Bunagee and Dunmore Head. 15th June 2002. Pete Smith

Someone had to go. Mind, I was not really intending to be totally alone for the afternoon, but that was the way it worked out. The Colmcillers' scheduled trip to Bunagee conflicted with England's attempt to get through to the World Cup quarter finals, aswell as England's attempt to win the test series against Sri Lanka. I arrived at the pier at Culdaff at 1.14pm and re-tuned the radio from the cricket to the football, just in time to hear that Neil Hesquith had scored England's third goal. That's good, I said to myself, no-one will want to watch the second half now so I'll soon have someone to climb with.

I arrived at Brazil Rock in hot sunshine and got dressed up in my Ron Hill's, and the rest of my kit, while I scanned the approach for all the crowds of expected climbers. No-one came, so I decided to climb on a pre-placed rope, by tying knots and clipping them on the way up.

First I climbed Cap Gun Corner Sev, and found the method strangely exhilirating. It's like a cross between leading and seconding: leading because one has to mess about with gear and ropes and (unusually) knots; seconding because one is 99% safe (1% allows for bizarre accidents and gear failure). Next I climbed Hustler HS, and by this time I was relaxed about the whole thing and really started to enjoy it. Still no-one turned up, so I moved the rope over and did Broadbinn's Emporium sev. Halfway up this there was a heavy shower and the hard, fine-grained rock got quite slippery before it quickly dried again in the ensuing sunshine.

At 3.30pm I packed up and drove to Dunmore Head in case all the other Colmcillers had gone there. They hadn't, so I fixed up an abseil rope to make an attempt on _Psyclone's [see his page] abandoned friend in Tina's Crack. It took nearly ten minutes to remove during which time the midges feasted on my ears and face. Still no-one turned up so I packed my sack and headed home.

Call me sad, but I had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Who needs company?