ! Quick discussion and we agreed it was the wrong ridge ! On the way to the correct ridge we bumped into Shona. I decided to try and keep up with them was they shot off towards Dove Crag and the last control. With the last CP in the bag, all that was left to do was finish – a nice fast ridge led back to Rydal Hall …and lunch !

A fantastic event with a really friendly atmosphere – highly recommended. As this is posted no official results have been posted but I will add these once available.