Walkhighlands

Left the car park at 11.30 headed up towards the deer styled through the stone gates. Ascended to around 600m and still below the snow line. 600-1100m was tough going due to the extreme winds. Made what felt like slow slow progress on what felt like glacier conditions. Fresh snow laying on sheet frozen ice. Finally took the decision to head off the path slightly in order to save my ankles. The wind never stopped... until the top of Beinn Ghlas - all of a sudden deathly still for around a 15 mins break. Heading over the ridge towards Ben Lawers was tough and I’m sure the wind had decided to make up for it’s lunchbreak. I was literally leaning into the wind and being held upright, still no snowfall or rain and some spectacular views over the rear of the ridge towards the stunning mountain range. The acscnt to the summit of Ben Lawer was... dangerous, hands and knees to avoid the wind blast. Kept to the left pushing into the wind all the way. Reached the summit and managed a very quick picture before heavy snowfall blinded the whole mountain. From crystal clear to whiteout within seconds. The descent was tricky and my down jacket was starting to be penetrated by the strong wind leading to a rapid drop in body temp. The descent took 1 hour 30 mins and I had bargained for around an hour, most was off the path as the route down was frozen sold. The sight of the car was a welcome escape from what had been hours of driving wind and laterly snow and ice blast. All in all amazing day. Where next???