Scotland mostly - through nsl4u

Going north to Aviemore on the Friday evening to join the gang - 'a red sky
at night is a shepherd's delight'....?

The Saturday dawned wonderfully well and was omen for a great day out.
We took the mountain bikes up Glen Einich (reported previously in the
blog)...a wonderfully deep and atmospheric place.
Met some guys who were trekking and had set up camp on the western beach
end.

We rather carelessly drifted past the hill access point a couple of
times...doohh! Anyway we soon got going, steady pace, and I always had the
faithful camera to be an 'excuse' and slow things down a bit! To the head of
the falls on the northern side and then direct access up the whaleback onto
the Braeriach granite gravel beach...it's an awesome expanse, with the
bobbles of cairns dotted around. Unfortunately we didn't check the map and
missed the Wells of Dee, the Falls of Dee and the often spectacular spray
cloud from the up-draught from the corrie wall. Well, we rimmed the corrie
and got around to Cairn Toul and excellent views of the snow fields tucked
under the north facing lip; of the Falls down the vertical drop and the
black ink-wells in the valley floor.

The jambled boulder screes were a 'dawdle' being bone dry and easy to 'hop',
so perfectly safe footing...!
It was good to see quite a few walkers out and the tiny, match-stick men
always put things into scale, when caught on the skyline; also interesting
too how they virtually disappear in amongst the rocky terrain.

Cameron our leader, Alan, Kenny, Jonas and Richard all made good time and
drifted way out past me towards The Angel's Peak, and then further out to
The Devil's Point....are these not just magic names...?
Across to the north is the Lairig Ghru, that famous pass of considerable
difficulty and grandeur and the massive top of Ben Macdui beyond. Cattle
drovers used to drive the cattle herds through the pass going south to
Braemar and beyond, 'to market' - make the Aviemore to Braemar traverse (28
miles) and see what you think; seemingly some of the very awkward boulder
field was kind of 'made easier'...?

I got the guys coming back out the glen up onto the southern flanks of
Braeriach again and then we re-traced our steps back to Loch Einich.

What a great expedition - Cameron logged some 5400 calories burnt off, and
calculated about 32 miles total...... made for hungry and thirsty mountain
men at the evening recovery social.

There are not so very many days per annum that such experiences lend
themselves available; make the plan and then go for it - be mindful that the
Cairngorms need respect and treated with good planning and preparation;
things can and do regularly turn very quickly and can get seriously worse
within minutes.....even on a seemingly benign day like we had on Saturday.
The winds often hit 100mph and come in very quickly, Scoured granite beaches
like the top are witness to how harsh it is, regularly. 'High arctic places'
is no bad thought....

What an area of unsurpassed beauty and grandeur. Go there and see them, and
enjoy.

Regards, Denis.