Our friend here on the left was there to welcome us to the Kingshouse Hotel in Glencoe when we arrived for lunch. He and another stag were keeping their eyes on a trio of does that were grazing much nearer the hotel.
My lovely daughter and me outside the "Kingie"
Now the Kinshouse Hotel goes back 47 years in my life when I first started climbing on the Buachaille when I was 16 years old. This was our escape from Glasgow and the football hooligans at the weekend. Not a difficult choice to make!
I started climbing when I was sixteen with a friend called Stuart. For the next 3 years just about every weekend and holiday was spent in his company, climbing in Glencoe. When I was 19 I was his best man and gradually his climbing waned and I went on to be the President of my University Mountaineering Club. At 21 I was on Mont Blanc in the Alps and much later fulfilled my dream of climbing in the Himalaya near Mt. Everest. All from this start!
On the right is the Aonach Eagach ridge. It's 2 miles long and the skyline is over 3000 feet from where the photo was taken.
After lunch we went through the glen to the village to scoff ice cream from the village shop. Just across from the shop lives an old friend of mine known as "Big Ian" amongst the climbing fraternity. As luck has it I could see him working away in his back garden and soon we were sitting with him and his lovely wife, Sue, drinking tea, eating biscuits and catching up, in the late summer sunshine.
This day was becoming almost perfect! that evening we returned to our now favourite restaurant for another great dinner.
After another 2 days of seeing Debbie, buying endless books and reacquainting myself with some of my old university haunts we were all too soon heading south again to Lankashire to visit my sisters.
South again........
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