Back to the Cairngorms and still sunny!

After yesterday's steep ups and downs in Torridon, today was a bike day to cover some ground and give the leg muscles a change of scene. Plenty of fun as usual on our fabulous trails and tracks that we have around Rothiemurchus, Loch Morlich and Glenmore. Lots of people out enjoying the fabulous weather. Simply stunning.



The Northern Corries of the Cairngorms from Loch Morlich

 



Good to replenish some Vitamin D!

The Cairngorms from the north early this morning

A Torridon Treat

Liathach

Wow, what a day. Wall to wall sunshine, blue skies and light winds. We took a jaunt to Torridon in the NW Highlands and climbed the wonderful Beinn Eighe. Superb visibility across to the Islands and also inland to a seemingly endless array of snow covered mountains.

View east from the summit of Spidean Coire nan Clach

Fantastic ridge walking

View from the first to the second Munro of the day (Ruadh-stac Mor)--better get moving!

Lokking across Coire Mhic Fhearcair

Superb visibility today

Wilderness

Difficult to drag oneself away from views like this--summit of Ruadh-stac Mor

Drumochter Munros

Out today doing the round of two of the west Drumochter Munros----Sgairneach Mhor 991m & Beinn Udlamain 1011m. Hard going through deep drifts and lots of new windslab, with plenty of evidence of significant recent redistribution of snow. Gorgeous weather to compensate though! I had chosen these hills as offering gentle slopes, given the large amounts of windslab on all aspects in the avalanche forecast, and I was glad I did. Looking at the map last night it looked like a safe descent should have been possible from Beinn Udlamain into Coire Dhomhain, but in reality the slopes looked too steep to be on today, so we came back the way we had come, sticking to low angle slopes. A cracking day out.



First view of our two hills for today. Wow!

Lots of evidence of snow movement--raised footprints

More blown snow

Looking back eastwards over Drumochter



On the final ridge to Sgairneach Mhor

Mighty Ben Alder



What a country!







Cold, crisp, settled

Lovely to be in a period of much more settled weather just now. Very cold overnight with sharp frosts but a beautiful day again today. Very much a day to enjoy being outdoors and bask in the sunshine. We stayed low today and took a wander around and up Torr Alvie, which being a small hill separated from the main bulk of the Cairngorms offers wonderful views.

Big Sky Country---The Cairngorms today

Northern Cairngorms, Lairig Ghru in the centre

The Kincardine Hills (Meall a Buchaille) above Rothiemurchus forest

Looking over the lower slopes of Braeriach to Lurcher's Crag, Ben Macdui & the Lairig Ghru

Cairngorm

Wee clip of yesterday on Stob Coire Sgriodain

Apologies for the heavy breathing, I had been ploughing uphill through the drifts!

Loch Treig Munros

A jaunt out west today to climb the lovely Loch Treig Munros----Stob Coire Sgriodain 979m & Chno Dearg 1046m from Fersit. In summer this is a relatively easy day, but today felt much harder, with lots of soft snow to trail-break in for the whole day. The avalanche hazard was Considerable today (3/5) so some careful route choice required even on these relatively innocuous hills. It was nice to have a rare calm day after all the winds and storms we have had----the latest storm, Storm Imogen, seems to have hit Southern England instead for a change.

Stunning morning

...and again

The ridge up to Stob Coire Sgriodain
 

Loch Treig. It's views like this that make Scotland so special

Plenty of windslab around

Fantastic

Crampons off--always a nice feeling!

Typically Scotland

Back below the snowline

Nice to take the boots off......