Just hanging on

Last night we took Mr C out for his birthday meal to the Ceilidh Place, a great pub with a bookshop attached - I wonder how many such pubs exist, where you can buy Peter May's latest till closing time? On our way out the local junior pipe band was marching and playing. One girl was so wee she needed someone else to hold her big drum for her. A great birthday treat. (I told Mr C I'd arranged it specially, and they'd been threatened with a plague of midgies up their kilts had they not performed for him).

We quickly aborted our attempt to climb An Teallach today - the cloud was low and it was raining. (Mr C and I had climbed it 19 years ago for our 50th Munro, but our friends thought they would like the experience.). We visited Corrieshalloch Gorge, which was amazingly narrow and deep, on our way home for a consolation coffee and Mr C's left-over birthday chocolate cake. We reconsidered our options and decided to head north to the Corbett Breabag, taking in the Sutherland bone caves on the way back. The sun came out as we headed up the valley, passing the point where the large burn appeared from nowhere, springing up from the limestone. The riverbed above was totally dry, thought it would be full when there was snow-melt or a lot of rain. The going got more rugged with steep drops and our friend S was not happy. We decided to find a way out avoiding drops but which entailed a long slog through peat hags. The difficulties avoided, and the Corbett abandoned, we headed steeply upwards to the caves where Peach and Horne, 10in 1889, found bones, up to 47,000 years old, of lynx, brown bears, arctic foxes and reindeer. In addition this is the only place in Scotland where polar bear remains have been found, likely to be 11,000 years old. Some guide books mention mammoths. (We made do with chicken in our ciabatta). The most interesting thing now about the caves was that due to the water dripping through the limestone above, the grassy bank outside was covered in a profusion of wild flowers - magenta, mauve and white orchids, globe buttercups, violets, pink campion, primroses, and other plants I did not recognise. (The blip). A great last day, despite the disappointment of not summiting!

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