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A good forecast seen us heading for the Cairngorms on Sunday,for me and Ian,some unfinished business and for Jim a first visit to this ace neck o' the woods.
- early weather looking good
- carn a' mhaim in the centre
Derry Cairngorm had eluded myself and Ian twice so this time it was gettin' done.Set off from linn of dee car park at about 7 15 heading for derry lodge,got here in about an hour then continued over the wee boggy bit and then up the heathery hillside to carn crom.
- think this is beinn a 'ghlo
Once up here the views opened up to the big peaks of the cairngorms,cairn toul ,angel's peak ,braeriach all looking impressive and ben macdui looked massive,it was pretty windy up here though ,forecast looked to be spot on so far.
- cairn toul,braeriach and macdui
- me jim and jake
- ben macdui and lochan uanie
Made our way from here up to Derry on a good path,surprised by how little snow we came across on this route,had crampons in bag and big clumpy winter boots on(would pay for this later)and made the top of a very windy derry cairngorm after about 3 and a half hours.
- jim and ian on a windy derry cairngorm
- next target in the distance
Quick photie here then then staggered and stumbled over the big rocks down toward loch etchachan,we were all feeling good and were going to get beinn mheadhion conquered today as well.
- loch etchachan
A quick bite to eat down near the loch with great views down to glen derry and then we were of up the steepish bit to mheadhions flat summit plain.
- tea break and a look down glen derry
- last push to mheadhion
Not far from the summit tor we bumped into walkhighlands regular peteR,(a very nice bloke indeed
)and after a wee blether he was off towards Ben Macdui,a long way but i'm sure we'll read about it soon.Pete had told us the scramble up the biggest tor was nothing to worry about so me and jim went for it(not daring to stand up at the top as it was now as windy as god knows whit)Ian took the photies then he and Jake bounded up as well,Jake making it look very easy in about four mad dug style moves
.
- me and jim triumphant
- ian makes it as jake bounds up
Took a bit of shelter for 5 mins at the foot chatting to a guy from ayrshire who gave us a wee scoop from his hip flask
(cheers boss)and then started heading back down.
- pigeon,jim,ian and jake
- loch avon away down there
Was really looking forward to getting the catering on at the hutchison memorial but disaster struck-stove would not light-diagnosis-igniter kapoot!
- jake inspects the hut
So with no matches or anything to get it going had to settle for a feeble biscuit and a bit of fruit
.Never mind,all that was left now was the 8 miles or so down Glen Derry
,a braw walk indeed but by now the 4 season boots felt like they weighed a ton and to make things worse Jim had developed blisters on his feet
.
- a look back
Eventually got back to derry lodge and took the boots of for 5 before the last 3 miles back to the car park,people whizzing past us on bikes making us very jealous
.Back to car park after 9 hours 15 mins,a long day but really pleased with the way the weather worked out,clear skies all day,a bit windy at times but all in all one of the best days yet on them hills.
- a well deserved beer or three in braemar