First Night In A Tent This Year

We had great views of Muck, Eigg and Rum from the Ardnish Penninsula

Outward Bound - Teams and Leaders Course

On Wednesday I chose the Ardnish Penninsula as the destination for our expedition. We were set to head out and camp near the Peanmeanach Bothy on the West coast. The weather was absolutely perfect - dry, cold and clear. The group did say it was a little cold for them, but they would have noticed the poor West Coast weather if it decided to arrive! We even got several snow flurries which added to the atmosphere. The sunset on the beach was brilliant, but better was seeing the moon rise over the hillside and see it traverse the clear sky all night over our tents. She shadows cast by the moon of our tents was almost as intense as the day time shadows. With this night time light it felt like we could have been inside the arctic circle. It was a cold night, and with my thin bag, made me start to think about Alpine bivvying - and plans for the summer! Scottish porridge for breakfast brought me back home.

My winter work is now over and my first week of spring work is now done, so on the agenda now is a little climbing holiday to a great venue in Great Britian, where everybody seems to be heading for some reliable winter climbing conditions - Fort William - Brilliant. Time to get the axes out again. 

We had great views looking over towards snowy Moidart

Peanmeanach Bothy at the SW edge of the Penninsula - can you spot the 7 tents?

It was a great sunset, and even better night, with a full moon, clear all night with no clouds

It was just the right level of challenge for the group. They were still tired after getting to the top of Aonach Mor on Tuesday, and they were definitely tired by the end of the expedition.

Ben Nevis on Thursday