Winter galore in Braemore

[BlackPanther]

So far this year weather was rather chaotic, changing from cold and crispy in the first days of January to ridiculous +10/+12*C later in the month. February hit us with multiple storms and gale force winds. Then last weekend, we experienced a short blast of snowy conditions, the return of winter wonderland. This of course didn't last. Forecast for tomorrow (Saturday the 26th) in Beauly: +10*C once again. The world weather has gone crazy

If it was only weather, I'd get over it. But yesterday morning, we woke up to a new reality with war in Europe starting before our very eyes. I know Walkhighlands is a hillwalking page not a political forum and it is not my intention to start a political debate here, just describing my own thoughts and feelings. For many of you, this conflict is a distant problem, happening thousands of miles away. I spent an hour yesterday trying to convince my panicked mum that she is safe and Toruń will nor be bombarded tomorrow. Thankfully, Poland is a member of NATO, but older people like my parents, who lived through the old regime, have their own subconscious fears - an understandably so. I simply didn't know how to cheer her up; actually, all I was saying sounded empty and meaningless...

Therefore it is a strange feeling, looking at myself smiling to the camera lens only a few days ago. I admit I was naive enough to believe this whole political storm would blow over without any serious consequences - well, I was proven wrong I'm still hopeful though, that the situation will go back to normal. Or sort-of normal.

OK, from now on I will concentrate on the walk itself. Always good to cheer myself up with positive memories. I really need it now.

Saturday the 19th was a beautiful, quiet, sunny day with fresh snow covering Scottish hills, creating that sort of winter wonderland usually seen in Narnia movies. We knew this was the day to climb our first serious mountain in 2022 - I was sick of Sub-2000ers! Looking for something relatively close to home and with good room for parking (with a serious dump of snow we wanted to avoid leaving Taylor on a dodgy road verge) and my eyes fell on Braemore junction. It's one of our favourite areas for shorter winter walks; Corbett Beinn Enaiglair and its lower neighbour, Meall Doire Faid, a Graham, not to mention multiple bumps and TUMPs around Coire Leacachain. The full circuit of the above mentioned corrie including both the Graham and the Corbett is a perfect walk for a longer day, we did it in 2019. Today, we decided to climb Beinn Enaiglair only and it would be my third visit to this Corbett (Kevin's fourth).
The idea was to start from Braemore junction car park and climb directly up the western ridge of Beinn Enaiglair, descending the opposite side of the hill and returning via Bealach nam Buthan. Any hopes of adding Meall Doire Faid were abandoned as soon as we knew how deep the snow was today. Suffice to say, it took us 7 hours to do the Corbett only. Well, we didn't exactly hurry ourselves up as weather was glorious and we stopped every five minutes for photos (took over 400 on two cameras!). In summer conditions, this smaller traverse shouldn't take longer than 5 hours:

Track_BEINN ENAIGLAIR 12.4KM.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Starting from the car park by Braemar junction:

Initially, we followed the WH route to Home Loch. There is a new fenced-off area (some kind of natural forest regeneration project) but gates for walkers are provided. We took the old ATV track along the edge of the older woodland - and had to search for the second gate before we could continue towards the loch.

The wrong ATV track!

Kevin spotted a large herd of deer (mostly hinds) on the lower slopes of Meall Doire Faid. "The ladies club" he said

Views were fantastic from the very start, we only gained 50m and we already had a great view to the Fannichs:

An Teallach and Home Loch:

The snow was getting deeper as we continued towards the slopes of Beinn Enaiglair. Allt a'Chumhainn was not in spate, thankfully, and we had no problems crossing.

White, white...

By the time we reached the stream, we lost the path under the snow; it made no difference as we were the first people on this route today.
We located the branch of the stalkers path circling Beinn Enaiglair; the idea was to contour around for about 1km and the climb the western ridge of the Corbett to the lower top (856m):

Kevin on a mission

The Fannichs and Home Loch from above:

Braemore and the western Fannichs:

We didn't last on the path for as long as initially planned. After a few hundred metres, I was fed up with fighting the deep snow and suggested, if we are struggling just as well struggle uphill! Kevin didn't mind...

