A large group of friends gathered from across the country (world even) to stay in a hunting lodge on the Glen Carron Estate. This was a continuation of Dr Freds reaching retirement age celebrations. Some time ago he spotted a building on a map and made enquiries and discovered that it was for rent .... Even better there are five Monros within walking distance So he gathered together some light-minded Monro baggers (And me obviously) And booked this cottage for a week.
It is right in the middle of nowhere - a six mile walk in except, fortunately, we didn't have to walk in. We were very lucky and have a friend that has a four-wheel drive. But even in a really nice four-wheel drive it was a bit of a hairy ride. A graveled indulating track with a lot of grass in the middle and a lot of stones and humps and a bridge where we did feel something go kapunk. It was a slow almost an hour drive... through the most stunning scenery.. dotted with herds of deer all over. Beautiful mountains with snow on the top
And finally the lodge itself- while not as luxurious as made out to be in the promotional blurb It's actually very pleasant. Fairly comfortable, warm, and has a lovely big wood burner with unlimited wood. Once we had all arrived been ferried down the track (took 2 nightmare trips) this eclectic collection of old pals settled down to share a meal and drinks and some long overdue catch ups - some people hadn't seen each other for 35 years!
The next day all of the party - but myself started the quest to conquer the five Monroe's in the vicinity!! I sat on the doorstep of the lodge in absolute peace and quiet other than a little cuckoo in the background, a few buzzy bumblebees, the faint sound of running water, looking across beautiful mountains with the clouds sitting on the tops and in some distant ones snow It was all really rather beautiful and peaceful...
When the sun shone It was very warm, gloriously so, but you could see the weather coming in over the tops of the hills... And some that were visible only 10 minutes ago were then completely shrouded in cloud. I sat there hoping that the Monro Baggers were on their way down -
I was expecting my peace to be shattered soon by weary walkers. I got another quiet couple of hours before they piled back in desperate for tea and cake...
The lodge itself is an interesting building. From outside It doesn't look like much at all. It's a semi-rendered stone block house with a rusty drain pipes and a rather battered looking door. The windows, although they're quite new, still look like they've had better days - But this is a wild country and I think it would be hard to stop the weather ravaging these buildings.
Once inside you realise that it's sturdily built, and it would weather most storms... There's a bothy to the side of it that walkers can use to hunkerdown if needed and this little shed like outbuilding is tied by steel wires over the roof driven into study stakes... This must be prone to be blown away If not secured.
The lodge is advertised as a luxurious bolt hole for walkers - and I don't know whether they think walkers have low standards but it's not what I would class as luxurious. Having said that, it's really very nice, and I don't expect complete comforts in the middle of nowhere in bonny Scotland... but The beds are ok but the rooms apart from the big double room are very small and pokey with two beds literally crammed in and not really enough room to swing a hamster. The bathrooms are good and eventually when we worked out heating there was enough hot water. The kitchen is basic but the crockery and cookware is not of particularly high standard defo not in the luxury level ... (and bear in mind I'm used to being in a campervan with melamine plates so it's not like we're looking for like posh for me) It is warm is comfortable the furniture is old. The living room furniture is creaky and could do with re-upholstering - Again just not luxury... But I can't stress enough how it's not unpleasant in fact it's really very pleasant It's just I feel a bit cross when people misrepresent things....
We lit the wood burner in the kitchen. Partly to try and generate more hot water,and also to make it cosy. We swiped all the table lamps because there was only a huge bright light in the kitchen. We took turns preparing dinner... The food all week was of fabulous standard... who doesn't love 'beans around the world'. We played games, chatted, shared photos of the day, drank wine - It was all very splendid. There's something very special about sharing time with different friends over a table of good food in a fabulous location.
On the next day everybody (except me) again got up earlyish and went up another hill.
I wandered down to the stream in the valley and sat drawing. The weather wasn't quite as nice as the day before but it was so atmospheric - The clouds just sat on the top of the mountains and every now and again the sun broke through changing the light and making it stunningly lovely.
