After all the previous days adventures no one felt like an early start. It had been decided that Jane should be collected in the comfort of a car, so my day was pre-determined. lain felt an obligation to come too, and offered to look after Lizzie while Louise and I went for a walk..
So at 11.00 the three of us drove to Cluanie Inn and rang the hospital. No definite news; but good prospects. At about 12.30 we arrived at Fort William hospital and met Jane, ready and eager to leave. She was glad we had taken some clean clothes, since her tracksuit bottoms were quite well shredded by the glissade or fall. lain was disappointed to hear that Jane had had lunch since he hadn’t! But Louise and I left them and drove up Glen Nevis for a walk, scramble, potter etc.
The walk began in the rain, but the clouds were quite high and I realised that more of the mountains were visible than on my previous visits to the Glen. Also, more of the Glen could were bare. At the first sign of interesting pools and boulders we scrambled down towards the river, but kept reaching impasses 10-15ft above the water.
Frustration soon led to boredom and we carried on to Steall and the cable bridge. I had to go first, and had forgotten how disturbing it can be. The first steps are easy, but just as you reach the water, the bridge begins to shake. The shaking gets worse, and the water gets deeper all the way across, until the final steps onto dry land. Not even supa-mega-heroic Louise enjoyed her first crossing. We went back together, creating extra, unpredictable shaking. As you put each foot down the cable moved away to the side. Making it harder made it more fun.
Carrying on up the valley, looking for interesting boulders we had to leap over large boggy patches. Gradually we began to argue over the furthest. Luckily Lizzie wasn’t around to embarrass us – by demonstrating that it is more fun going through the bog than over it. Anyway, we found a nice, wide patch of boggy ground, had a practice leap and then made two attempts each, one from a standing, one from a running start. It shouldn’t necessary to say who won, suffice it to say that he won by miles.
The long-jump competition over, the next event in the Highland bouldering. A small, but suitably overhanging boulder was found. Only 2 or 3 lines presented themselves, but the one straight up the overhang was quite a challenge. Only one of us managed it, but it was in fact quite easy. The trick was to get one’s feet on a small ledge and then have enough strength to hold on with one hand while reaching for a higher handhold. Some people seemed to be to top heavy for the careful balancing involved. All routes, or people, exhausted we carried on and found another, bigger boulder. sheer vertical face looked intimidating (approx. 12ft), but the slabs at one end looked interesting. Probably a couple of routes here, I thought. But new lines kept appearing, providing ample variety of climbing practice. Louise opted for a chimney, despite the fact that a tree was growing out of it! I chose a route up the vertical front, using a mixture of swinging and laybacking. Certainly an HVD, maybe an S.
Noticing it was time to leave we set off down the Glen. But, distracted by the superb rock scenery we scrambled down to the river. Now instead of looking down at the river below us we got down to its level, and went caving.
We discovered some lovely caverns with otherwise invisible waterfalls. We couldn’t get into the caverns – they usually contained 15-20ft of water – but we kept poking our head and shoulders through holes leading into them. With greater security one could perhaps squeeze through and traverse the caverns. But we didn’t – one accident’s enough (!!!*).
Next we found a rock with a person-sized hole in it. I first, but feeling worried about getting out again I didn’t go in deep. Louise then went in further, and sat inside the hole. Captivated by the echoing sounds of rushing water, she was enjoying herself immensely. So back down I went, and then I realised that it went further. Lowering my feet through the next hole I reached for footing – nothing, nothing at all! I decided to have a look, so bent my head down and peered there was a black, shiny, moving surface – water, deep water. I didn’t explore any further, but enjoyed the discovery. Louise, of course, had to have another inspection as well. We never found another clue to this hidden pool – a goal for future visits.
By now we were due at Nevisport but lain and Jane expected us to be late, so we pleasantly surprised them when we arrived before closing time.
Ahh, the simple pleasures of non-mountaineering valley walks!
Dave G.
* Those who know where this was written will appreciate the exclamation marks
Postscript: I don’t know for sure, but I guess it would be Preston Royal Infirmary a few weeks later.