Mystery trip, May 2018

Although the true mystery was who on the trip didn't know the location, everyone seemed suitably hyped for a weekend dash up to the Southern Uplands! Although quite a long way from Cambridge (around 300 miles), Rivox Bunkhouse was only around a 20 minute drive from the motorway. The journey was made more amusing by 'liveblogging' the border crossing to the CUHWC Chat group (with Scotland the Brave blaring over the car speaker system). Although quite a basic bunkhouse with a quirky kitchen set up, we didn't mind as the welcome we received was very warm - the bunkhouse owners had baked a cake for us and gave us jars of homemade chutney and jam!
The Saturday of the trip saw some quintessential Scottish low cloud, with bases failing to budge anywhere above 300m. Despite this, Sarah still managed to get sunburnt. Most of the trip opted for some variant on the Hart Fell horseshoe and bumped into one another half way around. Many miles of fences were followed with very little view, but with place names like 'Rotten Bottom' and some lunchtime snow-patch-sledging (in May!) everyone still had a good day out. Some careful coordination of timings was required for cooking on the Saturday night but everyone ended up well-fed and well-watered. The mild evening allowed for some al-fresco whisky drinking - the novelty of light, warm evenings on a trip!
The Sunday began with haze and low cloud which burnt through by the middle of the day, meaning everyone could appreciate the scenery they'd seen nothing of the day before. Bianca was particularly amazed that she'd apparently walked up the side of the beautiful Grey Mare's Tail waterfall on her walk the previous day without even noticing it! One group made a trip to another funnily named location (The Devil's Beef Tub) and several others went for walks by lochs (with Simon and Gilad opting for a dip in St Mary's Loch too).
A fine weekend up in a lovely (and quiet!) part of Scotland.