Sunshine on Leith

It was a day of a hundred blip options. After my earlier exploration of this bit of woodland I was able to sell the Loch Vaa walk to Mrs Cakes. She approved.
At this early stage in the day it was cool but the sky was clear and blue and only the big tops on the Cairngorms hung on to some cloud. I do like the lofty profile of the Scots Pines all around this area and that is probably what I will blip.

The plan was to go to the Cairgorm mountain today. Previous visits have seen M and the boys take the train while I have taken the pedestrian route to the top. Today was normal. Caley and I took to the hill as everyone else went to the bottom station.

By this time the day was starting to deteriorate quite badly. However I was well dressed for the hill and I felt very comfortable passing the top station and M gave me a wave from the balcony. After this the ascent became a bit more serious. A wind blown layer of the white stuff lay in mini drifts everywhere and the wind was geting very strong. At five minutes from the top it seemed ridiculous to turn back and the stay there would be very brief anyway. The summit cairn came in to view and as we reached it the gusts became ferocious. Caley seemed happy but he was covered in snow. I had kept my ungoved hands in my pockets for warmth but the snow water I had introduced carelessly had turned to ice. A quick blurry set of shots and we started back down the hill; Caley leading the way. The gusts were foot loosening in strength by this time and the snow and ice froze the lips. Incredibly two figures appeared out of the mist on the ascent; an adult with a very young child (say 7 or 8) being led by the hand. I thought how ill advised and planned.
The downward route is straight forward revesal of the ascent and by the time the top station came in to view and was passed the worst of the discomfort was over. It was still bitterly cold though. In a perverse way I really enjoyed the walk.

Back home, a shower, a snack and a few hot drinks and I started to thaw out

Early evening saw us at the cinema. This is a big thing for us as we don't have such a facilty at Fort William. "Sunshine on Leith", I can strongly recommend it, with brilliant photography and score.