Time to Do it All Again !

I’d decided that I should really do my climb up and over Cairn Gorm properly, so, now that I knew where my compass was – and I knew the route ! I was going back to do it again…before gales and snow arrived later in the day –good choice as it turned out !

I drove into Aviemore, and again up to the ski centre car park, things were a lot quieter today, poor forecast obviously putting people off !

I set off, quickly noticing how much colder it was today, but I was able to locate the path/track that I wanted, and managed to follow that up along the ridge of Sron Am Aoniach, very quiet ahead, not even able to se all the large ski area in front and above me !

As I got higher, the wind started picking up, and soon the mist also arrived, but confident of my route, I continued ahead, eventually passing the skiers restaurant, and ski tows, all of which were still closed , I presume because of the wind, which was becoming more ferocious as I rounded the restaurant, and started my last climb up to the top of Cairn Gorm… not an easy undertaking, as the mist had clouded the entire mountain in mist/fog, and hail was being blasted into my face, as I fought the winds, climbing up and into the face of it ! I had lost the track completely, and so just had to rely on a compass bearing, and my altimeter to tell me whether I was still climbing, and somewhere in the right location… with my entire face freezing, and the gales battering me… I saw the summit weather station faintly appearing in front of me, a far different day than yesterday . I tried to get out of the wind briefly, took a couple of pictures, and then turned to face into the battering snowstorm again, to make my way down the mountain, not completing the full circuit, happy to have made it to the top of Cairn Gorm at 1245 mts, and now ? A rush back down the mountain to the car park in double quick time…a stop off in Tesco’s Aviemore for the Sunday paper, and red hot bath to thaw me out…then surprise ,surprise..headline news  I’m not sure it was that bad, however, a safe and Happy ‘Jotown’ bids you a warm Goodnight !