Sometimes, not often, but sometimes you have a day so wonderful it fills the soul with joy and keeps you going through those dull slogs, rainy days and cloudy summits. This was such a day: perfect weather, stunning views, a wonderful circuit walk, all the geography you need, plenty of rare wildlife, toilets and a restaurant only a few hundred metres from the summit and a fenicular railway to get you back down if your legs feel a bit tired!

I was up from Harrogate visiting my family (I grew up and went to school in Inverness) and had taken my walking gear just in case (the weather in Yorkshire had been terrible and showed no signs of improving). Thursday got better and better as a promised high moved in and the forecast for Friday was excellent. So, up at 5.30 and I was leaving the main car park at the base station at 7.15.

The first sight of the corries is amazing and you can see why they are such an attraction to the climbers. The path continues steadily upward and gives a closer look at the corries the side and above - they are wonderful, especially on such a lovely day like this.

I was lucky to see a couple of Ptarmigan fairly close by.


Once you gain the ridge above the corries the whole world opens up and the panorama is breathtaking, with a 360 degrees view that takes in so much scenery and so many mountains


You get particularly good views down into the corries, but be careful not to get too close to the edge! The snow was melting and collapsing and provided a wonderful spectacle in itself.


A lovely walk along the ridge and then a final slog brings you up to the weather station and the summit cairn.


Again, you get amazing views and the roof of the weather station is the perfect spot for some hard earned lunch.


There are a series of small cairns close to the summit cairn, to lead you safely off in bad weather, and these soon give way to a lovely path down to the Ptarmigan


I hear that some lazy sods actually take the Fenicular back down - shame on them.