M#8 Sgor Gaoith in the Sun

[littlebob]

Started off with -2 degree start and deicing the car. Blue skies over the Cairngorms but with a wind forecast it was looking like a chilly one. Through some fog to the carpark but from then on it was glorious with the last wind and cloud we've had this year.

Nice to be able to see the way up!

Sunny!

Once out of the woods it was straight trekking up to the shoulder before the final push over the top.

morning tea break - still a ways to go

Glorious views. And lovely springy heather underfoot. From this point on I don't think we would have continued if the cloud was down like we normally get - I've been getting soft with all the well travelled paths lately. Definitely no path from here up to the top.
Lovely snowy plateau at the top with magnificent views across the Cairngorms and time to stop for a snow angel.

Always time for a snow angel

Then a wee walk along the ridge line to admire the views.

Nearly there

Ooh that looks steep

Made it to the summit in 2:45 with a fair bit of dawdling on the way.

Summit!

And stopped for a leisurely lunch and a chillax

Saw this and had to dive straight in

But it's a nice day so popped over to Sgoran Dubh Mor on the way down.
Again no path but the route over the tops to Geal Charn was clear enough in this weather.

The way back

And there was a covey of ptarmigan! (I prefer the collective noun ptooey).

Ptarmigans! They look very small but are actually just far away

After Geal Charn we stopped for another quick break (amazing what a difference the weather makes)

Geal Charn - proof. Just in case they make it a muro again.

We didn't get the route down to the valley quite right - our 300m estimate was a bit out - so had a minor rock scramble but all good fun. Back to the carpark in 5:45.