Cairn Gorm!

I told you I had a busy weekend, that's why I haven't been able to post till now. Yesterday we went up Cairn Gorm, and expereienced the four seasons in 3 hours which the custodians promise in their pamphlets, brochures and elsewhere! Above: Looking up at Cairn Gorm, the 6th highest Munro.

The Cairn on Cairn Gorm. Nice view from here of several other well known Munors; Ben Macdui, Beinn Mheadoin, Derry Cairngorm, Cairn Toul, Braeriach and even Beinn a'Bhuird, some distance off and in the heart of the vast Cairngorms.


This is the view looking back down towards the ski-centre... fantastic!

Back Of Beyond!

The Buck!

Took this shot on the way back. A view of the Buck from the Cabrach. Doesn't look nearly as big as it actually is from here.

Thought this was a nice idea for a photo, looking along the fenceline with Ben Rinnes in the distance.

What appears to be a pictish symbol stone with 3 fishes swimming around each other, and some other symbols. Nobody knows what these stones represented, but it could have been a boundary marker. Interestingly, the present day boundary between Moray and Aberdeenshire, runs right across the top of the hill!

View from the top towards the Cairngorns.

This was a hard one! The virtual bog at the bottom had to be negotiated twice, but at the top of the hill, the wind was so strong it was almost impossible to stand. I've never experienced anything like it before. I only managed to get some photos off because I found shelter behind the rocks on the summit. What an adventure!

Tough At the Top!

When I got up this morning, although the ground was damp, there wasn't any wind, and so I decided it was time for another hill-walk. Just like last week, but potentially much more difficult. I had decided that the Knock Hill near Grange would be a good option. About a half-hours drive to the base and the rest would be straight-forward. No bewildering forest tracks around the base of this hill. You just go straight up!

Well, that was the plan. The reality on the ground was slightly different. First off we had to drive a half-mile up a track from the main road. We parked and made our way in. To say that the ground was wet would be an understatement. The path up the hill was more like a stream, and the ground all around it was sodden. My feet were immediately soaked, so much for those boots. Not until we were almost half-way up did it get a bit drier, although it was still fairly muddy right to the top. Surprisingly, it was really mild on the way up, but the wind on top was unbelieveable, it was difficult to stand still.

So, the picture you see above is the view South-Westwards towards the Cairngorms (excuse the compression, I had to, otherwise the page would take forever to load). You can see some snow on the peak right in the centre and also to the far left. Those are just the foothills to the Cairngorms though. The real thing lies just beyond that, obscured by the clouds. I'm sure on a nice Summers day, you would see them clearly enough. Anyhow, we're just trying to get a little bit fitter by tackling a hill each weekend. Next week we plan to try Ben Aigen, weather, footwear and circumstances permitting of course.