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My first walk with WalkHighlanders Pollyh33, Gammy leg walker, and Alan S
Having got excited by the weather report for snow on friday evening, I was doubly so, when invited by Pollyh33 to join her and Gammy Leg Walker and Alan S on a hike up Bynack More in the cairngorms....in the snow. Polly phoned me back to let me know that she would pick me up at 5am on sunday
So i got up early had a shower and skipped my still steaming porridge as she text to say she was at the rendezvous point. I was walking to meet her, what a day i had in store, meeting a strange woman in a mcdonalds car park at 5am, and then some guys i had never met before either who were only usernames/mythical legends on a website to me, being taken up the cairngorms in what looked like blizzard conditions according to the MWIS and my only real worry was .....farting in a stranger`s car
Greetings and hugs were exchanged, it was like meeting an old friend thanks to our exchanges here and on FB and not awkward at all as some people might think, (well for me it was anyway, hope you agree P). We soon met up with Gammy Leg Walker and Alan S and Bynack More was still the chosen Munro for today....until we hit the snow. With driving conditions getting worse the further north we got it was becoming clear that we weren`t going to get near Aviemore. A turnaround was forced on us and left us a bit dissapointed that we couldn`t meet up with RocketRon who was waiting for us up there, some other time mate. GLW had some alternatives up his sleeve and he eventually decided we should go for Carn na caim and some other unpronouncable hill, which were easily accesible from the A9. This led to a good bit of banter between Alan & Gammy as they were both level on munros, but with GLW having done these both before, it gave Alan a chance to get ahead of him. Polly and I lapped it up and the cameraderie between them was great and made me glad i met them.
- carn na caim
Anyway onto the walk, we were all suited and booted and ready to go at 8.39, i think it was, and headed down the road to the gate that lead onto the track that takes you almost all the way up the hill. The whole place was like a winter wonderland, just stunning, and we made our way up the path following in someone elses footsteps. We could see the path all the way up the hill as it became filled with deep snow and we had to walk along the edge of it, ocasionally diving into the white stuff for a laugh and some daft pictures.
- gammy and alan
- polly
- me
The higher up we got obviously our views around got better and better with Alan and Gammy pointing out the hills around us which were beautifully covered in snow.
- hills
We quickly reached a small cairn on the beallach were the path split for the two peaks, we decided on carn na caim rather than the other one because it was much easier to say
only kidding it meant that the wind was still behind us and could continue blowing us along the way. As GLW promised all the hard walking was behind us as the rest of the way would be along a large flattish plateau (as flat as you can get on a munro i guess) until the final part of the walk wich was just a small incline to the top. Up here the track runs along some fence posts which then turn right up to the summit, very handy in these conditions but have to watch on the return trip that you don`t follow them too far past your descent.
- fenceposts
The summit cairn itself is tiny and coould be easily missed and there is no shelter from high winds. When we were walking up there it was great to see the formations the snow was making on the ground (sastrugi ? am i right Wullie?) and as the clouds came and went the mountains around shined in the sun and were a real spectacular sight. I don`t think i`ve smiled so much on a hill.
- summit else
- grass
- Alan
- sastrugi
We ate quickly, but seriously, i could have sat up there all day at that point as the snow blew along the surface along side me and with the sun shining down on us it really was beautiful and i wish my camera hadn`t packed in on me, as is it`s want these days
We headed back down, the wind and snow was now blowing heavy in our faces and had already covered the tracks we had made on the way up and as we reached the beallach the decision was made to head back down leaving Alan just one ahead of Gammy
My eyelashes and eyebrows were caked in snow and Polly very kindly remarked that i looked like one of my heroes
and then told me to sort myself out
She was forever doing this as my gaiter straps kept loosening themselves and i had to stop to fix them. We did see one sight of wildlife as we descended, a mountain hare sprang out in front of us and hopped away in the snow. We enjoyed some laughs, not to mention Polly`s quiz, on the way back and i really enjoyed meeting all three of you, thanks again for your great company. So the objective of the day was to meet some new friends, climb a munro in the snow and come home safely, all done succesfully
p.s there are some other pics that are for my private collection only