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Uneasy tautomer

Date: April 2010
Submitted by: Iain Miller

 And Sho, with a superb season of picks & points way behind and in the midst of hardore hoisting it was time for a return to the spiritual home which is found in the act of great foolishness.

 A week of endless sunshine and I found myself at An Port and heading North. Descended the monster slopes and once more stood on the storm beach at the entrance to Shambala.

 The object of my desires was an ascent of Hidden Stack, an unclimbed beast with MAJOR access issues.

 Neptune was most defo in the building, but I felt he was in good spirits and at the moment was reasonably well behaved.

 Paddled out to sea through Lurking Fear stack and headed out the channel between Cnoic na Mara and the Cobblers Tower, so far so good, a 4 to 6 foot non violent swell with considerable atmos for good measure. Paddled into the channel between Tormore Island and the seaward face of Cobblers Tower, 50 mtr into the channel, a wall of 30 foot white water was pulsing through the spires in the center of the channel. The NW violent motion was being funneled between Hidden Stack and Tormore causing a continual wall of white water violence, I crouched in the dingy and paddled to within 6 mtr of the chaos and sat looking up, watching the millions of tonnes of sea water, dance the jig of mariners distress. 

 Unknown to me was the fact I wasn't alone in this channel as somthing very big did a fly past the boat, and another, 2 bull Selkies were also in attendance and were rushing back and forward coming within a few inches of the boat each time. It would be fair to call these fellows "Fat Bastards" whilst they are on land, but when in the sea they are the graceful daddies of the swimming club and they were currently toying with my flimsy vessel, it was time to go.  

 Got back to the storm beach, not without a tad of shenanigans and a roll call of fly pasts, Neptue had turned up the volume, the angry seas crashing through the channels were deafening, once more pulses of sonic energy were causing the air to humm and the salt foam to fly in circles high above me.

 Alas Hidden Stack remained untouched, so I nipped up the South Ridge of Lurking Fear stack, as it was a much more accessible proposition. This excellent wee stack looks very inviting from the beach, alas it has a very definate "sting in the tail" as the summit is a tottering pin point and provides moments of great concern.  

 You know it makes sense! :-)

 


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