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As part of the Stag Do for my best mate from school, a tentative plan was made to climb Cairn Gorm from the Ski Centre car park on the Sunday. In the end, only three of us were feeling up to the task, so I drove the other two from the lodge near Nethy Bridge up past Aviemore to the sprawling car park at 620m. While it did feel a tad cheeky, if the roads are there we might as well use them! The weather was superb for the whole afternoon (and most of the weekend), as last year's summer seemed to come in September and early October for whatever reason. The ski roads and good footpaths enabled us to climb the 6th highest Munro within 1 hour 25 minutes, and even with a long stop in the Ptamrigan gift shop on the way down (during which I was overcharged £12 for an £8 puffin
), we still made it back down in a shade over three hours. Much to my surprise, I had left the car unlocked when we left for the climb.
Luckily no-one tried any funny business, and it's the one and only time (so far!) I've been so foolish with the car.
Cairn Gorm (I think?) from the lodge.
Despite the idyllic conditions at the lodge, the 1200m altitude meant conditions were still bitterly cold as we neared the top.
My friend from London had not had the opportunity to join us on earlier climbs in our uni days, due to injury, so he was chuffed to reach the summit of his first Munro.
All in all, it was one of the highlights of a cracking weekend away in the Cairngorms.