Monday 26 April 2010

Freewheelin' in the north east





I thought I'd had enough of north east sea cliff climbing for a while, having spent a lot of time exploring Aberdeenshires' extensive coastline. Not so today. Kat, Gill, Al and I drove over to Caithness to take advantage of drier conditions.
First stop: Latheronwheel, about an hour and a half north from Inverness. The climbing here is first class; steep layered sandstone with a friendly feel and only the occasional loose rock! Most areas are solid, giving confidence inspiring hand and footholds. However whilst exploring a small stack I did manage to pull off a chunk of rock I was using for a crucial pull. This resulted in some air time, but the protection is good so all was well.
A great venue, especially for those climbing around VS and above and like places such as Cummingston in Moray often dry when western parts are damp.
That night we stopped over in Dunbeath at a very cheap and very reasonable campsite in the village, which conveniently enough is 5 min's walk from The Bay Owl bar/restaurant which provides ace grub and beer.

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