Cairngorms Winter wandering 2019

This year I've taken a trip to the Cairngorms National Park in the heart of the Scottish Highlands to ease my yearning for the real winter. My goal was a bit of photography mixed with a memorable adventure.

The long journey took me from the southern shores of England straight to Aviemore. This little town is a real tourist attraction and from here the local bus takes you up to a convenient elevation and stops at Cairn Gorm ski centre.

I shot off as soon as the bus stopped, as thanks to the short days I only had 4 hours to reach the wee bothy up in the mountains. For a short while I followed the path then made a beeline for Chalamain Gap crossing knee deep snow at places.

Busy hills towads SE. (red circles = people)

I spotted the first red gouse within 20 mins of leaving the ski centre... their characteristic clucking often reveals their location.

This landscape never fails to mesmerize me... if someone doesn't start to ponder on their own insignificance then I'm not sure what will make them do so.

Snow-clad Ptarmigan Cafe at the top of the ski pistes. 

Another flock of red grouse... my presence was deemed too dangerous, so they took flight.

You can easily miss these two hikers if you don't pay attention... especially in a snowstorm that has just paused.

I came across the first ptarmigan in the Chamalain Gap. They seem to be more relaxed than their red relatives, quite possibly thanks to their faith in their camouflage skills.

I saw the last human being for the day just after the snowstorm.

 I got to northernmost end of Lairig Ghru then I dropped down to its bottom and started walking South.

 Lairig Ghru southward, Lurcher's Crag on the left.

Due to the length of this glen, sometimes you just have to make camp somewhere along the way and someone made use of this slab of rock to do this. Something like this can save your life in pouring rain and howling winds.

 By the end of the 4th hour I reached Pools of Dee.

Then I had a really incredible experience thanks to this ptarmigan. It has been perched on a small heap of stones up until I got only a few metres from it... I haven't even seen it before it started moving.

The sun's already set by then and the sky changed to new colours beyond the Pevil's Point.

Shortly after sunset I managed to find the bothy in the remote corrie. After a delightful supper came 14 hours of sleep, which is just about twice as long as I usually have back at home.

It was a chilly morning, so I picked muesli with hot chocolate for breakfast... not that I had any other choice. 

I wrote earlier that An Garbh Choire bothy is remote. To translate this to numbers: it's 12 kms from the nearest dwelling as the crow flies. On top of this it's at an elevation of 710 metres. The picture below has been taken close to the summit of Braeriach 1.5 kms North and it shows well what a remote place this really is. The bothy is in the red circle. Lochan Uaine was the first stop of this day, followed by The Angel's Peak.

Once I climbed up the frozen hillside I got to the shore of Lochan Uaine, which was just a snow covered flat area.

Ice forms.

Halfway up the ridge looking back it's easier to recognize Lochan Uaine than from its shore. Scrambling up the ridge was today's challenge.

Nearing the summit.

The 1258 m high summit was in the clouds, which made for a poor view but created a real wintry atmosphere... with the aid of 50 m/h gusts.

Sunny plateau.

Looking back towards the previous summit during a short break of clouds.

A landscape shaped by the wind.

Another summit, which is just a higher point on the plateau: Carn nan Criche.

 At Braeriach, at the end of the plateau section. It took me 3 hours to get here from the first summit mostly in whiteout.

Bye plateau.

  The meandering River Dee in Lairig Ghru.

I decided not to sleep in the same bothy again, so I headed towards Ryovan about 15 kms from this spot. I arrived there around 10 pm, then I just went to sleep without any supper.

 On the 3rd morning I had a relaxed breakfast in Ryovan bothy. Today's program was wandering through snowy forests.

Leaving the bothy, Ryovan in the background.

There was blazing sunshine today and no wind at all thanks to the low altitude. There was still fog in the distant valley early in the morning.

 I walked to River Nethy across Abernethy. On my way there I stopped to have a bite to eat in a sunny spot.

Crossing Ryovan Pass on my way back to Glenmore and civilization.

Frozen An Lochan Uaine. The loch I visited yesterday bore almost the same name, just the "An" was missing.

Once I reached Glenmore I stopped to watch the wild birds for the next few hours in the lea of the visitor centre.

Then I spent another few hours by the shore of Loch Morlich until I waited for the last bus. This day turned out to be rather relaxing... just what I needed. 

I started my long journey towards home, taking a bit of this beautiful land with me. The parting is surely just temporary, I'll be back sooner rather than later.