May 1990 - Wee Johnny is invited later in the year to join the intrepid duo and the Buckieboys become three with as ascent of Ben Vorlich (Ardlui one)

July 1990 - The Couch and Big Al embark on an ambitious expedition to climb Stob Dearg on the Buchaille,  they think in their naivety that this is a weekend trip so drive up to Clachaig and camp outside ( you were allowed to camp there then). A night of drinking in the pub follows with a good time being had by all.  The next day dawns bright and sunny to the smell of the Couch cooking a massive fry up, this devoured and sitting in their stomachs like a lead weight they proceed to climb the hill in little over 2 1/4 hours.

Sept 1990 - This was the year of the Buckieboys first overnight camp, it took place on the shores of Loch Ericht.  Wee Johnny had been given the Munro book to look at with the instruction that he had to pick a suitable hill to climb. He pored over the book for a couple of nights and then announced that the target was Ben Alder, Big Al and the Couch agreed to this as the picture looked good in the book.  
 Off they went early on Saturday morning hitting Dalwhinnie about 8:30am, crossing the level crossing and driving up as far as a locked gate.  
To their dismay they found they were confronted by a long walk to reach the hill, this was not in the plans.  Undaunted they set off at a cracking pace, striding out in the sunshine of a crisp autumn morning.  Maybe 5 miles up the track their pace had slackened to a slow crawl and they were feeling tired as this was more than they were accustomed to (usually the hills were near the road !).  
The Couch pointed over at a large hill in the distance "Feck, is that Ben Alder" he exclaimed.  The general opinion was that they would never make it so out came the pieces and flasks and some serious sunbathing took place.  The walk back to the car was a never ending nightmare of sweat, sore feet and endless landrover track. 
Once the car was reached they then had to find a suitable camping spot.  The Couch suggested driving down on to the beach, on hindsight this was an extremely bad idea as the Computerland™ Astra was not designed for such adventurous terrain and quickly became bogged down in the sand and gravel.  Various methods of extraction were tried from digging under the wheels with sticks, forcing stones under the wheels, bouncing up and down on the bonnet, pushing and pulling and finally pushing a camping mat under the wheels.  This was not a good idea as the mat was quickly shredded by the furiously spinning wheels.  The only outcome so far was a strong smell of burning from the clutch.  The next thing that happened is almost unbelievable, a car full of rugby players drove by and stopped (this is on a dead end road with not a rugby pitch in sight).,four or five of the big beasts emerged and soon had the Astra moving again and off the beach.  A good camping spot was then found and a large quantity of driftwood was gathered for a huge bonfire.  "Shine on crazy diamond" played from the car and the fire burned brightly as the boys ate an uneventful dinner (cant remember what). The unaccustomed exertions of the day and large quantities of alcohol and other unspecified substances soon had the trio feeling very knackered with Big Al falling off his stone and gazing at the stars for half an hour or so.  Wee Johnny decided he was heading for bed in the back of the car, Big Al followed into the tent leaving the Couch sleeping like a baby, his head resting on a stone pillow.  He was to stay this way until about 4am when he woke up and realised where he was,  he was none too pleased and shouted "ma face is numb ya pair of  B#@$%^&s".  Couch has never let us forget leaving him with that stone pillow !!!






July 1991 - Couch and Big Al hit Skye for the first time.  Big Al had been there a few times before but only on drinking sessions to the north of the island when he was not interested in hills.  No 2 haircuts were the order of the day for the pair as the Computerland™ Astra was pressed into service once more for the 200 odd mile trip up from Glasgow to Glen Brittle.  On the day of arrival the weather was not good and it was spent wandering along the beach and part of the coast, the Couch attacking his supply of Special Brew.  The second day dawned clear and sunny so it was decided to make an attempt on Sgurr Alasdair, the highest peak in the Cuillins.  This was reached with no problems ascending by the great stone chute.  The Couch spent approx 1 minute at the summit enough to get a photo as he was scared.  Back down the stone chute and as it was still early there was still time to climb up the other side of the corrie to see the In Pinn. Big Al made a half hearted attempt to climb up the long ridge but gave up due to being feart (it was a bit damp and misty and the rock was slippy, honest !).  Couch's bowels had turned to jelly at the mere sight of the Pinnacle.
Due to the previous day's exertions being too much for the Couch the next day was spent lazing around the campsite in the sun.  The Couch stayed in his tent most of the day consuming ten or twelve one skinners and reading and re-reading a page of a paperback book 20 or 30 times.
Next day was spent taking down tents etc and moving round to Sligachan campsite to be ready for an assault on Am Basteir and Bruach na Frithe. The evening was spent in the pub were the Couch learned that he had been successful in getting a new job at Scottish Enterprise as a trainer, some celebrating was done.  Next morning Big Al was wakened by an  english accent at the tent door, "morning " it said. It was the warden of the site checking that the happy campers had all paid their fees, (if you have paid then you fasten the ticket to the flysheet for him to see). The fee was duly paid and Big Al heard the english warden making his way over to the Couch's tent, "morning" he cried in a cheery voice, the reply from the Couch was the loudest and longest fart you can imagine. The guy just walked off in disgust !!  It was very hot on the ascent of Bruach na Frithe but cooled down once the summit was reached giving excellent views to Loch Coriusk, Blaven and the rest of the ridge. Am Basteir was to prove too much for the Couch as he could'nt get down the wee tricky bit in the middle of the ridge up to the summit, Big Al made it no problem and was now one up in munros on his crestfallen companion.  The weather was still very hot on the descent and the pair passed by many inviting pools in the burn.  The temptation got too much so it was off with the gear and into a six or seven foot deep pool, magic !. Another night was spent in the bar at the Sligachan with Big Al continually holding one finger in the air to signify his success on the hill and the fact he was one up
The next day rounded of a great week with the ascent of Blaven, again the weather was good with a memorable view of the whole cuillin ridge. I t was then time to return to Glasgow with Big Al going back to his chicken hut (Quarter Villa in Summerston) and the Couch to his one bedroomed bungalow.  Depression followed as the realities of work at Computerland™ returned for Big Al.  Not so for the Couch as he was off to pastures new at Scottish Enterprise, a move which would affect the Buckieboys more than they could imagine .....

1993 - Big Al and the Couch fall out over a woman.  Couch joins a climbing club and gets in tow with a nutter called Bruce, he continues to bag a good number of munros over the next year or so.  Big Al starts to climb with his new friend with some classic hill