Cairngorm in Winter – Does it get Better?

The snow was too much to set off on the remote route to Blair Atholl today. I’m wise, if a little boring. Bugger it – I’m going to do it tomorrow. Should complete it in three days.

But for today I’m aiming for the summit of Cairngorm, at just over 4,000 feet it’s higher than any mountain in England or Wales. If I can I’ll try for Ben Macdui as well, the second highest mountain in the UK.

I got a bus from the hotel to the car park on Cairngorm. There was an awful lot of snow and no ski lifts were working for hillwalkers, only tows for skiers.

What a sense of freedom.

This was a tough climb without crampons or snow shoes. In fact there were a lot of occasions where the snow was so soft and deep that my feet sank in up to my thighs. And other times where it was compacted, icy and steep. I slipped three or four times, ending R Suppards. Undignified but injury free.

Near the summit the honking of a large flock of geese grew louder and they appeared out of the light cloud, at around 5,000 feet above sea level. Hardy migrants.

The last half a mile was really exhausting as the snow got deeper and the slope got steeper. It was starting to snow again as I reached the cairn marking the top. And the world was white.

Ben Macdui was over to the left of this photo. I would have no chance of reaching it so I settled for one munro today and set off back to the car park below.

I hitched a lift to the hotel and prepared my kit for the morrow. The passage of the Lairig Ghru. I’ll be out of signal for a few days but I’ll catch up when I reach landfall.

Night night.