Cairn Gorm

[alanmurray]

Had a few days in Aviemore and we (I) decided to climb Cairn Gorm
A fairly easy walk and a good forecast, can't be beaten sometimes.
Bright sunshine as we set off, on a lovely crisp morning.
Ascent not too taxing on the body, and a decent path.
Quite busy though - as you would expect I suppose

On way up

Locals quite friendly - nice coat

Friendly reindeer

Blue sky day - only one thing that can beat that is an inversion

Sunny day

Cloud forming , hugging the mountain summits - great to see

Little cloud inversion coming

Clear blue sky in the other direction

Near the first top

Heard some clinking of metal near the edge, didn't get too close to the edge to find out. To be honest, couldn't get with 5m of the edge as height not my thing.
Noticed a climber emerging out of the cloud.

Climber at top of gully

Cloud moving in

Cloud coming in

Summit of Cairn Gorm - such a remote feel with the huge mast and adjacent structure.
Peaceful with hundreds of people clambering around the summit.
Beautiful day and brilliant views - so not all bad.
Not all hills can have the same level of solitude I suppose.

Cairn Gorm summit

The clouds give great sillouettes.

Summit inversion

Moody and mysterious feel as the cloud approaches

Another one

On the way down. Not too steep. Nice view to the Loch and surrounding mountains.
However, not a pretty descent by any standards. Posts and rope fencing; and railway tracks; and buildings near the top of Cairn Gorm, for me, detracts from the mountain experience - that's possibly selfish on my part, as I have now experienced so many places as nature has created and virtually on our own.
I did enjoy the mountain, the walk and the views, although would not want to descend that route again

Way down

[Stretch]

Great stuff Alan! Excellent pic of the reindeer, but where is its red nose?

[mountain coward]

I just love that you can walk into reindeer up in Cairngorm - I've only ever seen one mind... they're beautiful creatures aren't they? Nice pics... I always laugh at that bannister affair on the top of Cairngorm but I suppose it's a good idea really...