It was surprisingly busy - I'm guessing that's because there are five Monros and it was bank holiday weekend. I'm not talking quite crowds - more like 10 or so bodies sighted up the hill but it is strange to see these people in this completely out of the way place.
It is right in the middle of nowhere - a six mile walk in except, fortunately, we didn't have to walk in. We were very lucky and have a friend that has a four-wheel drive. But even in a really nice four-wheel drive it was a bit of a hairy ride. A graveled indulating track with a lot of grass in the middle and a lot of stones and humps and a bridge where we did feel something go kapunk. It was a slow almost an hour drive... through the most stunning scenery.. dotted with herds of deer all over. Beautiful mountains with snow on the top
And finally the lodge itself- while not as luxurious as made out to be in the promotional blurb It's actually very pleasant. Fairly comfortable, warm, and has a lovely big wood burner with unlimited wood. Once we had all arrived been ferried down the track (took 2 nightmare trips) this eclectic collection of old pals settled down to share a meal and drinks and some long overdue catch ups - some people hadn't seen each other for 35 years!
The next day all of the party - but myself started the quest to conquer the five Monroe's in the vicinity!! I sat on the doorstep of the lodge in absolute peace and quiet other than a little cuckoo in the background, a few buzzy bumblebees, the faint sound of running water, looking across beautiful mountains with the clouds sitting on the tops and in some distant ones snow It was all really rather beautiful and peaceful...
When the sun shone It was very warm, gloriously so, but you could see the weather coming in over the tops of the hills... And some that were visible only 10 minutes ago were then completely shrouded in cloud. I sat there hoping that the Monro Baggers were on their way down -
The lodge itself is an interesting building. From outside It doesn't look like much at all. It's a semi-rendered stone block house with a rusty drain pipes and a rather battered looking door. The windows, although they're quite new, still look like they've had better days - But this is a wild country and I think it would be hard to stop the weather ravaging these buildings.
The lodge is advertised as a luxurious bolt hole for walkers - and I don't know whether they think walkers have low standards but it's not what I would class as luxurious. Having said that, it's really very nice, and I don't expect complete comforts in the middle of nowhere in bonny Scotland... but The beds are ok but the rooms apart from the big double room are very small and pokey with two beds literally crammed in and not really enough room to swing a hamster. The bathrooms are good and eventually when we worked out heating there was enough hot water. The kitchen is basic but the crockery and cookware is not of particularly high standard defo not in the luxury level ... (and bear in mind I'm used to being in a campervan with melamine plates so it's not like we're looking for like posh for me) It is warm is comfortable the furniture is old. The living room furniture is creaky and could do with re-upholstering - Again just not luxury... But I can't stress enough how it's not unpleasant in fact it's really very pleasant It's just I feel a bit cross when people misrepresent things....
We lit the wood burner in the kitchen. Partly to try and generate more hot water,and also to make it cosy. We swiped all the table lamps because there was only a huge bright light in the kitchen. We took turns preparing dinner... The food all week was of fabulous standard... who doesn't love 'beans around the world'. We played games, chatted, shared photos of the day, drank wine - It was all very splendid. There's something very special about sharing time with different friends over a table of good food in a fabulous location.
On the next day everybody (except me) again got up earlyish and went up another hill.
I wandered down to the stream in the valley and sat drawing. The weather wasn't quite as nice as the day before but it was so atmospheric - The clouds just sat on the top of the mountains and every now and again the sun broke through changing the light and making it stunningly lovely.
It was surprisingly busy - I'm guessing that's because there are five Monros and it was bank holiday weekend. I'm not talking quite crowds - more like 10 or so bodies sighted up the hill but it is strange to see these people in this completely out of the way place.
The weather held but the hill tops continued to look very atmospheric shrouded in cloud... dipping into the valley. It can appear very barren and when the sun isn't shining the land looks quite bleak, but there's a lot going on.... Apart from the deer there's lots of bees, lots of birds and the walkers spotted loads of ptarmigan. Fortunately so far there are no midges...I think we're probably a bit too high altitude for midges... Or maybe it's too early for the Midge season.
3 out of 5 munros completed.... more excellent food...
3 out of 5 munros completed.... more excellent food...
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