Friday 30th July
The over night in the hut was a chilly affair, but we all slept really well in the fresh air, under our heavy blankets. The plan was that Tom and Rod - our guides - would get up very early and check out the state of the weather and local rocks, to see if climbing was a possibility. If it was, we were going to be woken, otherwise we'd be left to it. The weather Thursday morning was no different from the day before - chucking it down. This made rock climbing an impossibility, so we all enjoyed the extended lie-in! When we surfaced the girl guides were putting on their wet weather gear and heading off, so we had the place to ourselves for breakfast. We all had a large breakfast, and then cleaned the place, hopefully leaving it as we found it. By the time we'd done this the rain has eased slightly. We kitted up and set off on the trek down, aiming to be back in the valley around lunch. As we left the guides pointed out that the rain had fallen as snow just a couple of hundred metres above us. Looking at the surrounding peaks Rod commented "that's not good" - snow this low in July is unheard of, and he was worried about avalanche danger on the very high slopes. None of this affected us, but other groups were planning some multiday hikes over high passes, and it would probably affect their plans.
It had taken over four hours to get up there, but we got down in about two. Not long after we set off the rain completely stopped, and by the time we got back to the camp site we had sun! While we tucked into lunch, Tom and Rod went off to sort out some substitute climbing. After lunch we all walked down to the ice rink in the village, where there was a climbing wall. The guys enjoyed an afternoon of indoor climbing, some even managing blind-fold climbing. Worthy of special mention here are both Dean and Matthew, who for the first time had a go at it - and both really enjoyed it, getting to the top with no worries. Well done guys!!
That evening there was a campfire circle organise by the centre. It was a huge affair, going on several hours. Most of the groups attending did a turn, putting on some entertainment or simply leading the singing with their favourite songs. Everyone really got into it, and had a great time.
Doug
