Logie Head Climbing (but only just!)

Well short notice day off and really crazy and changeable weather forecasts left us in a predicament... West Coast looked sunny from midday, but still and therefore ?midgy... or go East, but showers may be present until around lunch, or was it just after....

On the walk in... rain approaching...

Made the seemingly never ending drive out East on the Moray Coast to Logie Head near Cullen. Unfortunately Loz was a little grumpy and wouldn't let me stop to get a PVC table cloth (road side opportunity) or look in Cullen's marvelous brico-brac shop....

But I went along with the three line whip and we parked at a beautiful static caravan park at Cullen (charming!) for the walk in to Logie Head. The weather looked interesting, as we had driven through several rain showers heading East to catch us up?!

Loz show boating

Logie Head is beautiful and we quickly climbed one route, before I declared (after looking skyward) that the rain wouldn't bother us here.... Well after a couple of hours of rain, wandering, waiting, dozing, annoying each other it dried off at around 4pm.

We did a few more perfect routes on dry rock and I was loving life again. I think the rock is greywackie (!), quite small 10m routes, but perfectly formed - wowsa.

Then things took a turn for the worse.. Loz's dream was to get out to the far wall which is slightly tidal and involved a green, slimy, greasy scramble down a gully whilst being watched by scary nesting guls... this lead to a climb through a cave/hole, and descent to a tidal platform... All good so far.

Loz climbed a route on this 'fabled' portion of the cliff, but unfortunately had to top out into gulgeddon, a narrow rocky ridge covered in guls. There was no alternative, no abseil to be rigged, no escape, no surrender. He belayed me up whilst being dive bombed... I got to the top and had to run across the rocky knife edge ridge to sanctuary whilst being hit on the head by diving guls!!!

The gul area (at the top!)

Well I made it, but what a stressful finish... I think we both have PTGD (post traumatic gul disorder), and sitting in Loz's van in Cullen eating fish and chips we both found ourselves nervously looking around the skies for the next attack wave....