Rothiemurchus Munros, Dec'11

Some decent snow at last !

Four of us (Raymond, Lucy, Dave and myself) packed into our new transport (a Land Rover Discovery, black and soon-to-be liveried) and headed to the Cairngorms for a winter walk. Met Office forecasted for a reasonable day, if a bit on the windy side - and they were pretty bang on !

We drove north to Auchlean, then walked up the Moine More path onto the plateau between Sgor Gaoith and Mullach Clach a'Bhlair. The wind was coming in from the south, whipping up wind-slab and forming rime on the ground and rocks. Up on Sgor Gaoith a cornice had quickly built up, and we treaded with care to reach the small cairn on the summit. We were treated to fine views to the Monadh Liath and the north-west, but the cloud parted only occasionally for glimpses over Loch Einich to Braeraich and Cairn Toul.

About turn, and towards Carn Ban we were directly into the wind, goggles on, hoods up and buffs over our mouths. The plateau over to Carn Ban and onto Mullach Clach a'Bhlair is fairly featureless - even worse with the limited visibility and snow cover today. Poor Lucy was recovering from a bug and struggled today, but she pushed on, with a tad persuading from hubbie Dave. Some deep snow was trudged through and we found the track that cuts across the moor, only to lose it and find it several times as it slipped under and out of the snow cover. Navigation was tough, but the cairn was found as darkness began to pull in. A few poses for the camera, then we made rapid progress to Glen Feshie below. The bridge over the River Feshie was washed away a year ago or so, so we kept to the east bank of the river with its track for half of the way for our return to Auchlean.

Some photos are on our Flickr page and there's a short video on our YouTube Channel. If you fancy doing this route, then here's a route guide on our website.