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After a two month absence from the hills I dusted off my boots Saturday in the Cairngorms, one of my favorite areas to explore. I had not done any walking since early June due to intense thesis writing which was followed by my yearly summer trip home to Tennessee. This was a much needed 5 week break as being away from home for nearly four years had really started to get to me before I left. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed eating some home cooking and spending some quality time with my family and girlfriend. The drawback to hanging out in mom's kitchen for over a month is the extra pounds you can pick up if you don't exercise. Seeing that it was in the 90s all July, walking in the nearby mountains was out of the question. So when it came to picking a route for my first walk since being back in St Andrews I looked for a long one. Gammy and I had made plans to go to Braemar and do the Carn Bhac route which is 20 miles, but with the improved forecast on Friday night I suggested heading into the proper Cairngorms to do Monadh Mor and Beinn Bhroatain. It was an 18 mile route, which if the weather cooperated, would offer better views.
We had been up part of this route before and that day produced a comical video
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10863On this occasion the weather looked promising from the start. However, I was walking with Gammy, and in true form, he brought the clag . . . loads of it. Despite the high winds, all was well until we reached the ridge of Monadh Mor. From the summit onwards we had to use the waterproofs. No summit views for Gammy, again. The walk to Beinn Bhrotain was not too difficult, unless you don't fancy walking on boulders like Gammy. We took 10 minutes at the top and then plodded back up to Monadh Mor where the rain finally stopped. This was only temporary as showers came and went until we were nearly back to Glen Feshie. Crossing the Allt Luinneag looked like it could be a challenge. On the way up we took off our boots and socks and waded across. On the return I just ran across and stayed dry, while the big man went swimming again. The return trip really started to zap our energy and we plodded along for most of it. But once Glen Feshie came into view it was all downhill from there and we made good progress despite the ridiculous wind that seemed to double in speed at that point.
All in all this was a good walk, tough, but enjoyable when there were views. I'm pretty sure that all the hard work helped shave off a few pounds of mom's good cooking and it was just good to be back out on the hills. As of today, I have 100 days left in Scotland before I move home. I'm hoping to finish the Cairngorms, just have five left, and tackle the South Glen Shiel ridge before then. I'll mostly be tackling the books and my thesis though.
