Ben Macdui: Excuses, excuses, excuses

I am disappointed.

You will remember that this weekend I was supposed to be climbing Scotland's second highest mountain, Ben Macdui.

Oh but the humans had so many excuses...

Hail and sleet predicted above 900m. Only 30% chance of cloud free summits.  The other two members of the party exhausted after a twenty plus mile hike across boggy wilderness the day before Gail and I arrived. Sore and arthritic toes. Wobbly knees. The list goes on.

So Ben Macdui lay hidden in the mists while I was taken on damp low level rambles through the ancient Scots pines of the Rothiemurchus Forest and to Loch an Eilein.

Which was all quite pleasant, I suppose, if lacking the thrill of a proper mountain expedition.

Before we left, Gail insisted on this photo in Aviemore, sort of as consolation for my wee Scottie pal Dui, since we did not get to photograph his actual mountain.

No, it's not good enough, is it?

Rest assured, I'll be back!

PS from Gail: As not uncommonly happens in Scotland, the clouds did finally clear from the hills just as it was time to head home. On this picture, taken from the car, Ben Macdui is the distant peak towards the left. 

A letter to Gail's friend Sally and a suggestion

Aberdeen,

22 June 2014.

Dear Sally,

Re: Aviemore weekend

I gather you are coming to Scotland with a friend next weekend, and Gail and I shall be driving over to Aviemore on Friday evening to meet up with you both for a couple of days of hillwalking.

Oh you can't imagine how much I am looking forward to this. I am fairly bouncing with excitement already.

I hope you don't think this presumptuous of me, as I realise you may already have planned the weekend activities, but I was wondering if I might make a suggestion?

You see, I have a blogging pal in Australia, he is very young laddie, a wee Scottie pup, and his name is Dui, after the mountain Ben Macdui. Now I have been looking on the map, and I see that a walk from the Cairngorm Ski Centre up to the summit of Ben Macdui might be an option for Saturday, provided your friend is the energetic sort. (Gail has told me how you, Sally, cycled all the way across the USA last year, carrying a tent and stuff, so I have no worries on your account).

Oh it would be so special if we could walk up there together, and you could take loads of photos of me at the summit and I could post them on my blog to show Dui what 'his' mountain looks like.

Gail says she thinks it is a good idea, provided the weather is OK, but that we should probably tackle the 'straight up and down' route rather than longer alternatives which, although appealing, might be too tough on my paws.

So how about it anyway?

You know, if you want to do something else, that's fine by me too, so long as I am included.

'Til Friday,

Toodle pip!
Bertie.

Advice for Dui: Putting the Scot into Scottie

Today, we are welcoming a brand new Scottie pup, Dui, into the dog blogging community. He lives in Australia with his older sisters Bella and Roxy and he is named after Ben Macdui, the second highest mountain in Scotland. In his honour I have written a wee poem containing advice on being a proper Scot...

Your name is a good one, dear Dui my man,
And your human chose well with a simple Munro.
You could have been named Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan,
Or Carn a' Coire Boidheach (shortened to Bo).

When you visit the vet to be vaccinated
You'll also be needing ID, like as not.
Just remember, a chip on both shoulders is said,
(By the English) to signal a well-balanced Scot.

And remember the kilt is traditional wear
For true Scottish males be they humans or dogs.
The lassies will think you so brave and so fair
When you're all fitted out in your best Highland togs.

But you might find it tricky, when Scotland's teams play
'Gainst Australia. You must choose which one you'll support.
(You'll find Scottish footballers have feet of clay,
Andy Murray means tennis is these days our sport.)

Our national dish haggis is affa scarce Down Under,
But it's worth searching out, I guarantee.
The meat is digestible; you will not 'chunder',
You'll love it, dear Dui, so try some for tea.

And lastly wee Dui, stay true to your breed type,
Yon Scottie dugs are couthy, braw and thrawn.
Just show those dingos what a well-bred pup's like;
They'll soon be wishing that they too were Scottish born.

ALL THE BEST, DEAR DUI!

Climb every mountain?

Come on Gail! Oh come on, over here, COME ON, COME ON!!!

Look outside the window! All the snow is gone. It doesn't even feel cold. It must be nearly Spring.

And don't imagine I've forgotten what you promised last year. You absolutely promised that come Spring I would be allowed to climb a Munro.

[Readers, you know what a Munro is? A Scottish peak over 3000 ft high. There are 283 of them.  Between you and me, it's my ambition to 'bag' every single one, like boxer dog Kerry did a couple of years ago.]

So Gail, look, I've even found this book on your shelves. Called, yes you've guessed it, 'The Munros: The Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers Guide'.



Now what do I see here, scribbled this inside the book? A list? In your handwriting, Gail, if I'm not mistaken?

Lochnagar
Mount Keen
Beinn Alligin
Slioch
Sgor Gaoith
Stob Choire Claurigh
Stob Coire an Laoigh
Stob Coire Easain

Oh, is that so? Seriously? You're telling me that my predecessor Hamish the Westie in his younger days climbed each of those peaks on your list. All the way up to the top and him with such little legs?

Wow!



So these Munros would be, like, no problem at all for an eager, fit and bouncy chap like me, eh?

What do you mean a fine line between 'bounciness' and 'recklessness' Gail? Oh, you're just saying that for the first time, perhaps we should try a nicely rounded Munro, not one of the one with jaggy edges and precipitous drops.

[I guess Gail is frightened of heights but doesn't want to admit it. I'll have to humour her for now.]

Well OK then. How about Ben Macdui? Looks good eh? Scotland's second highest mountain. Dramatic and imposing, yet suitably curvaceous...

Yes, that's the one for sure. What are we waiting for?

COME ON! 

Oh what is it now?  Must we really wait for longer days too?

Sigh.....

And now I am getting a lecture from Gail who has reached for another of her books* and is reading aloud from it:

'Beginners, not unnaturally...want the startling view, the horrid pinnacle - sips of beer and tea instead of milk. Yet often the mountain gives itself most completely when I have no destination, when I reach nowhere in particular, but have gone out merely to be with the mountain as one visits a friend with no intention but to be with him.'

All well and good Gail. BUT I STILL WANT TO BAG MY FIRST MUNRO!


*'The Living Mountain' by Nan Shepherd.