Cairngorm

[Orosay]

Hooray! No more lockdown restrictions, so looked for something a bit further from home. Weather was good for Aviemore and less than an hour to drive meant we didn’t need an early start.
Northern Corries sounded like a nice walk, and so it was.

First view

Very busy at the funicular, with the car park closed (seemed odd). This is the view of our route. Great paths, although busy - for once we were overtaking people, all that jogging must have paid off! To be honest it was quite a gentle climb up from the car park

Back to car park

We went up and along the edge of the Coire an lochan, with nice views of the rocky cliffs

Coire an lochan

After about an hour the path up to the ridge appeared to our left. Looked a wee bit steep, but really wasn’t

That’s the way!

and before long we reached the top

Top of the corrie

I do like a ridge and this one looked good from above

Looking down

or looking ahead

Rim of the corrie

. The cliffs were spectacular

Back to the high point

and very good going, dry underfoot and an easy to follow line of cairns, this is the view looking back

Back along the ridge

We soon reached the foot of cairngorm itself, which was the steepest part of the day. Unfortunately it had begun to get a bit drizzly and we discovered that Ellen’s waterproof jacket had been left behind. Annoyed at being so careless as we knew weather can be changeable up there no matter the forecast

Cairngorm summit

We sheltered at the cairn until the shower passed then off back down the well made tourist path

Downhill

As usual a relentless trudge, and down stone steps which aren’t great for the poor old knees! Really enjoyed this, partly excitement at getting out again, but mainly the views and quality of the paths, one to do again