Looks easy enough!

Snow was everywhere: from the fields of Strath More to the tops of An Teallach:

Kevin soon discovered that it was deeper than he anticipated...

...and he used every excuse to take a break to rest. He managed some good panos as a result

Zoom to An Teallach:

Despite the hard work with dragging my feet out of the white stuff, I was more than happy! We had done some good festive hillwalking during the Christmas period but even then the snow was nowhere near as deep. Shame this was not destined to last long...

Panther in white!

We noticed a second herd of deer nearby. There was hardly any wind so they couldn't detect us. This group was exclusively male. "The gentlemen club" as Kevin called them

I had my eyes set on Beinn Dearg Mor - one of few listed hills in this area we still hadn't climbed:

Beinn a'Chlaidheimh - another one still on the list:

The more distant Torridon mountains can be seen through the gap between the Fannichs and the Fisherfields, but they are partially covered by Groban and Beinn Bheag:

Ben More Coigach and Ullapool:

Our progress was slow - too slow to my liking. I tried to charge at faster pace but the ground was getting steeper and I quickly run out of breath

Between 600 and 700m the ground is not only steeper but also more bouldery. In normal (summer) circumstances this would be no issue for us, but finding way through the field of wobbly stones when they are covered in snow can be tricky...

Which way?

I left trail breaking to Kevin, staying behind him and taking the easy option

Loch a'Bhraoin and Slioch:

Cul Mor and Cul Beag:

The final 100m to the lower top were less steep and having arrived by the cairn, we felt like we had climbed at least a thousand metres - actually it was less than 500m from the circular path.
View south from the lower top:

Kevin posing with An Teallach behind:

The true summit is only a short walk away, no difficulties on the final stage:

Beinn Dearg and Bac na Faire:

After another photo break on the lower top, we strolled casually to the true summit, where Lucy posed for her traditional cairn photo (not a new hill for her but she insisted ):

Beinn Enaiglair is one of the best viewpoints in the area, especially to the south and west; the eastern side is blocked by Beinn Dearg, but to the south-east, Ben Wyvis and Little Wyvis can be seen:

An Teallach is definitely the one shape that draws most attention... Seen here with the lower top of Beinn Enaiglair in the foreground:

View south with Meall Doire Faid in the centre:

The Fannichs panorama:

We spent nearly half an hour on the summit; simply found it hard to move on and leave such wonderful views behind...
Our descent route followed the SE ridge down in the direction of Loch Feith nan Cleirach. Snow was deep in places, but we also encountered windswept areas where vegetation was hardly covered:

Down in Bealach nam Buthan, the white cover was quite deep, but we encountered a line of broken trail, left by a pair of walkers climbing up from the bealach (we saw them in the distance but they were too far to shout greetings). "We are in luck" Kevin said "We can follow these footprints down."

Footprints! Hooray!

An Teallach seen through the gap of Bealach nam Buthan:

This big boulder sits right in the middle of the bealach:

The sky clouded over as we descended but we didn't mind it now... We had the feeling of a day well spent

I was once told that mountains have the ability to "clean your soul" and there is so much truth to this. A perfect day spent in the white world of Scottish hills is something to remember, to treasure forever. Who knows when we will get another chance with weather so unsettled? All I can do is hope. Hope that the sun will shine again for all of us. In every sense and meaning.

[Alteknacker]

What fantastic weather you had! Some superb pics there.

It seems like the whole of the Highlands had this kind of weather. We attempted to get up Lochnagar the same day, and the sky was equally cerulean. We also found the snow incredibly hard work, so managed to get nowhere near the summit.... so well done you two in getting to the top of your Corbett.

But nonetheless wonderful just to be in that environment.

[BlackPanther]

What fantastic weather you had! Some superb pics there.

It seems like the whole of the Highlands had this kind of weather. We attempted to get up Lochnagar the same day, and the sky was equally cerulean. We also found the snow incredibly hard work, so managed to get nowhere near the summit.... so well done you two in getting to the top of your Corbett.

