Claire and I had left Suilvan for xmas, which we spent in the NY Moors in the lovely village of Rosedale, after a trip to Newcastle. However, we picked him up after xmas and all 3 of us headed North for a week over New Year.
Our first base was Linn of Dee near Braemar - which for poor Suilvan involved a horrendous journey up the very steep and narrow road from Pitlochry. We'd gone that way in the hope of scrounging a free cuppa from my Mum and Peter - however they were up on Ben Vrackie so no deal!!
We awoke the next morning to snow on the ground and a lot more falling out of the sky! With the cloud down and us not being especially fit it didn't seem terribly sensible to hare off onto the Cairngorm Plateau, so we ambled along to the rebuilt Bob Scott's bothy which is near Derry Lodge. This bothy has a great history which is recorded in the superb Mountain Days and Bothy Nights by Dave Brown and Ian Mitchell - highly recommended. It has been re-built, although not by the MBA, and we met two of the builders when we arrived for our drink and cake stop. They are also 2 of the people who help look after the recently re-furbished Hutchinson Memorial Hut further up Glen Derry, a place I've never been to but would love to go.
Our two Scottish companions did seem a little miffed that people were using the bothy as a brew stop, so they would have been even less pleased to see the party of students that we met on the way back who were going to do just that!! To be honest - going onto the plateau probably would not have been the best idea given the weather so they were probably quite sensible to do so. As for us, we drove into Braemar and had a cup of tea at the Fife Arms whilst we pondered our options for the next day.
There was a 'warmth' to the air next day that pre-cursored the thaw that we did get later in the week - although there was a strong and biting wind. Our plan was to relocate to Glen Doll for New Years Eve (nice and quiet) and so we went up Carn Aosda, one of the hills to the W of the Cairnwell Pass. With a biting wind, we were glad of the nice starting height, and the smallness of the hills, as I was certainly feeling far from 100%. Claire could add another tick to her book and it was nice to get some views occasionally, as the two previous times I've been on the hill I've seen exactly zip....
Then it was a long drive to Glen Doll and a lovely meal in the Clova hotel before tootling down the big car-park at the end of the valley - the youth hostel has closed - and a convenient ignoring of the 'no overnight parking' signs...easier for one of the party than the other!!
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