Left Glasgow around 715am (ulp) and drove up to Aviemore via Rannoch Moore -> Fort William -> Newtonmore then finally Aviemore itself. The Newtonmore section of the journey is just stunning, stunning views and the road is mostly free flowing.
Anyway, the weather had started ok then a bit of drizzle until finally reaching the Cairngorms themselves at which point it proceeded to chuck it down. Anyhow, the rest of the troops turned up soon enough and of for some hot food we trotted. Apon leaving it was decidedly not t-bar weather so we turned North tomwards Inverness to meet up with the last of the group. At this point some folks topped up the ole petrol tank but I had done so in Fort William so I was happy to wait til Ullapool.
The run from Inverness to Ullapool was good though it was a bit wet to really have a good play on the road. Nevertheless fun was had. Got to Ullapool and filled the car with petrol then headed to the campsite. Ah now the fun began.
Having picked our spot for the tent myself and Mark, the only campers, then proceeded to try and put up his tent. Er didn't happen. The ground has about 2 inches topsoil then it goes to rock hard slate, or something like it. So we were trying to drive the pegs in at a sharp angle while the gale force wind and driving rain was trying to pull the tent out of the ground. And it did so. For 30 minutes myself and Mark could not get the pegs to stay in the ground. The wind was intense and our mood was not helped when an estate car complete with family drove past. They had given up cause the husband was in the tent when it got blown down the campsite! Arrrgggggghhhhh..............
So, we decided to put up my tent and we managed it, then put a couple of toolkits in it hoping it would be enough to keep the blighter on the ground. Using the same technique we managed to get Marks tent up. I mean, with views like below how could we not have succeded?
By the time we had managed to get the tents up we were soaked through to the skin but at least the rain had stopped. So with the carry out opened, we stood drinking, in the wind getting blown dry. It worked too. So carry out finished, we called up the rest of the gang, found out where they were and headed off to meet them. Taking one last look at the tents, we prayed they would still be there when we returned pished as newts from the pub!
More to follow....
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