A Winter Follais

In the days immediately preceding this day out, Storm Fionn had taken her toll and dumped so much snow in such a short period that the M74 was closed because of the number of stranded vehicles and Police Scotland had, at one point, issued advice to not use the roads at all.  The drive to the Cairngorms wasn’t too bad in the aftermath but it was obvious that much of the snow on the ground wasn’t going to be consolidated.

Seven of us left the comfort of Milehouse Cottage and strode out along the East Highland Way towards the day’s objectives of Creag Dubh and the Argyll Stone.  After a snack stop at Drake’s Bothy the uphill started in earnest, weaving our way through the forest at the lower part of Coire Follais.  Both the Ordnance Survey Explorer and Landranger maps indicated a path up the coire but even using GPS to place us right on top of it, we found no sign that it existed.

Drake's Bothy

Progress was slow as we plodded through unconsolidated knee-deep snow resulting in some colourful language from one of our shorter-legged ladies!

Monadhliath from Coire Follais

It became quickly apparent that the group was not going to reach the summit and descend in daylight, or even dusk.  Three of our fittest continued as the rest of us turned tail.  The sky was clear and the view good enough for us to make out a lone walker at the Argyll Stone and also note the slow progress of our summit party.  Deep drifts took their toll on them and they also decided to turn around head downhill.

The Argyll Stone

Although we didn’t actually achieve very much on the day, the laughter and good company will last long in the memory.

An Suidhe

Probably ignored by the masses powering up the A9 to the northern Cairngorms, An Suidhe overlooks Kincraig and provides a relatively easy half-day’s walk with some expansive views.

The barking erupted from the barns and kennels as we walked through the sheepdog centre, trying to find a way beyond the farm and onto the hill, eventually running the gauntlet of the chickens once we’d passed through a gate into their run.  A more defined track emerged, despite the snow, and breaking trail was arduous.  The terrain opened up to moorland and we saw a herd of deer in the distance, making their way across the ground using a lot less effort than us.  As we walked further onto the hillsides, we saw lots of mountain hares scurrying away from their scrapes underneath the peat at the side of the track, more than I’ve even seen in such a small area.  And there was just one brave hare that sat still long enough for it to have its photo taken !

We took turns to lead the way through the drifted snow and at the far end of the forest we struck out for the west ridge of An Suidhe and into increasing winds.

looking towards the A'Bhuidheanaich ridge

The best views were of the hills overlooking Kingussie but for most of the time we had our heads down and concentrated on avoiding sudden plunges into the deepest areas of snow.  The terrain became a little more forgiving as we neared the summit and we were soon taking shelter in the lee of a large cairn.

west towards Creag Mhor, Creag Dubh & A' Chailleach

We headed back the same way, using our own footsteps to help us get back to the car, making the return walk a lot quicker than the outward equivalent. 

And now only a 350 mile drive home giving us plenty of time to look back on a rewarding weekend !

Meall a’Bhuachaille

Rather than battle through the deep drifts that were likely to have been deposited in the northern corries following the heavy snowfalls of the past I suggested a walk up and over Meall a’Bhuachaille, a Corbett that overlooks Glenmore Lodge and has a grandstand view of the Cairngorms.  We parked at the lodge and walked in to Ryvoan bothy, seeing only a few people on the path, a couple of whom were heading for Bynack More which sounded an ambitious objective to me !  We had a very early lunch-stop at the bothy before setting off up the east ridge on a tracked path.

Bynack More

We slowly worked our way up and thought we had the mountain to ourselves but as we neared the top a large group of a dozen or more came down the way we were heading.  I thought it unusual that none of them were using poles to make the walking easier, especially for the chap who was holding an arm gingerly, obviously having fallen on it.  A few more were at the summit when we arrived with more making their way up from the more direct Glenmore route.

the Northern Corries

I’m always keen to get to the absolute highest point of a mountain so I climbed the large cairn at the edge of the summit shelter; I don’t think many were as keen because of how snowed-up it was.  Summit photos were taken, snacks were eaten and I chatted to a couple who gave me some suggestions for future walks – local knowledge is always valuable.

Creagan Gorm and the west ridge

As we descended the slope became icier and my confidence in my footing was misplaced as I slipped and fell heavily on my rucksack and bent a new pole that I was using.  It took quite a bit of effort to bend it back to something resembling straight so that I could collapse it down to storage size.  The crampons went on and stayed on for most of the rest of the walk.

Meall a'Bhuachaille from the west

Having passed a lot of walkers heading for the summit the col was reached where I recognised a face that I’d only seen on Twitter and Youtube.  Ben Dolphin (@CountrysideBen) is a blogger who posts some interesting videos of his walks in Scotland and we stopped and had a chat about the route we were on.  He said that there wasn’t enough snow to fully justify using the snowshoes he was carrying and that this was the first time that he’d been recognised in the mountains.  Get used to it Ben, you’ll soon be famous !

After a quick team talk at the col, we decided to walk up to the next summit, Creagan Gorm.  Walking a few yards north from the summit cairn we saw our Brocken Spectres, only the second time I’d seen one.  It was a fleeting sight with it disappearing and appearing again as the mist moved across the front of us.

a faint Brocken Spectre

At this point we had the option of carrying along the ridge or descending back to the col and head straight down to the valley.  We took the more relaxed option, making a beeline from the col back to the path across some untracked snow-covered heather before finishing the walk through the forest.