I had a surprise telephone call from the Lovely Laura on Monday and the suggestion was made that we got together for another attempt on Carn Mor, just east of Tomintoul.
I should have known when the travel news mentioned a closed road on the journey to drop David off at work so I could pinch the car.
I should have known when the little car pulled out in front of me at Aberlour, making me brake a little more sharply than is comfortable.
I should have known when there were unexpected road works.
I should have known when there were cows in the road.
I should have known when we got caught behind some slow farm traffic, which I ended up overtaking twice.
I should have known when I parked at the car park at East Auchavaich and couldn’t see our intended hill for cloud and rain. And Laura wasn’t already parked there….
I really should have known when I checked my mobile (no signal) and found a text from Laura to meet in Tomintoul instead.
I should have known that the walk was just never going to happen!
Not only do Laura and I walk together well, we also share a lot of other things. Including our feelings about walking in the rain. It’s fine if you set off and it then rains during the walk, you deal with it, but it is utterly pointless setting off when it’s already raining and there is no hope of a view from the top. So we didn’t! We popped into the Old Fire Station Tearooms in Tomintoul for a nice cup of tea. And a chat. And a look at maps.
After a while, the rain was still falling and the clouds were still low, so we had a second cup of tea.
After a while longer, it was time for lunch, so we left the tea rooms and took ourselves off to a pleasant lay by where we sat in Laura’s van and had our packed lunches and more chat.
At least I was home early.
Mind you, I really could do with some more walking…
That just about sums it up! You could add that I decided to take a circular route home and met another road closure which made my little detour more than 50 miles! Doh! But I did manage to collect my neatly mended Paramo trousers...........
ReplyDeleteOh dear! What a pair.
ReplyDeleteNeatly matched perhaps!
I should have known.
ReplyDeleteI really should.. .
DeleteI completely agree: no point trudging up a hill in the rain with no prospect of a view. Much better to drink tea, eat cake and think about hills instead.
ReplyDeleteWe restrained ourselves from cake as we hadn't really earned it, but we can make up the shortfall next time...
DeleteAs for thinking about hills, it was more trying to plan how to avoid too much upness, a certain bothy and too much boginess on a particular stretch of our possible route. The conclusion was deal with the bog and the bothy! And there will be plenty of cake for two weeks!
H W Tilman has something similar to say about setting off in the rain and I concur. And yes, there is always an element of guilt associated with a visit to a tea shop when you haven't actually done anything... but it's soon overcome, I find ;)
ReplyDeleteWe are entering that time of the year, of long evenings spent looking at maps and planning adventures for when the sun comes out again. But hey, there are worse things to do.
Very true Tony, can't beat a cosy night in with the maps!
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