Ben MacDui - a beautiful winter day in the Cairngorms
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 9:42 pmBen Macdui - A Beautiful Winter Walk and Munro number 50!
After a very quiet winter on the walking front, hampered by good weather and days off never coinciding, I was beginning to get depressed. Then came a short notice offer of a day walking in the Cairngorms - an offer that was too good to refuse. Daily checks of MWIS got better and better as the weekend approached, and the weather on the day didn't disappoint!
I set off from Edinburgh early and slightly bleary-eyed with the aim of being in Aviemore before the majority of traffic heading for the ski centre. The hills between Blair Athol and Dalwhinnie were shrouded in mist. I was beginning to doubt the good forecast. However, the further towards Aviemore I got, the better the weather became. As I arrived in Aviemore, the weather was spectacular. Cloud was billowing over the higher summits, hiding them from view
I couldn't believe the amount of traffic heading to the ski centre. We had to park at the lower car park and hop on the shuttle bus up to the ski centre.Our aim was to head onto the plateau and across to Ben Macdui
Starting out, it was clear how exhausting the day was going to be. Soft snow right from the ski centre made for tiring walking. Nevertheless, we headed out for the plateau via Fiacaill a'Choire Cas.
The hard work of getting to the plateau was well worth it when we saw the view that greeted us
Although the walk across the plateau was in cloud with poor visibility requiring compass navigation (difficult in itself on the featureless plateau!), we soon emerged above the cloud, and the view was fantastic
The summit of Ben MacDui provided a beautiful 360 degree view with only the highest of the surrounding peaks visible above the cloud. Cairn Toul, Sgor an Lochain Uaine and Braeriach on the far side of the Lairig Ghru looked like snowy islands emerging from the sea of cloud.
Before long it was time to take the plunge back into the cloud as we crossed the plateau once more and headed for the Cairn Gorm ski centre. Just time for one last view across the hills before a long drive back to Edinburgh and a well-earned pint!
After a very quiet winter on the walking front, hampered by good weather and days off never coinciding, I was beginning to get depressed. Then came a short notice offer of a day walking in the Cairngorms - an offer that was too good to refuse. Daily checks of MWIS got better and better as the weekend approached, and the weather on the day didn't disappoint!
I set off from Edinburgh early and slightly bleary-eyed with the aim of being in Aviemore before the majority of traffic heading for the ski centre. The hills between Blair Athol and Dalwhinnie were shrouded in mist. I was beginning to doubt the good forecast. However, the further towards Aviemore I got, the better the weather became. As I arrived in Aviemore, the weather was spectacular. Cloud was billowing over the higher summits, hiding them from view
- The morning view from Aviemore
I couldn't believe the amount of traffic heading to the ski centre. We had to park at the lower car park and hop on the shuttle bus up to the ski centre.Our aim was to head onto the plateau and across to Ben Macdui
Starting out, it was clear how exhausting the day was going to be. Soft snow right from the ski centre made for tiring walking. Nevertheless, we headed out for the plateau via Fiacaill a'Choire Cas.
- Fiacaill a'Choire Cas
The hard work of getting to the plateau was well worth it when we saw the view that greeted us
Although the walk across the plateau was in cloud with poor visibility requiring compass navigation (difficult in itself on the featureless plateau!), we soon emerged above the cloud, and the view was fantastic
The summit of Ben MacDui provided a beautiful 360 degree view with only the highest of the surrounding peaks visible above the cloud. Cairn Toul, Sgor an Lochain Uaine and Braeriach on the far side of the Lairig Ghru looked like snowy islands emerging from the sea of cloud.
- Panorama from the Summit
Before long it was time to take the plunge back into the cloud as we crossed the plateau once more and headed for the Cairn Gorm ski centre. Just time for one last view across the hills before a long drive back to Edinburgh and a well-earned pint!
