|
On Friday the 9th of January, I travelled
from Glasgow to Falkirk and then onwards, to Aviemore. It was to be my
second time with Up A Mountain MC, the first being in November '08. I
was back in Aviemore again after only a few months and on the evening of Friday
the 9th, James and I travelled up the A9. It was night, but breaks in the
cloud revealed a full
moon that lit the snow capped Drumochter Hills. Nearer Aviemore, the
moon illuminated the corries of Braeriach and with occasional glimpses
through the trees, I could see that the plateaus were clear of cloud.
They were only glimpses but it was damn beautiful... Night walking is
one of my ambitions on the list, and seeing a landscape like that is
just inspiring - a nice way to begin the weekend.
We arrived in Aviemore, first dumping the gear in the bunkhouse before
going down to the pub. Concerning the weather for the Saturday, it was
going to be a case of looking out of the window in the morning and
seeing what it was like. If things were looking up, then we'd go up onto
the Cairngorm plateau. If things weren't looking good however, then a
low level walk would be in order. Meall a' Bhuachaille had also been a
consideration, and I was happy to do almost anything.
On Saturday morning, I awoke to the sound of wind outside. There hadn't
been rain but it was apparent that the wind was going to be tremendous.
I headed up to the Esso Garage in the morning where the wind was
bitterly cold to stock up on food and to check the weather. It was cold
even down here, but the rising sun shone beneath the cloud layer and for
a while everything was illuminated red and orange. That wasn't to last
but it was a nice sight to get up to.
After breakfast and cups of tea, James,
Colin and I set off in the car with the intention with starting from
Coire Cas at 600m on Cairn Gorm. The snow gates were shut however and
there was no chance of getting up to the plateau. After considering
options, the choice of Meall a' Bhuachaille was decided upon and we set
off from the Reindeer Park junction at 10.30am. (The parking at Glenmore
lodge was sheet ice. There was no chance of getting a space there)
Ascent
We walked first to Glenmore Lodge and then onwards up to Ryvoan Bothy.
Beyond Glenmore Lodge the path was essentially a sheet of verglas, and
being the only one without crampons, I had a difficult time walking.
Several times I slipped and fell arse first to the ground but all was
fine and often, walking on the verge eased the difficulties. Crampons
could be something to add to the gear-list... (Not that I have a
"gear-list", but...)
We reached the Ryvoan Bothy at 11.30am, one hour after starting out. We
took shelter inside where we stopped for 5-10 minutes and while the wind
was already wild here, the hill would undoubtedly be worse. After a
break, we left the bothy and headed up the path, which was in far better
condition than the one on the way to the bothy.
By the time we were at 500m, the winds had increased markedly. It didn't
help that now on the leeside of the hill, we were walking head on into
them. Higher up, the walking became tougher and at points it became an
impossible. Occasionally a surge of frustration-driven adrenaline saw me
shoot up several feet but the easier thing to do was just to lie on the
ground and watch everybody else struggle up. I didn't bother expecting a
break in the wind because not once would the wind let off.
The only hillwalk I can realistically make a comparison with concerning
wind speed is that of one away back in May 2007. Alex and I were on the
Cobbler and on the final stretch to the summit where we were almost
being blown off our feet. The wind didn't providing sufficient
resistance to stop us from moving forwards, but I was frantic, edgy and
possibly out of my depth. However unsettling, it was a good learning
experience. I've come a long way since then (I hope) and on Meall a'
Bhuachaille I felt fine.
I came to the cairn at 700m and ahead the summit windbreaker came into
view. My morale lifted but it was a long way off, especially in these
conditions. By the time I'd arrived five feet from the windbreaker, I
still couldn't get in without doing the routine and putting one foot
ahead of the other. When I got in, (12.50pm) the wind let up and for
once moving about was, relatively speaking, easy. James and Colin
arrived too although we didn't stay long.
Descent
The plan was to head down the
north west side of the hill, back to the reindeer centre although
this meant walking into the wind. Making progress was still very tough. As we
lost altitude, the wind eased off and the walk back through the forests
was very easy going. It's a scenic route which I wouldn't mind doing
again - maybe for another bad weather day. This route took us through
forests and then down to the junction where we had parked. We were back
at 1.40pm.
In the evening I bought myself a takeaway pizza, a bit costly at £8.50,
but it tasted to good to complain about the price. We ended up in Cafe
Mambo where an excellent ska band from Edinburgh were playing. Called
'Bombskare', they seem to be the ska band in Scotland. To my
mind, they deserve such a title, for they kept a crowd going for a lot
of hours. A tight band with excellent presence. I watched from the side
by the PA speaker (which is not a good idea) and listened but wasn't
dancing so much. If I'd had a few drinks it may have been a clever
idea...
After the band finished up, we headed back to the bunkhouse at around
11.30pm, slugging down cups of tea before finally getting to sleep at
1am. I got to sleep far quicker this night than the previous thanks to
the extra pillows. The beds were dreadful.
Sunday morning brought torrential rain but luckily it was time to head
home. The volume of water tumbling from the hillsides was immense but to
sit and watch from the car was preferable than to be out in it. We
arrived back in Falkirk and I took the train home from Falkirk High
train station. So that concluded another brilliant weekend with Up A
Mountain MC - cheers guys.
This could be the last big hill day I have in January. From here onwards
its exams, but another few walks may be able to be squashed into the
coming weeks.
 |
