Last Meet
It was good to experience the full blast of winter after the warm spell in November. We left
Edinburgh just as a heavy snow shower plastered the roads but our intrepid Clan Macleod driver
managed to pass a slow convoy of army lorries outside Dolphinton to keep us up to schedule.
Nine of us, including a German and two French (1 male and 1 female) students from Napier,
trekked the length of the NE-SW ridge from Elvanfoot to the two main Lowther peaks,
unmissable with their array of radio masts and buildings.
The snow restarted not long after we set off into a westerly wind and we disappeared into cloud
at the higher levels until dropping down to Wanlochhead. There of course was the highest pub
in Scotland offering a very friendly welcome (particularly from the district nurse!) and a
welcome pint. The distinct lack of shelter high up, along with the stiff wind and driving snow at
times made the day extremely satisfying from a mountaineering point of view. I did wonder
what our young European friends thought about it all as they thawed out in front of the pub fire
but they seemed to have enjoyed it as much as the rest of us. That's what Ptarmigan days are
all about - sheer masochism!
Richard Love
