Sandy's Last Corbett!!!

Invergarry (Ben Tee), March 5th 2022

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The February storms had blown through and we were blessed with glorious spring weather. We left Aberdeenshire in the rain but those of us who walked on the Friday had perfect conditions on the west side of the country. Munros, Corbetts, Grahams and sub 2000' Marilyns were bagged and bragged about in the Invergarry Hotel over dinner and later in the hostel lounge. Saddle Mountain hostel falls into the 5 star category and should be on everyone's list.

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There were 17 of us in the hostel and we enjoyed real barista style coffee served by our hosts before meeting up with Moira and Tansy who were joining us for the walk up Ben Tee. The route was not the standard one but instead we walked directly from hostel to tackle the mountain from the north east. A local dweller directed us to the access track and we walked up through the forest to reach the stepping stones over the Allt na Calliche and our first sighting of Ben Tee.

Instead of crossing we headed west to access the north east ridge. We gained the ridge via a steep gully and the ridge continued to be steep and rocky but was surprisingly free of snow and gave no technical difficulty. The views opened up as we climbed with snow covered peaks all around and we set flight to a pair of ptarmagin. A couple of picnic stops were required to propel the party to the summit where they made the traditional DHC arch of poles for Sandy's Corbett compleation.

Ben Tee is a solitary, conical mountain and at 904m is just shy of Munro height. It's height, shape and position allows for stunning all round views. It was windless on the summit and we spent some time chatting, looking, photographing and 'sipping' bubbles as well as lunching. Surprisingly given the weather there was no one else on top and indeed we met no other walkers all day.

The group photograph below was made available by Ruth who came to the rescue of technophobe Sandy who failed in his attempt to set the timer - thanks Ruth!

We encountered some snow on the descent down the shallower east side of the hill and Hamish led several members in bum sliding over the snow fields.

The evening was spent in the hostel over good food, wine and conversation. It was a great pleasure indeed for all of us to be in one room sitting around the table again. Plans were made for Sunday: Bob, David, Jane, Sandra, Alison, Susan, Steve, Ruth and Steve heading off to climb various Munros and walk snowy ridges from Kintail to Laggan; Anna, Chris and Graham were on Corbetts; Sandy eyed up a couple of Grahams and John and Karin had a sub 2000 Marilyn in mind. All were successful.

Many thanks to everyone; I had a memorable weekend.

Sandy

DHC

Jane & Bob; Ruth & Steve; Susan & Steve; Anna; Moira; Tansy; Alison; Sandra; Chris; Graham; Kenny; David; Hamish and Sandy

Stonehaven Mountaineering Club

John and Karin