Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house not a creature
was stirring ….. Oooops, it was actually a weekend before Christmas and
a whole bunch of us were stirring on our way to the Christmas bothy weekend
hoping to meet Santa Claus. After escaping from work I grabbed my gear, picked
up Ann and Jane and headed up the A9 towards Aviemore Following some interesting
route finding along several miles of dark country lanes (none of us had brought
a map with the location of the hut!) we finally arrived to find everyone else
already there. Donald had the stove well lit and plans were made for the next
day. The Milehouse hut was great, mattresses, two loos, two showers, true
luxury! After a couple of beers I climbed onto my top bunk looking forward
to Cairngorm – the forecast looked good, clear but windy - good for
my appetite.
Saturday
started clear and cool and, scraping the windscreen clear, Jane and I chased
David (frustrated rally driver!) to the Cairngorm visitor centre and six of
us took to the hill in winter kit. The strong winds didn’t appear and
it ended up clear and breezy, perfect for practicing with crampons and ice
axes with David providing excellent guidance while I tried to remember what
they’d tried to teach me at Glenmore Lodge all those years ago. This
was the first time I’d had my crampons on in a number of years and they
were really helping on the hard, icy snow patches – although for some
reason Janet preferred to just hang on to David! We reached the summit in
the rose glazed light of a late winter afternoon and were rewarded with panoramic
views of snow capped summits, lakes of cloud with summit islands and a torrent
of cloud rushing down the Lairig Ghru. A quick decent down though the ski
area and …..
Arriving back at the hut, Isabel and several helpers generously had dinner
well in hand. Time for a quick shower before 26 of us sat down to feast, I
went for onion soup followed by turkey dinner and Christmas pudding. I was
stuffed … and then a cheese board appeared …. and then the wafer
thin mints ….. and by then I felt more stuffed than the turkey had!
Following dinner Marion and crew tidied up after us all and Santa decided
that we had all been good enough and arrived to hand out Secret Santa pressies
– sitting in front of a hot stove in a fur lined suit, his face was
soon as red as his coat (he probably lost several pounds by the end, something
I envied considering how much I’d just eaten).
Following several more beers, a social whiskey or few, and various entertainments
including an amazing rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas (with actions!)
and a detailed analysis of the time on the After Eight’s clock (involving
the use of a compass!) I finally drifted back to my bunk.
Sunday morning arrived and the previous day’s excesses chased any
idea of another day in hills away. After thanking David for organizing such
a great weekend, Jane and Ann and myself headed home early for a good rest,
already looking forward to repeating it all again next year.
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house not a creature
was stirring ….. Oooops, it was actually a weekend before Christmas and
a whole bunch of us were stirring on our way to the Christmas bothy weekend
hoping to meet Santa Claus. After escaping from work I grabbed my gear, picked
up Ann and Jane and headed up the A9 towards Aviemore Following some interesting
route finding along several miles of dark country lanes (none of us had brought
a map with the location of the hut!) we finally arrived to find everyone else
already there. Donald had the stove well lit and plans were made for the next
day. The Milehouse hut was great, mattresses, two loos, two showers, true
luxury! After a couple of beers I climbed onto my top bunk looking forward
to Cairngorm – the forecast looked good, clear but windy - good for
my appetite.
Saturday
started clear and cool and, scraping the windscreen clear, Jane and I chased
David (frustrated rally driver!) to the Cairngorm visitor centre and six of
us took to the hill in winter kit. The strong winds didn’t appear and
it ended up clear and breezy, perfect for practicing with crampons and ice
axes with David providing excellent guidance while I tried to remember what
they’d tried to teach me at Glenmore Lodge all those years ago. This
was the first time I’d had my crampons on in a number of years and they
were really helping on the hard, icy snow patches – although for some
reason Janet preferred to just hang on to David! We reached the summit in
the rose glazed light of a late winter afternoon and were rewarded with panoramic
views of snow capped summits, lakes of cloud with summit islands and a torrent
of cloud rushing down the Lairig Ghru. A quick decent down though the ski
area and …..
Arriving back at the hut, Isabel and several helpers generously had dinner
well in hand. Time for a quick shower before 26 of us sat down to feast, I
went for onion soup followed by turkey dinner and Christmas pudding. I was
stuffed … and then a cheese board appeared …. and then the wafer
thin mints ….. and by then I felt more stuffed than the turkey had!
Following dinner Marion and crew tidied up after us all and Santa decided
that we had all been good enough and arrived to hand out Secret Santa pressies
– sitting in front of a hot stove in a fur lined suit, his face was
soon as red as his coat (he probably lost several pounds by the end, something
I envied considering how much I’d just eaten).
Following several more beers, a social whiskey or few, and various entertainments
including an amazing rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas (with actions!)
and a detailed analysis of the time on the After Eight’s clock (involving
the use of a compass!) I finally drifted back to my bunk.
Sunday morning arrived and the previous day’s excesses chased any
idea of another day in hills away. After thanking David for organizing such
a great weekend, Jane and Ann and myself headed home early for a good rest,
already looking forward to repeating it all again next year.