But nonetheless wonderful just to be in that environment.

Thanks, Alan, it was a superb day Hard work through the layers of snow but so worth it. We were lucky to find a broken trail on the way down, it saved us time.

Last weekend I was not feeling at my best and all I could manage was a 400m local Sub, but even from lower ground we could see that the winter wonderland is disappearing very quickly. I'm so glad we had at least a short spell of proper winter this year after weeks of gale force winds. Just spending a few hours in such beautiful scenery really takes the stress away.

[scottnairn]

A truly magical outing! We did wave as yous were descending along the SE ridge but alas, a bit far for shouting!

Team BP with Ben Wyvis as a backdrop!

My girlfriend and I had set off in glorious sunshine but the soft, deep snow had the same effect on me (/us!) - I broke trail from the Home Loch and skirted round to the Bealach nam Buthan before we got fed up of the slow progress and decided to have lunch.

A nice lady and her dog, Sally, left minutes before us but her route was directly up north to summit and then almost directly down south to the bealach - she used our trail from there to return to the car as you also did! We ascended on her trail, but it was still very hard work

A bit gloomy and cold by the time we got up top, so we took a south-westerly descent and used the snow to great effect - 5 and half hours up, only 1 hour 45 down!

It was nice to almost meet you! great report - we too hope that the world sees itself 'right' so the biggest concern we all have is managing to get out for more fine hill days!!

All the best - Scott and Laura

[BlackPanther]

A truly magical outing! We did wave as yous were descending along the SE ridge but alas, a bit far for shouting!

Apologies for late answer, I'm so hectic!
Shame we were too far from each other to say hello. It was a fantastic day indeed even if it took ages to get to the summit. We had done this route before, several times in different combinations (once with the Graham) and it actually took us longer to do just the Corbett than both hills in summer conditions

We met the lady with her dog on the summit but she quickly moved on to descend, we stayed a bit longer to enjoy the winter wonderland while it lasted. There was hardly any wind - quite unusual for winter.

The hills have this great calming effect on me and I can't imagine surviving without them for long. It's an addiction, but a welcome one especially now.

We had two blissful days last weekend - two snowy trips up a Munro and a Corbett. Will post my TRs soon - Cheers

[litljortindan]

Sounds like hard work breaking trail but worth it for those views and the deer photos.

[Mal Grey]

Stunning snowy views!

We failed at this two years ago, thanks to snow and bad weather coming in. Thought about trying it again this year whilst staying at Forest Way a fortnight ago, but I decided my knee wasn't up to it after our Beinn Tarsuinn adventure and did a coastal walk instead, which was also excellent.

The hills are indeed a tonic. I didn't once check the news or see TV whist we were up there this year, and felt all the better for it. Once you do return, the memory keeps you sane too!

[BlackPanther]

Many thanks for comments once again and apologies for not answering earlier... I've been on an emotional roallercoaster recently and sometimes it is hard to find the right words when your heart is jumping up and down...

The hills are indeed a perfect place to find solitude and heal the wounds of everyday struggles. We had some time off recently and spent some wonderful days high up on the hills, hopping over snow patches, gazing in the blue sky, admiring the amazing scenery around us. We lost ourselves in the rough beauty of the Scottish mountains - and we really needed it...

...because every return to reality was like receiving a punch in the face. Even if I tried to keep the media switched off, there was no escape. Phone calls to my family and friends in Poland. Constantly reassuring my mum that the war won't reach my home town. Seeing my country opening its arms to 2.5 million scared, desperate people who lost everything... except from dignity. The dignity and the desire for freedom, which Poles and Ukrainians always shared. Today we stand together against the evil. I was never much of a patriot and usually couldn't care less about politics, but now, in these dark times, I am proud to be Polish.

"If the world stands aside, it will lose itself forever.
Because there are unconditional values that are the same for everyone.
First of all, it is life.
The right to life - for everyone. "
Volodymir Zelensky, President of Ukraine

******

I have 10 new Tr's to write and it may take some time so bear with me please