Michelle (a regular poster on WHighlands) from the US of A was over here on her travels and we had planned to meet up and have an attempt at Na Gruagaichean, an appropriately named hill for the occasion - 'the maiden'. We both met up at the Mamore Lodge hotel and paid the £3 fee to park at 200m elevation but I'd have paid a bit more for a smile from the staff. At least the collie dog looked happy. Fetch! No matter, we decided it was waterproofs on from the word go as the forecast was rather miserable and it wasn't long before we were heading along the Land Rover track, chatting away and generally getting to know a bit about each other. I had read in the paper that morning about a psychic dwarf escaping and the headline proclaimed "Small medium at large!" Michelle didn't believe me. Bad jokes aside, we began our ascent not long after the bridge across the cascading torrent and it was fairly unpleasant splunging until we levelled off a bit. Time for a drink and make sure all was okay with the pace. Well, we didn't have much of a view after about 600m and I don't think I've ever known a hill to have so many "I think we're almost there" moments - pretty sure Michelle was ready to commit Kevicide at one point. However, as we got higher, the hill narrowed to a fine arete and in clear conditions, I'm sure it would be quite spectacular. I felt a bit sorry for Michelle that she had such keech weather as all we could see from this purportedly fine view point was rain, drizzle and precipitation. However, we battled on and finally reached our objective with subsequent glory shots.
A small change of kleider was needed as we were getting a little weet. I was hungered and took out my saag masala curry - Michelle could be exonerated from not knowing about my lunch du jour competition so I couldn't really fair and square say that I had won that particular prize. The wind had truly whipped up by this time and before I knew it my Asda bag was off like a shot and frankly my dears, I could give a damn as my non-deliberate attempt at environmental contamination resulted in a wee swearie word. Oops. We decided not to carry on to Binnein Mor (maybe next year?) and started our descent back down. Good, if not slippery progress was made and it wasn't long before we startled ptarmigan and the omnipresent frog. Once back on the land rover track, we congratulated ourselves with a good M-point in horrendous conditions and vowed to have a wee drink before we went. Shep was waiting back at the hotel and we sat and had a wee drink in front of a fireplace (not enough coal for my 
liking - another environmental faux-pas!) like old friends. It was the first excursion with Michelle and although the weather was terrible, the company was very pleasant. Hope it won't be the last trip, Michelle and look forward to seeing you next year.
liking - another environmental faux-pas!) like old friends. It was the first excursion with Michelle and although the weather was terrible, the company was very pleasant. Hope it won't be the last trip, Michelle and look forward to seeing you next year.