Frogs, Diving beetles, Whirligig

[Ghotay]

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Difficult start to the morning. Had been a long week, with few breaks and working up to the wire every day, then things on every evening... but the forecast for Saturday was clear blue sky all day. With the forecast for Sunday turning to snow! One day off, gotta make the most of it. GOTTA

Drove out to Dalwhinnie Friday night. Struggled to sleep... Woke up at 9, but turned back over in bed. With one thing and another, didn't get going til 1pm. Seemed unlikely that I'd make the full circuit but **** IT. Gotta get up something!

A steady hour uphill to Geal Charn. The fine snowy corrie of A'Mharconaich the main feature. I talked to myself a lot. Cried a little. Sorted a few things out in my head as I trudged uphill... Saw two folk on their way down. The summit was unremarkable but pleasant. Onwards!

Down in the bealach the air was still and quiet. I saw a splash in a small pond. The foot of a frog. And attached to it... another frog! Locked deep in the process of making more frogs. I tried to get a photo but they squiggled under some moss for privacy. I spent a while peering at the bubbles in the pond scum, contemplating the tiny lives

Then another pond. The kick of a frog leg, instantly almost invisible. But so many bugs! I spent ages observing the insectes. Tons of pond skaters. And in the ater, tiny diving beetles! A few mm long, kicking out their rear legs like oars. So many of them! How had I never seen one before. And on the surface, whizzing around like a silver bullet was one mad whirligig! So exciting, thinking of the diving beetles and whirligigs in the usborne spotters guide I had a child. That pond alone made the walk.

Met another guy and took the path up the side of A'Mharconaich. A fine summit, looking out the the snowy bulk of the high cairngorms. Struck a few poses for my summit selfie... and a whole family came up behind me! Bit embarrassing, but the chap was friendly. until now I wasn't sure how far I'd get, but I decided. now or never. Finish in the dark I don't care. We're going for it.

I jogged down to the bealach before Beinn Udlamain, then up the other side. Loch Ericht opened up long and beutiful before me, with Ben Alder on the other side.

the final summit was probably my favourite. The shadows getting long, with wide patches of snow. I picked through them, heels slipping slightly. I stopped on the shoulder, not really far from the stop, and rested on a rock. There was no wind, and it was warm. I closed my eyes. I was tired. But many miles to go before I sleep

I got up and continued, and the summit had a fine trig point, cairn, and shelter. Well-built and tidy. The snow clung to the north crag dramatically, falling away. I wanted to walk close to the edge. So bad. But it was not safe. The path down the ridge revealed more of the character of the corrie, and the way the snow had shifted and fallen into strange ridges along the edge.

The final furlong to the road was slippy and boggy and rather unpleasant all told. My feet were soaks, and the sun behind the hills now to my west. Then from meeting the road a final hour up the A9 with a banging headache. Mother kept me company, blethered about who can remember any more.

Back to the van. A feeling of achievment. What good insects! What good frogs!