Thursday 15 October 2009

Tough and remote


It seems when you head into the Cairngorms as if you will never reach that remote summit, they are such a long way away and after the Lakes it is always a bit of an ordeal to even contemplate the distances you need to walk before you are even at the foot of the 3000 foot hill.... This is me trying hard not to think about it and concentrating on the beautiful scenery on Monday 5th October as we made our way towards our goal which you can just see covered in snow to the left of my head. This is after a mountain bike ride up from the Linn of Dee to Derry Lodge which saved at least a 70 minute tedious walk along the estate road.  So the idea is always to cut down on the dreary walk ins if you can.


This is later in the day when we had climbed most of the way to the summit but the snow line was now in evidence and it is a bit of a shock after leaving Cumbria to find Scotland has entered winter early, or at least the Cairngorms have.....Freezing fog, snow and ice on the tors was our environment that day.

But Scotland is unpredictable in the Autumn and it is always a challenge to complete the summit of another Munro. This was our 2nd summit on the 8th October and it is a better day and a magnificent view looking North from Beinn Dearg above Glen Bruar.


We did eventually do 3 Munros which were all very remote and each one was only attainable by using a mountain bike to avoid really long days which you do not attempt at this time of year if you have any sense.

All said and done, it was a change and that, they claim, is as good as a rest.

4 comments:

Tess said...
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Tess said...

Snow?! Blimey!!! Mind you, it doesn't suprise me in the least... My 'adopted' mum & dad went to the Cairngorms at the beginning of October, but I'm not sure if there was snow (as I've not heard from them yet!). Good to see you managed to bag 3 monroes all the same. Wonderful colours on the first picture, very autumnal. You can see why that part of Scotland attracts people, as the scenery is gorgeous. I envied the PTIs that I knew at Cosford, as some of them ended up at Grantown-on-Spey, and knowing that they had such beautiful mountains literally on their doorstep makes me even more green (with envy!). Definately a place worth visiting! A big thumbs up for sharing the pictures, look forward to seeing some more! :-)

Tess said...

Don't know what happened to the original post - had to re-type some of it (fun trying to remember what I'd written in the first place, considering it was only a few minutes ago!!)

rita said...

Hello Lyn, it was a great walk today, a bit windy though, wasn't it? But at least - no rain! Did you give Bella some more Sir Henry's later? Pics will follow.

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